The Drei Höfe circular route offers an approximately two-hour hike through varied landscapes; a listed farmhouse with a central post and the wooded surroundings also shape a visit to Hersiwil. This gives you a choice of different focuses when planning your visit: the route and its sections of the Urzeitenweg, the village character, and the cultural programme at the NäijereHuus. You can give these discoveries different priorities depending on your interests, without treating the circular route as the same thing as a visit to the village.

Drei Höfe Circular Route and Urzeitenweg

The Drei Höfe circular route is an approximately two-hour hike and can also be done by bicycle. It incorporates the Urzeitenweg’s two loops, A and B. The upper branch, variant A, turns off the Oekingenstrasse towards Winistorf before Hersiwil. The lower branch, variant B, passes through a restored floodplain landscape and by beaver habitat. Dreihöfer Platz and the viewpoint are among the highlights of the circular route. For those travelling on foot, the approximate duration gives an indication of how long the tour takes; a bicycle offers another way to complete the route.

Landscape and Village Character

Surrounded by woodland, Hersiwil stretches along a ridge: a gently rising slope gives way to a small, elevated plain. The cultivated land reaches right up to the farmhouses and remains undeveloped there. As a result, the woodland edge, open farmland and buildings meet directly in the village. These landscape features add a view of the settlement’s outskirts to the varied impressions of the circular route.

Hersiwil is listed in the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance as a settlement of regional importance. The NäijereHuus is an important link in the village’s character and has a special place in the streetscape. The relationship between the building and its surroundings makes the village character a subject in its own right, alongside the hike.

NäijereHuus: Building History and Cultural Programme

The listed NäijereHuus is a farmhouse with a central post and is one of the village’s oldest buildings. Its southern part, the original core, was built between 1645 and 1650. In 1786, the house was extended using the same central-post construction. These two dates record the building’s history in two stages, without conflating the later extension with the older original core.

The NäijereHuus team organises around 25 cultural events each year. These include art exhibitions, concerts, readings, and lectures and exhibitions on cultural history. If you would like to plan your visit around a particular programme, check the events calendar before travelling. This keeps your plans aligned with the actual event dates.

Fire Pit and Nature Nearby

The Hühnerhüsli fire pit is freely available to all visitors at no charge. The municipality maintains it and supplies firewood. The fire pit is a specific place to take a break during your visit.

The FriedWald in Hersiwil is also open to visitors free of charge. The trees in the selected woodland area are marked and can be freely chosen and purchased by interested parties. Near Hersiwil, beavers have created a connected wetland at a small stream in the agricultural area, building several dams that link two woodland areas.

Hersiwil in Historical Context

Until 31 December 2012, Hersiwil was a municipality in the Wasseramt district of the canton of Solothurn. On 1 January 2013, it merged with Heinrichswil-Winistorf to form the municipality of Drei Höfe. These dates help put the place name and the name of the Drei Höfe circular route in their historical context.

Discover more destinations: Kriegstetten, Aeschi, Luterbach, Biberist, Horriwil, Steinhof, Bolken, Zuchwil.

Return to the overview of the wider area: Wasseramt.