Jungfernsprung (Dahn)
| Maiden jump | ||
|---|---|---|
 Jungfernsprung above Dahn, from the southwest |
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| height | 280 m above sea level NHN | |
| location | Palatinate Forest ( Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany ) | |
| Mountains | Wasgau | |
| Coordinates | 49 ° 9 '12 " N , 7 ° 46' 32" E | |
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| rock | Red sandstone | |
| Normal way | Marked hiking trail rising from 210 to 280 m , part of the premium hiking trail Felsenland-Sagenweg | |
| particularities | 70 m high climbing rock with the Franz-Seiler-Gedächtnisweg | |
The Jungfernsprung on the edge of the small town of Dahn in the southwest of the Palatinate is a steep rock that towers over the place by about 70 m and at the top at 280 m above sea level. NHN carries a kind of summit cross . The rock is the symbol of the city and also part of an old local legend , the legend of the Jungfernsprung .
Geographical location
The maiden jump is located northwest of the city center. With its west and north sides it steps steeply and steeply, on the upper side, which measures about 200 m from west to east, it steps slightly like a staircase from the slope of the left flank of the Lauter valley , which is called Wieslauter here . The residential development of Dahn spreads out on the sides of the rock base. Between the foot of the rock and the Wieslauter, the federal road 427 runs parallel to it , which leads from Hinterweidenthal in the northwest to Bad Bergzabern in the southeast.
structure
The rock is one of the numerous red sandstone formations that are typical of the Wasgau , which comprises the southern part of the Palatinate Forest and the northern part of the Vosges . Because the Dahn area is particularly rich in such structures, it is also called the Dahn Rock Country . The Jungfernsprung is - like the other rocks in the region - harder rock that has resisted erosion more than the surrounding softer material.
Hiking destination and climbing rock
The Jungfernsprung is accessible for hikers from the mountain side, the access path is part of the premium hiking trail Felsenland-Sagenweg . In summer, the rock, as part of the southern Palatinate climbing area, is also a regular destination for sport climbers . The spectacular Franz-Seiler-Gedächtnisweg has a level of difficulty VII + (UIAA) . It leads through the vertical valley wall and can be seen from the place.
Legend of the maiden jump
The legend, the most widespread version of which comes from local writer August Becker (1857), reports:
- Once a maiden went to the Dahner Wald to pick berries. A man suddenly stepped out of the thicket far from the houses. It was allegedly the robber baron Hans Trapp from Berwartstein Castle , who was preparing to rob the virgin of innocence . So she gathered her skirts and ran away, but the monster came closer and closer to her. In her panic , the persecuted did not pay attention to the way. Suddenly she stood panting on the protruding corner of the rock and saw the houses of the village far below. Without thinking, the maiden fell into the abyss. And now the miracle happened : because her skirts bulged and let them float slowly down, she survived the jump completely unharmed. A spring has been bubbling at the point where her foot struck .
The further fate of the virgin and the fiend has not been handed down, but this story adequately explains the steepness of the rock and the existence of the source for the previous need for information.
Occasionally painters have been inspired to capture the dramatic “maiden jump” in pictures. Apparently, the idea of parachuting was always the inspiration here, with the girl's puffed skirts allowing an optical interpretation of the “miracle” and at the same time representing an attractive painting object.
Franz Weiß speculates in a poem that in earlier times the rock may have served as a place of judgment for divine judgments in which, for example, young women had to prove their virginity .
literature
- August Becker : The Palatinate and the Palatinate . 7th edition. Plöger Medien, Gräfenhausen 2005, ISBN 978-3-89857-193-7 (topographical-cultural-historical monograph, reprint of the 1st edition from 1857).
- Paul Henry Jones: The maiden jump . In: Legends & Myths - Rhineland and Palatinate - Part 1 . Epubli Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8442-7019-8 , pp. 21-24 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ LANIS: Topographic Map. Retrieved August 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Felsenland Legend Trail. Verbandsgemeinde Dahner Felsenland , accessed on November 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Tourist Information Dahner Felsenland (ed.): The Jungfernsprung - sagas, myths and legends .
- ↑ Franz Weiß: The maiden jump at Dahn . In: Alexander Schöppner (Ed.): Sagenbuch der Bayrische Lande . Verlag Lothar Borowsky, Munich 1979 ( Google Books , accessed June 1, 2020 - Chapter 57).