This is our first to Central Germany (Hesse was the border state of the former Federal Republic of Germany to the state of Thüringen, former German Democratic Republic). We decided to join our friend, Anja Kühner to visit her home village, Friedewald, 5 day trip. We would be staying with her parents and meeting family members while there. We were excited with the opportunity to see the and be introduced to this part of Germany. Our prior experiences have been the larger cities.
Our first day was a casual drive full of high energy to stop along the way as we pleased. First stop Bad Arolsen, the town known for baroque homes and layout. The town has roots to Augustine Monks and the House of Orange. Driving into Bad Arolsen we noticed the Evangelische StadtKirche (Lutheran Church) styled in the baroque fashion on the exterior with high arched windows, slate-roofed hipped roof, tower with baroque tower cap and the weather vane with Waldecker star. The church was built on 16 August 1735, when the foundation stone was laid to the city church. In the foundation stone, the document, a Bible, Luther's catechism and the Waldecker Kirchenordnung of 1730 and a silver and gold coin were walled in.
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| Evangelische StadtKirche |
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| Sanctuary pulpit |
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| The church is a strictly mirror image with the center of being marked by a dove with a radiant wreath on the ceiling. To the west are the sanctuary with pulpit and gallery over arched arcades, to the east the organ loft. The architectural style of the interior is no longer baroque because of the long construction period, but Rococo. |
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| The organ loft |
The street leading to the castle has many baroque style homes leading to the impressive Arolsen Castle (Residenzschloss Arolsen). This impressive residence took 100 years to build. An Augustine monastery or monastery palace, first mentioned in 1131, was in the 16th century with the building of a baroque castle which is then demolished in 1710 for the three-wing Baroque new building which was started in 1713. The final building of the castle took place in the 19th century where style changes were made to Rococo on the interior.
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| Baroque style homes line the Schloßstraße across from the Lutheran Church leading to Arolsen Castle (Residenzschloss Arolsen) |
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| Arolsen Castle (Residenzschloss Arolsen) |
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| Beautiful roses in bloom with Arolsen Castle (Residenzschloss Arolsen) in the background |
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| Schloßstraße looking toward the Lutheran Church |
We stopped on our way back to the car and Kircheplatz for some coffee and snack, we decided to sit outdoors on the sidewalk in the crisp sun at Café Prinzess Emma. Perfect time of day to sit outdoors and enjoy coffee.
We take a casual drive towards Asel Süd and National Park Kellerwald-Edersee to see what this scorching hot, dry summer has to show. The rivers are at historical lows showing off villages otherwise buried underwater. The Eder Dam was built from 1908 to 1914 to serve as a water reservoir for regulating the level of the Weser River. The Eder Reservoir (Edersee) the third largest reservoir in Germany. Brücke Asel (Aseler Bridge) - Edersee Atlantis came to life this summer, as it has in 2017 and some other years in the past. We drove through the birch primal forest while heading further and further down in elevation to the reservoir.
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| Seen from the car while driving through Korbach, Hesse |
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| Eder River and Aseler Bridge (Edersee und Brücke Asel) |
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| Anja on Brücke Asel |
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| Shadows play on the reservoir bottom |
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| Wayne and Keith on the banks of the Eder River, last remnants of Eder Reservoir due to the drought |
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| Foundation to one of the homes from the village flooded in 1908. |
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| Perspective from the bank on how wide the reservoir is and how bad the drought has been in 2018. It is October, we are in short sleeve shirts. |
We then started driving to Friedewald, where Anja’s parents life and family home, when we saw a brown sign for Schneewittchenhaus Bergfreiheit. Home of Brother’s Grimm folk tale about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Bergfreiheit and is district of Bad Wildungen.
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| Yup, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs |
While we were getting photos a family came over and wanted their photo taken. Anja took their photos then the father took ours but before he could snap the photo his son said they cannot be dwarfs since we were not wearing hats. Quick thinking and we had hats....
