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Maria Wemmers heats the oven in the historic bakery at Hof Judt with beech wood.
Fridays are baking days at the Wemmers: Bread rolls made from whole wheat-spelled flour and bread made from rye-wheat-spelled are sold in the farm shop from noon.
The flour comes from the farm's own grain, which the farmer and master butcher Thorsten Wemmers grows in the Windrath Valley.
The Wemmers have been managing their organic farm with 100 hectares of arable land and grassland since 2004.
The pretty half-timbered house dates in parts from the year 1788. Hof Judt is one of the five organic farms in the Windrath Valley, of which the other farms follow Demeter guidelines.
Fruit and vegetables are sold in farm shops.
Healthy and fresh from the field - that is the motto.
Courtyard cafés such as the one on Hof zur Hellen, right across from the Wemmers' establishment, attract numerous guests at the weekend.
Maria Wemmers comes from the historic bakery at Hof Judt;
the farm is in the Wildrather valley
Source: dpa-tmn
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The farms are located between Langenberg and Neviges, less than an hour's drive from the major cities of Düsseldorf, Essen and Wuppertal.
Hikers come to the farmsteads via the “Entdeckerschleife Biohöfe” in the Windrather Valley, a detour on the 240 kilometer long Neanderlandsteig.
26 circular trails start from the Neanderlandsteig
The small circuit is eleven kilometers long and leads the day trippers through the hilly landscape of Niederberg.
Cornfields, cow pastures and beech forests alternate there.
Streams splash down into the valley, tractors chug over bumpy country roads.
Source: WORLD infographic
The discovery loop to the organic farms is just one of 26 circular routes that dock onto the Neanderlandsteig long-distance hiking trail, which is itself designed as a circular route.
In 17 daily stages it goes through the district of Mettmann, along the district boundaries from the hilly Velbert down to Monheim directly on the Rhine.
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However, the Neanderlandsteig is not a rocky path, as one might assume from this lofty name.
Hiking experts classify it as easy to moderate.
The planning of the Neanderlandsteig took a full 19 years - hardly imaginable today.
At first, the wind struck the planners: misgivings abounding from hunting tenants, farmers and forest farmers.
What good should a hiking trail be for in the densely populated and industrial region?
Back then, vacationers traveled abroad, not to go hiking to Mettmann and the surrounding area.
Manuel Andrack is the godfather of the hiking trail
In 2014 the entire circuit was finally opened.
TV presenter and hiking expert Manuel Andrack became the godfather of the Neanderland Trail.
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The route leads over wide country lanes, side roads with little traffic and narrow forest paths.
Or through protected heather zones such as on the outskirts of Hilden to the Unterbacher See.
Today the former excavator hole is a popular swimming lake and sailing area.
Out and about in the Neandertal: Hikers can expect rustic nature
Source: dpa-tmn
The well-marked paths open up a landscape that is currently becoming more and more attractive for short vacationers and day tourists.
Corona gives the area on the doorstep of big city dwellers an additional charm.
It can get really full on the paths on beautiful autumn and winter days.
Eight kilometers only or is it twice the distance and more?
Hikers have the choice between Erkrath-Hochdahl and Mettmann.
The short loop “Monument Route Hochdahl” and the long loop “Evolution Path” are side trips into the gorge-like Neandertal.
40,000 year old bones discovered in cave
Flashback, mid-August 1856: Italians discover 16 bones in the cave of a limestone quarry.
The guest workers from Carrara bring the finds to the quarry owner Wilhelm Beckershoff, who in turn informs the Wuppertal naturalist Johann Carl Fuhlrott.
The fossil collector interprets the skeletal parts - including the roof of the skull, shoulder blade, collarbone and five ribs - as the remains of human bones.
According to recent studies, they are said to be around 40,000 years old.
Scientifically they are briefly referred to as Neanderthal 1.
A bone-dry label.
A stylized Neanderthal man reminds of the place where the bones were found between Mettmann and Erkrath
Source: dpa-tmn
In the Neanderthal Museum, the history of human development is shown, vividly and using multimedia, four million years from the beginnings to the present.
The house has a futuristic-looking shell, before Corona came 160,000 visitors annually - one of the most successful archaeological museums in Germany.
The Feldhofer Grotto, where it was found in 1856, was also designed.
It is located a few hundred meters from the museum and can be reached via a path along the Düssel.
An attraction for hikers on the Neanderlandsteig is the knight's seat Gut zu Schöller
Source: dpa-tmn
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Back on the Neanderlandsteig: village half-timbered idyll characterizes Haan-Gruiten, where the listed residential buildings date from the 17th and 18th centuries.
A little further on is the former Schöller manor with a well-fortified tower made of bulky rubble stones, built in the 12th century.
Quaint inns are along the route, such as the “Im Kühlen Grund” restaurant, where many rest before continuing on to the Neandertal.
Shortly before Neviges at Hof Blomrath lies the source of the Düssel, gushing out of a stone.
The source of the Düssel looks rather inconspicuous - the river flows through the Neandertal
Source: dpa-tmn
In the Kalkum Forest, hikers are torn from the past into the present: landing or taking off jets thunder overhead.
Düsseldorf Airport is very close.
Between Düsseldorf, Essen, Wuppertal and Leverkusen lies the Mettmann district, which tourism experts refer to as Neanderland. Information: neanderland.de
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