burg salzburg revisited (13. 757)

In Bad Neustadt an der Saale for a hair appointment and with some time to spare, I parked at my usual spot by Burg Salzburg and took a few moments to walk around the courtyard—of course it’s same as I remembered but I am guessing we hadn’t bothered going inside in years, usually just walking on the paths through the surround woods or along the dry moat, again with the contempt of familiarity and was glad for the spare minutes.

The large castle complex, originally containing seven independent palaces within the fortified curtain wall—a Ganerbenburg, a jointly inherited castle—standing on the edge of a plateau dominating the city below—and is still partially inhabited with not all areas open to the public. Most of the keep, covering an area of almost a hectare, however, is accessible beyond the drawbridge and barbican of the gatehouse. One of the residences has been converted into an Italian restaurant and there is a cafe and a chapel dedicated to St Boniface (built in the 1840s to replace the ruins of an earlier church) off-centre to the Bergfried.

Although presenting with all the elements that one might conjure up in the mental image of a generic castle, most of these commissions added during the twelfth century at the behest of the Bishops of Würzburg (see history above), Burg Salzburg is considered as a projection of power rather than a practical stronghold.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: an MTV-like channel devoted to novelty songs (with synchronoptica) 

two years ago: the dissolution of East Germany plus a banger from George Harrison 

three years ago: assorted links to revisit 

four years ago: RIP Gorbachev, Street Fighting Man plus more Gorbymania

five years ago: more links to enjoy, numeracy plus vintage animated commercials

six years ago: more knock-off Halloween costumes, the Gdańsk Social Accords (1980), even more links, Lincoln Logs (1920) plus Tom Hiddleson as macaroons

bat habitat (13. 438)

There was a nice community project in the village finished a couple weeks ago, in view from our balcony, that I had meant to post about but forgot about until the previous related entry—maybe we could establish our own fortune-telling fountain—in converting the Trafoturm (electricity substation) into an Insect Motel. A gap between the exterior wall and the wooden façade provides a roost for bats with the attic space open for birds and an overwintering spot for other pollinators.  It is also decorated with a mural of scenes of the little hamlet.  We see bats (Fledermäuse, flying mice) often flitting about in the twilight hours and have a couple of times—not eager to check regularly and avoid the mutual shock—have found them hanging behind our door and window shutters, which are permanently opened. It seems we started a trend with other nearby communities doing the same with their transformer towers.

rundweg rhönblick (13. 223)

For a warm and sunny day on this first meteorological day of Spring, H and I returned to Höhe Geba (see previously, see also) and explored a circular path named after Helmershausen native son, novelist, physician and avid wanderer Dr Theo Malade through a juniper heath, past the source of a mountain spring and to a shelter on the western slope of the plateau, overlooking the Leichelberg (see above). 

 Inside the Hütte, there was an information board with the lyrics to Das Rhönlied, the 1912 regional anthem by Andreas Fack (“Zieh an die Wanderschuh / Und nimm den Rucksack auf, / Und wirf die Sorgen ab / Marschier zur Rhön hinauf!”—see also) and a stamp for one’s hiking card. 

The path led back through the eponymous village on the plateau, remote and with only fifty-seven residents even smaller than our hometown, which had an interesting octagonal church and historic schoolhouse.

unterfladungen (13. 184)

Taking advantage of the sunny weather and with less of a bite to the winter wind, we followed a trail from Fladungen up the gentle slope of the Wurmberg, a southern spur of the Abstberg hill between the villages of Sands and Brüchs, the latter named for the historical quarrying activity of the settlement. 

Along the way, and to this day I think about that psychedelic animated short from Sesame Street about the lost boy remembering his way home, “Try to remember everything you passed, but when you go back, make the first thing the last”—that’s some genuine memory palace advice, we were afforded some really nice vistas of the town in the valley below, a pair of friendly donkeys in an enclosure, the foundations of a demolished coke oven that was testament to the area’s mining history and an the open pit hewn out of the hillside as we made our way to the edge of the forested summit. 

In the middle, there was a clearing with the Stations of the Cross arranged in a circle, like the Kreuzweg of the chapel visible on the horizon looking back over Fladungen with a large wooden Crucifix, Hohe Kreuz. 

We descended from the peak via a shorter route through a neighbourhood and around a spa resort perched on the mountainside, so so much for my landmarks but nonetheless an enjoyable walk with opportunities to explore further.

rhönblick (13. 031)

For a sunny but cold and bracing Christmas Day walkies, we trekked to a little shelter on the peak of the Leichelberg near the Ellenbogen overlooking the village of Kaltensundheim and the valley of the Felda, a tributary of the Werra, below. 

