Bavarian iron road
The Bavarian Iron Road is an important and historic holiday route in southern Germany, which, over a length of 120 km, connects numerous historical industrial sites from several centuries with cultural and natural monuments.
The project is integrated into the Central European Iron Road, the organization of which is coordinated by the Montanhistorische Verein Österreich , based in Leoben . Representatives from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Italy cooperate in the working group. This project has been recognized by the Council of Europe as the Iron Cultural Route in Europe .
The Bavarian Iron Road runs along old traffic routes from the Upper Franconian Pegnitz in a southerly direction through the Upper Palatinate to Regensburg and connects the former iron centers of Eastern Bavaria , namely the Pegnitz , Auerbach , Edelsfeld , Sulzbach-Rosenberg and Amberg districts . From there it becomes an approximately 60 km long waterway on the rivers Vils and Naab to their confluence with the Danube near Regensburg.
Historical meaning
Since the 13th century, when water power began to be used to operate the ironworks' hammer mills , this region, like Eisenwurzen in Lower Austria, has developed into an important iron center in Central Europe. The “ semi-finished products ” (semi-finished products) were transported from Amberg and Sulzbach to Nuremberg and then to the transshipment point near Regensburg, where they were shipped up and down the Danube.
In addition to mining , the Upper Palatinate iron also owes its existence to special trades such as tinsmiths, plumber, nail smiths and tool fitters and probably also some Nuremberg manufacturers of art and measuring instruments . The heyday was particularly in the 16th (the Thirty Years War became a turning point) and the 19th century (with the construction of the railways, among other things ). Due to the local ore mines , the Maxhütte in Sulzbach-Rosenberg (closed in 2002) became the largest ironworks in southern Germany . Also important are the Luitpoldhütte in Amberg's iron tradition and the Carolinenhütte near Kallmünz , which is a 200-year-old private foundry that still holds its own in a market niche today.
Further evidence of the history of culture and technology are various shafts, the trade union houses and workers' settlements of the hammer mills, the castles of the hammer lords and also small businesses. The historical context is documented by richly designed town halls as well as monasteries and churches.
Geological fault line pile
The Eisenstraße partly follows the Bavarian Stake , which stretches as a striking geological fault line , partly filled with ores and quartzite, from Eastern Bavaria to Upper Austria . The Sulzbacher Bergbaupfad was created there, which deals with the iron ore deposits of the Amberg-Sulzbach-Auerbach districts.
literature
- B. Kaulich, R. Meyer, H. Schmidt-Kaler: From Nuremberg through the Pegnitz-Alb to the Bavarian Iron Road , Walks into Geological History Volume 11 (with map and 8 excursions), Verlag Pfeil, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3- 931516-76-5 .