Discover Ellscheid: Mürmes, nature and village history

Ellscheid combines moorland, volcanic landscapes and village history, offering a destination where nature and historical traces can be explored from different perspectives. Mürmes is a distinctive feature of the landscape; trails, burial mounds and St. Anthony’s Church add further points of interest. When planning your trip, you can choose between experiences in the moor, various trails and insights into Ellscheid’s history.

Mürmes and Mittelweiher: Nature in focus

West of Ellscheid lies Mürmes, a nature reserve with a moor covering around 40 hectares. It formed around 11,000 years ago in a volcanic depression. The area provides a habitat for rare plant species as well as numerous amphibian and insect species. Mürmes and Mittelweiher are among Ellscheid’s sights.

Along the Mürmes circular trail, information stations explain Mittelweiher and the habitats of Mürmes; a fixed binocular viewer is available for observing the wetland. A walk through the moorland thus combines wildlife observation with information about its habitats. If you are interested in landscapes and biodiversity, there are specific features to look out for along the way.

Trails with different points of interest

One access point to the Mürmes circular trail leads from the cemetery car park in Ellscheid to Mürmes, around 800 metres away. The Vulcano Path Määrchenroute starts and ends at the Janshen poultry farm on Moselweg in Ellscheid; it leads to Mürmes and the Demerather Drees, a volcanic mineral spring in the Eifel. The moor is a shared point of interest on both the Mürmes circular trail and the Määrchenroute, while the Määrchenroute also takes you to Demerather Drees.

Another route, the HeimatSpur Antoniusweg, has gentle inclines and is considered suitable for families, Nordic walkers and joggers. This lets you choose a trail to suit different interests: a destination in the moorland, or a route that is also suitable for families and active walkers.

Discover the village’s history

Celtic burial mounds lie around Ellscheid; the largest group is in Starkenbruch. The mounds are clearly visible in the forest and are associated with the Hallstatt culture of the Eifel-Hunsrück region. A village walk introduces local stories and the history of the village at 25 stations.

St. Anthony’s Church offers another historical point of interest: the original church building dates to 1772. The statues of the Virgin Mary, St. Anthony and St. Lucia, however, date from the 13th century. The figures are therefore considerably older than the original church building. Together with the burial mounds, Ellscheid’s historical themes span the Hallstatt period, medieval art and the 18th century.

Ellscheid and the Volcanic Eifel as a travel destination

The Volcanic Eifel region is shaped by maars, volcanic cones, lava flows and mineral springs; informative hiking trails and geotopes are also part of its characteristic landscape. To date, 77 maars have been identified in the Volcanic Eifel. In addition, 350 eruption centres have been counted, around 270 of them from the more recent phase.

For longer hiking plans, the Volcanic Eifel Trails offer a regional extension: they are marked and signposted, and include half-day hikes, full-day hikes and multi-day hikes. This lets you decide whether to focus on individual landscape and village-history highlights or plan longer hikes in the Volcanic Eifel destination.

Use your experiences to guide your accommodation search

If you want to focus on Mürmes, the trails and Ellscheid’s local history, include Ellscheid as a specific search destination. If you also want your itinerary to cover other hiking and geology highlights in the Volcanic Eifel, first decide which destinations matter to you and tailor your search accordingly. The balance you want between exploring villages and regional hikes gives you a concrete framework for choosing where to stay.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Dreis-Brück, Winkel, Meisburg, Oberstadtfeld, Saxler, Gillenfeld, Steiningen, Strotzbüsch.

For the main travel overview: Daun.