The march of this border region of East Franconia with the documented mention in 23 December 795 was fortified with a Kirchenburg in Romanesque style in the early fifteenth century as well with a protective wall and gates and was originally under the jurisdiction of the counts of Henneberg but with the branching off the family over successive generations, properties of the district was divided among several collateral lines, the villages flanking each side of the mountain, Kaltensundheim, Kaltennordheim, Oberkatz and Aschenhausen falling under different lordships with shifting alliances. 

 In the latter on the opposite side of the mountain, we visited the former synagogue, among the few intact testaments to the long history of the Jewish community in Thüringen it was saved from arson by locals during the Pogroms of 1936 and after expulsions preserved as a warehouse, restored as an assembly hall and memorial with information about the history and Holocaust. 

 Between Aschenhausen and Kaltensundheim (since reunited as constituents under one a single municipality) there was a pictureques landscape of series of ponds at the woods edge for exploring but it was too chilly in the shadows for much looking around today but will definitely return soon.

noahs segel (12. 885)

Though we had been to the slopes of the Ellenbogen mountain before and visited the restaurant at the Thüringer Rhönhaus, we never made it to the summit before to see the viewing platform completed in 2017.  

On the way, however, the foggy and overcast weather did not seem so promising until the last couple of kilometres with climbing elevation the skies gloriously opened up. An extinct volcano, it is one of the highest points in the range and on a clear day, one is awarded with vistas of Bavaria, Hesse and Thüringen near the tri-point where the three states touch. On a clear day, from the observation tower—named Noah’s Sail for its information centre about the local flora and fauna and its profile—one can see the Brocken as well as the neighbouring peaks of the Wasserkuppe and the Milseburg. 

Though H didn’t want to join, I took that slide back down and had a nice sunny walk to the top across the massif before descending afterwards back into the fog bank of lower altitudes.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronopticæ), animated GIFs from Etienne Jacobs plus a survey of international traffic signs and license plates

thirteen years ago: carnival season 

fourteen years ago: modern geoglyphs plus Kissinger and Clinton 

fifteen years ago: security theatre plus adopt a word

sixteen years ago: a mythical member of the German parliament 

seventeen years ago: keeping it local 

segelfluggelände (12. 873)

After last weekend’s walk up the hill to the model airplane field, we realised we had never shared actual impressions from wandering around the larger landing strip for gliders, small, self-launching motorised planes and ultralight aircraft on the opposite end of town at Büchig. Taking advantage of break in the fog and overcast skies, we made a circuit around the summit. 

The massif affords some really nice views of the surrounding pastures and forest and chain of peaks leading off into the distance, as well as the Lichtenburg, which despite its ruined state still has intact ramparts and high keep (the tallest in the region, but still nearly overtaken by the construction crane working on restoring the bailey) to entice the imagination, particularly at eye-level, with all the elements of a medieval knights’ castle. 

 For mid-November, seeing the fallow fields blooming, with even stunted sunflowers, was a bit off putting. It’s another nice spot to let the dog run free.

little big town (12. 863)

Though a bit of an inconvenience to have to go into the next bigger Marktstadt outside of the village for any kind of shopping, it always pays off in spades, by sheer dint of concentration of attractions there and spots for a nice wander, even on a foggy day: 

Ostheim vor der Rhön has the Altstadt lining the main road with several mills, manors, breweries and bottlers and fortified church, an organ museum and manufacturer and a castle ruin with tower above—plus a lot more. We had visited the ensemble of Celtic hill graves (Hügelgraben) right down the road from the grocery store several times but hadn’t before now hiked up to the top which hosts a model aircraft runway—opposite the higher summit that has a glider Flügplatz—see also. 

The grove of maples at the top of the hill is known as the Sporkhöhe and has a monument dedicated to silk merchant Kaspar Friedrich Sporck. A native of Ostheim and having learned the art of passementerie—elaborate braidwork trimmings for clothing and furnishings—from his father, made a sizeable fortune in Rouen. Sporck married his business partner Marie Catherine Leprince and remained in France, although visiting his hometown nearly every year, always bringing remittances for support of the poor. 

The couple passing away at an advanced age in the early 1890s, they established a philanthropic foundation (Stiftung) for the town, underwriting an elementary school, the general welfare of the town and a hospital, then hosted in the Gothic Schloß Hanstein, presently the organ museum from above.