Old Church Path Wehrsdorf - Hainspach/ Lipova

The association of Wehrsdorf local friends has initiated, in a project funded by the Euroregion Neisse, alongside bilingual information boards in the village, the revival of the "Old Church Path" to Hainspach.

The Wehrsdorf parish was part of Hainspach until around 1620. The settlement and dominion conditions of Upper Lusatia and Bohemia were particularly closely intertwined until the Thirty Years' War.

Ecclesiastical, state borders and cross-border administrative structures often changed over the centuries. This led to various overlapping of the respective sovereign interests.

From this historical background, it is explained why, in church matters, the longer route to Hainspach was chosen instead of the nearby Sohland or Steinigtwolmsdorf. Only with the Counter-Reformation in Bohemia, during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), did this route lose its original significance, as that church remained Catholic while the Reformation took root in Saxony. Many Bohemian exiles left (mostly) for religious reasons, settled near the border on the Saxon side, and contributed to the growth of Wehrsdorf. The Wehrsdorfers belonging to Protestantism then went to Sohland church until their own church was built in 1725.

This well-walkable path is about two-thirds identical with the old map material. On the Bohemian side, it disappeared due to the consolidation of agricultural areas. As compensation, there is a direct connection via the newly planted, beautiful maple avenue, which near the village exit towards Röhrsdorf / Lisci leads directly to the Saxon border. The now well-marked, cleared footpath from Hainspach to Wehrsdorf can be comfortably managed in one hour. It encourages engagement with the local history.