Kulmer Steig
The Kulmer Steig is a synonym for transport connections from the Elbe Valley via the eastern Ore Mountains to the Bohemian Kulm . It is an old road system of partially derelict and unpaved historical traffic routes. Based on archaeological finds, these historical long-distance routes can still be identified today. The paths all lead from the Elbe Valley between Dresden and Pirna to the south and cross the Ore Mountains as Erzgebirge passes on the Saxon side between Fürstenwalde in the west and Oelsen in the east. Obviously the most favorable crossings can be found at Müglitz ( Mohelnice ) and from there via Ebersdorf ( Habartice ) and the Geiersberg as well as at Schönwald ( Krásný Les ) and further over the Nollendorfer Pass to Kulm. The Kulmer Steig owes its favorable traffic situation to the 30 km pure wildland passage, which is limited to one day.
There is also some overlap with the Old Royal Route ( Via Regia ) from Cologne to Krakow or Berlin to Prague and the Salt Road from Halle to Prague.
Route of the Kulmer Steig
If you take a quick look at the geographic situation, it is initially surprising that from Dresden you did not use the direct southern route over the Ore Mountains or the bank-side route along the Elbe to Bohemia .
Both ways have considerable disadvantages. The southern route from Dresden over the Freitaler Heights crosses the Ore Mountains near Zinnwald at an altitude of at least 850 m above sea level. NN ( Cínovec ). The ascents and descents on the Bohemian side are sometimes very steep and the climatic conditions, especially in winter, are rather unfavorable, as users of the B 170 in the Altenberg / Zinnwald area still have to experience every winter. The riverside path near the Elbe, on the other hand, leads through a canyon-like gorge in Bohemian Switzerland , which is why it was considered rather unsafe considering the safety considerations of commercial travelers, especially since the sparsely populated region offered little protection. The castles in Saxon and Bohemian Switzerland, especially after the impoverishment of the noble owners in the 15th century, probably also served the robber barons rather than the protection of trade routes.
The use of the eastern Osterzgebirge offers only moderate inclines and more favorable climatic conditions despite a detour. The ridge itself only reaches about 700 m above sea level. NN ( Nollendorfer Pass ).
Dohna formed an excellently protected entrance to the Müglitztal with the castle complexes on the Robisch and the Reichsburg on the Schlossberg opposite, thus enabling safe access to the lower Eastern Ore Mountains. From here there were several different paths:
- Eastern route: Zehista - Dohma - Ottendorf - Gersdorf - Gottleuba - Oelsen - Schönwald - Nollendorf - Kulm
- Main route: Köttewitz - Meusegast - Niederseidewitz - Ottendorf - Gersdorf - Gottleuba - Oelsen - Schönwald - Nollendorf - Kulm
- Western route: Köttewitz - Meusegast - Niederseidewitz - Nentmannsdorf - Hostels - Liebstadt - Börnersdorf - Breitenau - Schönwald - Nollendorf - Kulm
But also Pirna with its Elbfurt offered a good entry into this mountain crossing, especially in the late Middle Ages after the Dohna feud, when Dohna lost his position to Pirna. Whereby this access probably did not run through Zehista, but somewhat to the east over the plateau on the Kohlberg and then also reached Dohma and then followed the eastern route.
In addition to these main arteries, there were a number of secondary routes, such as B.
- from Breitenau via Fürstenwalde, Müglitz, Ebersdorf to Kulm,
- from hostels via Göppersdorf to Börnersdorf or
- from Gottleuba via Hellendorf, Peterswald to Nollendorf.
These traffic corridors have been expanded with the advent of modern traffic. This is how u. a. the old and the new Dresden Teplitzer Poststrasse . But today's streets also use these corridors, e.g. B. the federal highway 17 .
Chronological order
Some of the paths outlined above can be reconstructed for prehistoric times. This is shown u. a. archaeological finds (ceramics; coins, even from Roman times; tools, weapons) from the Bronze (approx. 1800–750 BC) and Iron Ages (approx. 750 BC to the birth of Christ). Even a few finds from the Neolithic ( Stone Age approx. 4500–1800 BC) show statistically significant connections with the routes of the Kulmer Steig described above.
In the Middle Ages the route served as a trade and military route. According to tradition, the Kulmer Steig was used for 805 and 856 military campaigns to Bohemia. However, this is only verifiably possible for 1040, when Margrave Ekkehard II of Meissen moved to Bohemia with the Saxon army and a force of Archbishop Bardo of Mainz and so entered the dispute between Heinrich III. and Břetislav I. intervened. The eastward expansion of Heinrich I probably also took place via this route, especially since the founding of Dohna Castle around 930 is attributed to him (other sources name Otto I as the founder around 960; perhaps there is also a misunderstanding here regarding the castle complex Robisch and the Reichsburg opposite on the Schlossberg). It is proven that Heinrich I founded Meißen Castle in 929 and moved on to Bohemia in the same year. Further military campaigns were made by Wiprecht von Groitzsch (1107) and King Lothar III. (1126) over this route.
These traffic routes also played an important role in the great wars of the Middle Ages. The armies in the Thirty Years 'War , in the Seven Years' War and during the Wars of Liberation from the Napoleonic occupation, especially around 1813, used these routes to cross the Ore Mountains and regularly brought death, misery and devastation to the region.
With the introduction of compulsory roads in the 14th century, as well as post road construction in the 18th century and modern road construction since the early 19th century, the old road systems described at the beginning disappeared in the sense of hollow roads, as they had been shaped for centuries by heavy wagons.
In the later Middle Ages, these trade routes increasingly concentrated on the post roads (e.g. Alte and Neue Dresden Teplitzer Poststrasse ) with their measurements and markings by Adam Friedrich Zürner since 1712/13 on behalf of the Saxon Elector August the Strong .
No later than 19./20. The current road network was built in the 19th century. As already mentioned above, this is based on the described routes of the Kulmer Steig (e.g. state road 173 from Pirna to the Bahratal border crossing; district road 8760 from Pirna to Herbergen; district road 8770 from Dohna via Köttewitz into Seidewitztal; state road 176 from Pirna through the Seidewitztal to Liebstadt and on to Börnersdorf and Breitenau and of course the federal motorway 17 , which runs parallel to the Alte Dresden Teplitzer Poststraße, etc.).
See also
literature
- Klaus Simon, Knut Hauswald: The Kulmer Steig before the Middle Ages. To the oldest Saxon-Bohemian traffic routes across the Eastern Ore Mountains. In: Work and research reports on the preservation of monuments in Saxony. Volume 37, Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1180-9 , pp. 9-98. (Formerly published by Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin. Recording from volume 35/1992)
- M. Ruttkowski: Old roads in the Ore Mountains; Archaeological Monument Inventory Bohemian Path. In: Work and research reports on the preservation of monuments in Saxony. Volume 44, 2002, ISBN 3-910008-52-6 .