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| Snow White and the 10 Dwarfs!! |
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| Timber frame home houses a museum today, built 1676 |
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| Schneewittchenhaus (Snow White House) |
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| Old timber frame barn |
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| Sunset on our way to Freidewald |
Note worthy is the 'fairy tale' told by the Brothers Grimm, insights into the times and ways of Late Middle Age mining practices and point to the source of the fairy tale about Snow White. Children were referred to as dwarfs because of their height which stemmed from poor nutrition. Subsequently some worked in her brothers’ copper mines. It is believed that 'Snow White' may be Maria Sophia Margaretha Catherina von Erthal. Born in Lohr am Main, Bavaria, Germany on June 25, 1729, she was the daughter of Philipp Christoph von Erthal. She was known for her beauty, blonde haired and loathed by there step-mother.
Our first full day in Friedewald was cold and damp. We went for a walk into the woods to explore. Anja's father, Peter dropped us off at the 'Eye of the Needle' (Das Nadelöhr) inscribed with the date of 1561.
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| Immediately adjacent to the old trade route, which runs from the Werra Valley into the Fulda Valley, ie between Hönebach and Friedewald, stands a strange stone structure, the so-called Nadelöhr. It is a peat-shaped stone with a desk-like roof, through the opening of which a person can crawl. Legends and stories are if you crawl through you will have good health for one year. Of course, we all crawled through. |
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| Natural monument Hammundese oak |
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To get an idea how large this oak tree. Oma(Anja's mother) joins Keith and Wayne.
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The story of the abandoned village in the forest of Friedewald: Hammundeseiche was founded at the beginning of the 10th century by the Hersfeld abbot, on the trading route through the Short Hesse, which connected the two trade fair cities of Frankfurt and Leipzig. The place was first mentioned in documents in 1141. This year, the church was rebuilt from stone (novella ecclesiola), consecrated by the Würzburg Bishop and elevated to the parish church. In 1312, the place was mentioned as Hamndeych or Hamyndech. In the corresponding document the place is called as a long abandoned village. In the same document the castle Friedewald is mentioned as a new, important center in Seulingswald. It is therefore assumed that Friedewald is the successor of Hammundeseiche. The church stood until the beginning of the 15th century, when they were abolished.
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| From the place today only the church, the village well and the thick oak are to be recognized. All other buildings were made of wood and thus completely disappeared. |
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| Oma, Wayne and Keith stand in the church before the altar. The ground has been displaced by the wild boar |
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| Walking back home just before Opa (Anja's father) stops to pick us up as we have brunch reservations. Fall is coming through in the foliage. |
We get back change, then walk to Göbel's Schlosshotel "Prinz von Hessen" for brunch. The selection is huge (from wild boar, venison pate, salmon, duck), very good food and fine dining. Service was very good, we had a nice time then went for a walk around the Castle.
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| Three-tiered fountain in the bailey yard |
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| Moat and original building within the fortress |
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| Dicker Turm (Tower) and Gate building of Wasserburg |
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| Inside the ruins looking toward the entrance, Dicker Turm and newer addition to the castle |
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| Original building within the fortress, Yellow building is the church with defense tower |
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| Anja being pensive looking out towards the mountains |
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| Keith and Wayne stand along the castle wall |
We walked back to Anja's parents home to change then we drove to Observation Point Alpha the former US Army observation post 'Alpha' watching the border of the former FDR (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) and DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). The area has an eerie feeling to it when walking the grounds, climbing the tower and seeing the former border fencing and marker. It was a lonely outpost on a chilling border that had the opportunity to heat up quickly. Everyone should see this spot to understand what could happen and the results of how a country, families and villages were divided.
Point Alpha was a Cold War observation post between Rasdorf, Hesse, in what was then West Germany and Geisa, Thuringia, then part of East Germany. The post overlooked part of the "Fulda Gap", which would have been a prime invasion route for Warsaw Pact forces had the Cold War erupted into actual warfare.
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| From the U.S. tower you can see part of Fulda Gap, and the new German Reunification Memorial |
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| Fulda Gap |
Fulda Gap was regarded as one of four potential avenues of incursion by the Warsaw Pact forces into the Federal Republic of Germany. Here, at the point where the Eastern bloc protruded furthest into the West, the aggressors could have pushed forward as far as the Rhine within only 48 hours and would have been able to eliminate the main garrisons of the US Army corps. Sadly, the citizens most closely affected were not aware of the 'war game' depicted at the museum for the destruction and elimination of thousands within close proximity of the gap.
