From the parking lot, we reach Malmedyer Straße. Although our curiosity is piqued, we don't want to visit the parish church until the end of our tour. We follow a narrow road that winds between hedges past the former vicarage and the cemetery to the extensive school building complex, which blends harmoniously into the townscape with its quarry stone walls and half-timbering.

We cross the Schulweg and arrive at the "Knippe-Jässje". It used to be the most important link between the former Kirchgasse, now Arnoldystraße, and the center of the village with its restaurants, stores, church and cemetery. Older residents still remember the time when there were no houses here. It was sometimes scary for children to walk along there in the dark. On Arnoldystraße, we come across a trough surrounded by quarry stones. Before the restoration, there was a cattle trough here where the cows could quench their thirst when they were driven back to the village in the evening. We continue on our way through "In der Weide", Kalterherberg's newest development area. On the horizon, we spot the parish church of Höfen. Behind the last house on the "Klüsenborn" road, we reach the eastern meadow landscape with a wide spring hollow and the hawthorn hedges typical of Kalterherberg. It is worth stopping again and again to let your gaze wander in all directions. Wooden signs put up by the Kalterherberg Eifel Association show the old field names. It's a good thing that the village walks are marked! Otherwise it would be easy to get lost in the extensive network of paths.

The scenery changes at the "Karpool". The elevation opens up a view to the west of the Vennrand above Mützenich with the 659-metre-high Steling. We return to the village via the "Alte Straße". The old farmsteads we encounter here were not all built in half-timbered construction. In contrast to the other villages in the Monschau region, people in Kalterherberg started to build houses from quarry stone quite early on. Today, the brick door and window reveals are often embellished with red and white paint.

In the street "Am Rott" there are several large half-timbered houses behind a meadow on the left. It is a former customs settlement built in the 1930s. It is a reminder of the time when the nearby German-Belgian border was strictly guarded by large numbers of personnel. To the right, we come to open terrain again with a view of Mützenich. At "Meertesbroch", we turn left and discover the "Kreuz im Venn", built in 1890 in the hillside forest on the other side of the Rur valley, which became famous far beyond the Monschau region thanks to Clara Viebig's novel of the same name.

Passing under a huge beech canopy, we reach the Messeweg with its mighty windbreak hedges. Passing
an old, listed half-timbered farmhouse, we enter the western pastureland. When observing the landscape, don't forget to pay attention to the details along the way. These include the wayside shrine attached to the trunk of a beech tree in 2006 with a statue of St. Francis, the protector of animals, which originates from Poland. Where an asphalt road coming from the village crosses our route, we come across a small building made of quarry stone with a cattle trough: the "Schobbe Buersche". The spring hidden inside used to supply water even when the domestic wells had long since dried up in times of low rainfall. After about 550 meters, we discover a memorial stone to the left of the path. It commemorates Robert Christ, who worked as a farmhand for a farmer in Kalterherberg and was struck by lightning at this spot on July 1, 1930. Passing Herrgottswinkel, which offers a magnificent view of the Rur valley, we reach a chapel dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. Inside the small church, which was built in 2006, a special artistic treat awaits us. The window, designed by the artist Erich Charlier, who lives in Hammer, impresses with its bright colors and cheerful, detailed design. We reach the "Fedderbach" parking lot via a romantic country lane. It is a junction for numerous cycle and footpaths. Numerous signs indicate that there is a lot to discover in the area around Kalterherberg.

The large apartment building on Bahnhofstraße, which we have already seen from afar, has an unusual history. Nothing reminds us that the production hall of Gustav Hüllenkremer's traditional distillery used to be located between the slightly protruding corner houses. In addition to liqueur and grain, the still widely known Els, a herbal bitters typical of the region, was produced here.

The next climb is a little arduous, but once again offers an impressive view. The hamlet of Ruitzhof is located on the other side of the Rur valley. It is a German exclave that can only be reached via Belgian territory. The houses to the left in the valley belong to the Belgian village of Küchelscheid.

To the southwest, tall spruce trees border the horizon in the distance. But the silence that surrounds us cannot be taken for granted. Sometimes the thunder of heavy guns drowns out the birdsong and the sound of the wind. Even the oldest inhabitants of Kalterherberg know no other way. Since 1893, the Elsenborn military training area has started just behind the edge of the forest.

From the "Breitenberg" road, we return to the town center. Before we reach the church, we experience an impressive piece of Kalterherberg village history in just a few meters. Ancient and carefully restored houses stand to the right and left of the road. There are half-timbered courtyards as well as early stone houses, for which Kalterherberg is widely known. The two-storey, slate-clad building at number 11 is particularly steeped in history. In earlier times, it housed the Moll inn. The writer Clara Viebig stayed here when she was on her "summer retreat" in Kalterherberg. Finally, let's pay a visit to the parish church, which was built between 1897 and 1900. The church has no equal in the Monschau region. It is the only one built in the neo-Romanesque style. The church is unmistakable above all because of its two 42-metre-high towers, which have earned it the name "Eifel Cathedral". It was particularly fortunate during the Second World War. While numerous other village churches in the region were shot up or blown up, it was largely spared destruction. Even the magnificent old, artistically crafted stained glass windows in the choir with pictures from the life of Jesus have been preserved. You should definitely take the time to take a closer look at the church portals, which were installed in 1958. The main portal shows scenes from the New Testament. Above the southern side entrance you can recognize 11 of the 14 holy helpers. The door of the sacristy is dedicated to the extremely beneficial work of Father Arnoldy, the builder of the church. An object in the interior, which was painted in 1995, is a reminder of times long past. The baptismal font with the date 1688 dates back to the Lambertus Chapel built at the beginning of the 16th century, which had to make way for the first church in 1767.