Neroberg

The Neroberg rises 245 metres above sea level as the highest point of Wiesbaden’s Taunus foothills. Its slopes are split by the Schwarzbach and Dambach streams, which vanish beneath the city before reaching the Rhine. The summit is crowned by a park of lawns and paths, while the south-facing slope is covered in vineyards. Below the park, large villas line the Nerotal and Weinbergstraße, showing Wiesbaden’s 19th-century resort grandeur. The hill’s name once meant ‘the rear mountain’, later softened to Neroberg. A golden-domed Russian Orthodox church stands out among the trees, built in 1847–55 for Duke Adolph’s late wife, a niece of two Russian tsars. Nearby is the Russian cemetery where painter Alexej von Jawlensky lies. Visitors can ride the water-ballast Nerobergbahn, a historic funicular that lifts two cars by shifting seven thousand litres of water between them. The track’s three rails and central rack allow the cars to pass midway on the 7.3 km/h climb. At the top, Philipp Hoffmann’s 1851 Bergpark offers a Monopteros with sweeping city views. Below the park, a terrace guarded by stone lions overlooks the Neroberg vineyard and the Rheingau hills. The 4.1-hectare Riesling slope produces wines described as fruity and spicy. The Opelbad, a Bauhaus open-air pool designed by Franz Schuster, sits between park and church. Behind the pool, a high-ropes course winds through the forest, and summer improvised theatre fills an amphitheatre. The hill mixes wine, water, woodland and memory in one sweeping view.