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| East Geman border patrol tower and no mans land border fence. |
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| Striped posts is the German border. At one point the East Germans placed land mines along their side of the border near the fence. When this was discovered, they moved the mines to other places. They also used German Shepard dogs that were not fed or water to patrol the inner quarter. |
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| Wayne, Anja and Keith at OP Alpha tower in Rasdorf, Hesse |
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| Reunification Memorial at OP Alpha in Rasdorf, Hesse. This monument and the wreath-laying ceremony commemorate the reunification of Germany in 1990. Remarkable statement on the back of the Memorial reads: “Now grows together what belongs together”, and also says “We are one people!” |
We are ready for our first time in Thüringen, Germany, we hop into the car and travel to Eisenach. Anja has an interview to conduct, while she is doing that Keith and Wayne will take in an English tour of Wartburg Castle, Saint Elizabeth was the mistress of the castle from 1211 to 1228 and where Martin Luther translated the Bible setting the then Catholic Church on its head. Martin Luther is one of the most influential figures in Western history. His writings were responsible for fractionalizing the Catholic Church and sparking the Protestant Reformation in 1521 to 1522.
The walk from the center of Eisenach to Wartburg Castle long steep crawl up hill on the path Martin Luther took marked by emblems 'L'. The walk took about 30 minutes straight uphill through a hilly residential area of Jugendstil built at the turn of the century and forested. The impressive Wartburg castle has towered above Eisenach. Being a witness of German history and culture, it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage in 1999.
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| Tiny House: The narrowest, inhabited, half-timbered house in Germany, only 6 feet, 8 inches wide (2 meters). Johannisplatz 9. |
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| Lutherhaus, in the center near the van |
When Martin Luther was a teenager, he was sent to school in Eisenach (1498-1501) and boarded with the Cotta family. Their beautifully preserved half-timbered house is now a Luther museum. The two rooms he lived in are restored to their original condition. Martinlutherplatz 8.
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| Thüringinan Museum - City Palace |
The baroque city palace once served as ducal residence for entertaining and housing important visitors.
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| Rathaus |
The northeast corner of the market square with city palace, Ratsapotheke, and city hall.
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| St. George Fountain and Georgenkirche (St. George's Church) |
The Georgsbrunnen - also called "Gülden Mans Fountain" - is a fountain built in 1549 in the Wartburg city of Eisenach in Thuringia and a monument to the city's history. St George’s Church dominates the centre of Eisenach old town. During the Reformation era, Martin Luther regularly preached here. This makes the church one of the oldest Protestant churches in Europe. First mentioned in the year 1196, Gothic style, then the neo-Baroque style tower was added dating back to 1585.
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| Eisenach Houses, Pfarrberg leads to the path of Luther and Wartburg Castle |
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| Inner courtyard of Wartburg Castle |
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| The Knight's Sauna |
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| The largest structure of the Wartburg is the Palas, originally built in late Romanesque style between 1157 and 1170. It is considered the best-preserved non-ecclesial Romanesque building north of the Alps. |
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| Elizabeth's Boudoir |
Elizabeth's Boudoir, the charming vaulted chamber is completely covered with small tiles made of colored glass. Mosaics showing the life of St. Elisabeth (created in 1902-06) on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Sängersaal (with frescoes of the Sängerkrieg by Moritz von Schwind).
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| The Holy Crusades with Count Ludwig going off to war and never returned. |
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| Count Ludwig, age 14 and Elizabeth, age 4 to be husband and wife |
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| The Banquet Hall (Festsaal), The current German flag was created from this flag of Red, Black and Gold Oak Tree..with current flag of Red, Black and Gold stripes |
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| Lutheran Bible |
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| Oriel Window |
The oriel window originally from the former Harsdorf House in Nuremberg has adorned the plain gable of the 15th century Vogtel (steward's quarters) in the outer bailey since 1872.
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| Luther's Chamber |
The castle had been empty for 300 years and Luther was in hiding from the Pope when he was summoned to the Diet of Worms. Luther translated the Bible to German here in this room.
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| Panorama of Eisenach from Wartburg Castle |
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| Another view of the valley |
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| Wayne and Keith selfie |
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| Bach House |
The historical Bach House is one of the oldest residential buildings in Eisenach. It originally consisted of two buildings, of which the eastern part was built in 1456 and the western part in 1458. At around 1611, both were joined. As was normal with the Ackerbürgerhäuser (burghers' houses) of that time, the ground floor was used for agricultural purposes. Wayne spent a couple of hours in the Bach House and saw a 30 minute concert of organ music on two different organs (each over 200 years old), two harpsichords and upright piano. The experience is worth the trip, you can listen to inspiring music throughout using headphones.
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| The square where we parked from the Bach House |
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| Look what is parked near us, Trabant 601 |
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| We arrive back to Friedewald as the sun sets behind us |
Up and out to mist and foggy morning before we head towards Erfurt for the day. It's Tuesday, 9 October we have planned to stop at Buchenwald Memorial former concentration camp.
The fog had lifted as we arrived in Buchenwald, we first went into the museum giving a chronology of events then went outside to see the large GDR Memorial monument consisting of 3 large circles of former mass graves, national monuments to countries in Europe and then the bell tower.
The construction of the National Man und Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (National Man and Buchenwald Memorial) started in 1954. By 1958, a large national monument was erected on the south slope of Ettersberg. The idea and thought behind this monument was to take the visitor on a path from death to life (essentially from the death camps, mass graves to upward staircase to freedom and light).
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| Walking from the entrance gate down past Stele Path to the Ring Graves |
Stele Path has seven steles with pictorial images of life in the camps done in Soviet style depictions
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| Ring graves below the Bell Tower while walking along the Avenue of the Nations |
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| Stairs lead to the Bell Tower and Commemorative figural group |
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| Commemorative figural group by Fritz Cremer |
We get in the car and drive over to the former concentration camp area, which has Young Person Camp and buildings. This camp was involved in National Socialists killing policies through inmate selection and deportation to extermination camps. Buchenwald Concentration Camp (Buchenwald Concentration Camp) was one of the largest concentration camps on German soil, with over 100 satellite camps.. It was operated between July 1937 and April 1945 on the Ettersberg near Weimar as a labor camp. In total, about 266,000 people from all over Europe were imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp during this period. Of the 266,000 prisoners 19% died by execution, starvation or exposure. On approaching the 3rd US Army on 11 April 1945, the prisoners took over the management of the camp from the withdrawing SS, arrested 125 guards, opened the gates and hoisted the white flag.
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| Each to their own sign on the gate entrance can only be read from the inside |
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| Entrance to the concentration camp |
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| Roll call area with building on arrival and guard post |
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| Sinti and Roma Memorial |
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| Concrete foundations with charcoal in them from the wood framed buildings |
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| Block 45 |
Commemorative stone for Bulgarian inmates, conscientious objectors and Wehrmacht deserters, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals (Pink triangle inmates), members of the Allied Air Force and Spanish Republicans. A group of Allied pilots, shot down over German-occupied France, were detained as prisoners in the Buchenwald concentration camp until they were rescued by a Luftwaffe General and taken by train to Stalag III, which was a POW camp. The Luftwaffe was the German Air Force.
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| Allied Air Force and Rosa Triangle inmates memorials |
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| Spanish Republicans Memorial |
During the Spanish Civil war 1936-1939 fighting displaced millions of Spaniards. Some 500,000 refugees fled in 1939 to France, where many of them would be interned in camps. 15,000 Spanish Republicans ended up in Nazi concentration camps after 1940.
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| The SS forced concentration camp inmates to build the ten-kilometre stretch of track between Weimar-Schöndorf and Buchenwald within a mere three months. |
This place is bleak and overwhelming to the visitor. A place that we should not forget, the atrocities that can be committed is beyond comprehension.
We made our way to Erfurt to get a reprieve from Buchenwald to enjoy the history and beauty of this City in Thüringen, Germany. We were all looking for a snack since we did not have lunch, so we stopped at Roma for ice cream.
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| Marketplace in Erfurt |
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| Spaghetti Ice Cream |
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| Wayne's German Chocolate Cake and Keith's super Chocolate Sundae |
We make out way to Krämerbrücke (Merchants' bridge), the longest series of inhabited buildings on any bridge in Europe. The Merchants' Bridge is Erfurts most interesting secular construction, initially in wood but rebuilt in stone in 1325. There were originally 62 narrow buildings along its 120-metre length, but subsequent redevelopment left just 32 buildings. Of what was once a pair of bridgehead churches, only the Church of St. Aegidius remains at the eastern end of the bridge today.
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| Entrance to the Merchants' Bridge under the Church of St. Aegidius archway |
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| Walking on the cobblestones from the 14th century |
Many shops for all sorts of goods, galleries, cafés and boutiques line the bridge, as well as entrances to residential housing.
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| Wayne, Anja and Keith below the Merchants' Bridge |
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| Opposite view of the bridge looking towards the church tower |
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| Cobbled streets and old buildings in Erfurt |
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| Gross Gott sign in the biergarten |
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| Biergarten |
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| All Saints Church |
All Saints Church was built in 1125 as a monastery church donated since the end of the 13th century Gothic construction. In 1487 west tower renovated.
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| Stained glass windows date back to the 12th century. |
We walked to Erfurter Dom (Cathedral of St. Mary) is the largest and oldest church building in Erfurt. The late Gothic cathedral with its high-Gothic choir and Romanesque tower replaced the church built on this site for Bishop Boniface in 742. In the mid-12th century, the foundations of the original church were used for a Romanesque basilica. In the early 14th century, the mound was enlarged to make room for St Mary's Cathedral.
Martin Luther was ordained in the cathedral on 3 April 1507.
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| Cathedral of St. Mary and Church of St. Severus |
The wide stairs that lead dramatically from the Domplatz to the main entrance of the cathedral provide a good view of the 14th-century Gothic presbytery, which is supported by a massive fortress-like substructure known as the Kavaten (late 13th century).
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| Domplatz (Cathedral Square) |
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| Towers of the Dom and St. Severus with their Gothic towers |
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| Sunsetting near Bidungsstätte St. Martin |
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| Haus zum Breiten Herd is in the Romanesque style |
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| Gildehaus home to Pavarotti Ristorante |
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| Erfurt by night |
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| This was above a 'transvestite bar' or as we call it Drag Bar |
Our last day in Friedewald, had coffee with Opa Peter and then went to see Anja's mother and brother-in-law for breakfast. So much time spent with the family was rewarding as we felt a part of their family. We started off towards Merkers Salt Mine but on the way stopped in Vacha. The story of a house divided by two countries.
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| The border between the two former Germany's went through this house |
The house Hoßfeld with residential building and printing house was built in 1890 directly on the Thuringian border. The printing house initially bore the name "Hoßfeldschesche Hofbuchdruckerei" and was editor of the "Rhön-Zeitung", which appeared from 1893 to 1941 as a daily newspaper predominantly in the Thuringian area. Philippsthal-Vacha was registered as the head office, since the taxes in the former Prussia were lower than in Thuringia. The company expanded its premises beyond the state border in 1924 and moved the printing machines to Thuringia. The object was now one-twelfth on Thuringian territory (now also flowed here the long-demanded taxes) and eleven twelfths on Prussian territory.
As the border closed more and more in the post-war years, a curiosity arose: The border between the power blocks ran right through the Hoßfeldsche house. On New Year's Eve 1951/52, the printing presses were brought back to the Hessian part of the building because of the risk of expropriation and the connecting door bricked up. As a result, the GDR refused the owner any access to this half of the house and did not allow urgently needed repairs.
After walking on the bridge over the River Werra, which was blocked off from the Philippsthal side during the separation, we got back into the car and continued heading to Merkers.
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| Werra River |
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| Bridge over the Werra River to village formerly across the border |
We were excited about this trip to be underground 800m (.5 miles or 2624.67 feet) traveling through the salt mine to discover where the vast art collection and gold were found by the 'Monument Men'. We were soon to discover the underground world of potash mining. We went through a briefing before heading to the changing room and handing out of keys to each person.
Each person is given a key to account for everyone that gets off the lift into the mine, you are returned a key when you go back into the life 2.5 hours later to be collected at the time. Every precaution is taken for accountability.
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| Entrance for the Merkers Mine |
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| Merkers Mine symbol, Mine workers and lights around the opening of a mine |
We entered the cages to descend to our first stop, depressurize and then get into our transportation for the 20,000m (12.43 miles) tour. We dropped 500m in 90 seconds, everyone could feel their ears popping. Once we reached the bottom, our driver told Anja to get into the front since he saw her translating for us. Keith hopped into the from with her then we exchanged seat at the next stop (Keith and Wayne in the front, driver did speak English and told us information while driving then used his microphone to speak in German). Anja sat right behind us translating.
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| 6 cages used to carry passengers into the mine (2 each side on 3 levels) |
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| Inspecting the truck before loading |
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| View from the truck in the mine, traveling at 20km/h (12.43 mph) |
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| Keith and Wayne at 800 meters in front of salt |
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| Photo-op moment at 800 meters with Anja |
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| Crystal grotto of salt crystals |
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| Light show in the Crystal grotto |
The approximately 60-metre long cavity with its sparkling salt crystals was first discovered in 1980 but the miners did not disclose it's discovery. They knew they discovered something special, geological conditions (something of a “freak of nature”), and gigantic rock salt crystals are formed here with edge lengths of up to one meter. Even with mild lighting the cave walls and ceiling sparkle and shine. The miners hid this secret until post reunification, the grotto has not been mined and is an exhibition for all to see. The light and music show put on here is amazing.
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| Keith and Wayne in the front seat |
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| Concert hall, former storage area |
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| Wayne sitting in one of the former trucks where prior equiptment is exhibited |
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| Different colors of salt |
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| The red area is where we explored and the blue to be seen |
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| Former train for salt transportation out of the mine |
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| Gold Room where the Third Reich moved artwork and money into the salt mine before Berlin was bombed |
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| Gold bullion and photos of Eisenhower in the mine 1945 |
This was an extraordinary experience to go so deep into the Earth and see how potash is mined and where the 'Monument Men' found so much artwork that would have been lost to the World, which includes Nefertari bust. This mine and room were the richest in the world because of the gold and currency reserves of the German Reichsbank. A must visit if you plan to visit Germany.
We a re making our way slowly back to Düsseldorf with no set agenda other than Brown Signs for places of interest, but we did plan on seeing Bad Hersfeld. First stop, the ruins of the early Romanesque monastery church of St. Wigbert belong to the former Benedictine abbey of Herfeld. As early as 736, a missionary cell was commissioned by bonifatius, before the Archbishop of Mainz, Lullus, aged between 769 and 775 a Benedictine abbey. Charlemagne placed the abbey 775 under his royal protection.
In 831, the foundation was laid for a large church, consecrated in 850 by Rabanus Maurus. This building was destroyed by fire in 1038. Already 1040 could in the presence of King Henry III. a part of the then started new building to be consecrated, but only in the 12th. was completed. According to its political significance, the church is one of the largest religious buildings of its time. In 1761 the church was destroyed during the Seven Years War and has since been a ruin.
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| Tower and front façade |
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| Interior looking from front to back |
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| Panoramic from the tower looking over the City |
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| Looking over the gardens near the tower and Bad Hersfeld |
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| Abbey ruins and people's church tower in the distance |
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| Katharinenturm (tower) |
In the monastery zone stands the Katharinenturm (tower), in which hangs the Lullusglocke, Germany’s oldest dated bell (cast in 1038 AD).
After we grab some lunch and walk a bit around Bad Hersfeld we meander closer to Düsseldorf and stop at Schloßpark Wilhelmshöhe, Herkules, in Kassel. The construction of the Bergpark began in 1696. The Hercules statue was built in the years 1701 to 1717 and is based on the design of the Italian Giovanni Francesco Guerniero. The entire complex is the northernmost part of the park and is an important baroque aspect of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe. It has more than 200 steps leading up to the top.
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| Herkules and the reservoir below the statue |
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| Looking down from Hercules to the garden and Castle below |
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| Wayne and Keith with the City behind us |
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| Looking up the waterfalls to the Herkules. Water games stopped 3 October. |
This beautiful fountain and water feature ran for the first time on 3 June 1714. Every time about 350.000 liters (92,000 gallons) of water are needed and visitors can follow the water's way starting from the Hercules monument and ending at the big lake of the castle Wilhelmshöhe. The water runs down the cascades, the Steinhöfer's waterfall, the devil's bridge, until it tumbles down the aqueduct before finally arriving at the lake of the castle where a fountain of about 50 meters ends the spectacle. This whole system relies on natural pressure from reservoirs and underground pipes whose locks are opened manually. The mountain park and Herkules are an UNESCO World Heritage site.
We had a wonderful time touring with Anja, she is so knowledgeable about Germany and different places to see or experience. We are grateful to have had this opportunity to tour with her and spend time together laughing and always looking for 'brown signs'.
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