Liebethaler reason
The Liebethaler Grund describes the narrow and deeply cut valley of the Wesenitz between Lohmen and Hinterjessen in the north-western edge of Saxon Switzerland . The Wesenitz breaks through the sandstone of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains here . The beginning and end of the Liebethaler Grund are roughly marked by the location of the Daubemühle near Lohmen and the Grundmühle Hinterjessen. It is named after the village of Liebethal , located north of the bottom on a plateau .
In the course of the tourist development of Saxon Switzerland, which began at the end of the 18th century, the Liebethaler Grund represented the first encounter of hikers with the wild and romantic rocky world of the sandstone mountains. Until the completion of the Elbe Valley Railway (1851) the route from Pillnitz via Graupa and the Liebethaler Grund to Lohmen and the Bastei as the main access route to Saxon Switzerland. Today the Malerweg , the main hiking trail in Saxon Switzerland, runs through the Grund.
The water power of the Wesenitz was formerly used by the Daubemühle, Lochmühle , Liebethaler Mühle and Grundmühle Hinterjessen. The largest Wagner monument in the world has been located near the Lochmühle since 1933 .
Natural space
geology
The Wesenitz cut into the "d" level Elbe sandstone in the Liebethaler Grund about 40 to 50 meters deep . In terms of age, this sandstone can be assigned to the Upper Turonium / Lower Coniacian and is therefore around 89 million years old. As evidence of the last Ice Age, there are several whirlpool holes near the Lochmühle . The sandstone is also characterized by honeycomb structures as a result of chemical weathering and iron inclusions.
The eroding effect of the water is evident in the Liebethaler Grund in the form of laterally flushed coves at the foot of the rock walls, which favor rock falls .
Flora and fauna
The Liebethaler Grund is one of the typical gorge-like valleys of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the natural space is influenced by the interplay of river, valley floor and rock faces. The deep and partly canyon-like valley is protected from radiation and wind. Since the bottom of the valley receives little or no solar radiation, the climate here is humid, shady and cool (summer) to mild (winter). The temperature differences between summer and winter and between day and night are comparatively small.
In contrast to the damp and cool valley floor are the upper rock edges of the valley, the v. a. in a south-facing location receive significantly more sunlight and are to be addressed as warm, dry locations.
The vegetation is dominated by plant communities that prefer moist, shady grounds with plenty of water. In the trees at the bottom of the valley there are v. a. Deciduous trees such as ash , sycamore maple , norway maple , winter linden , pedunculate oak and sycamore elm . The steep slopes and rocky areas, on the other hand, are dominated by pine and birch (sunny locations) and spruce (shady locations). The herb layer is determined by the big balsam and various ferns (including worm ferns , forest lady fern , brown-stemmed striped fern , and occasionally ostrich fern ). In addition, there is a species-rich moss vegetation on walls, tree bark and damp rocky areas , u. a. with liverwort .
As representatives of the animal world, v. a. to name different bird species like kingfisher , gray wagtail and dipper , who prefer mountain streams with fast flowing, clear and clean water. In addition there are u. a. Wren , warblers and warblers , also occasionally spotted woodpeckers and jays . Muskrats have also been at home in Liebethaler Grund since the late 1920s .
natural reserve
The Liebethaler Grund is part of the FFH area " Wesenitz below Buschmühle" (No. 4949-302).
history
The history of the "Liebenthaler Grundt" (es), which was first mentioned in a document in 1527, was linked to the extraction of sandstone for centuries. Hydropower was also used at an early stage by various mills and from 1894 by the Copitz municipality's power station. The valley has developed into a popular excursion destination since the end of the 18th century and was for a long time the western gateway to Saxon Switzerland.
Sandstone extraction
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The former sandstone quarries in Liebethaler Grund are among the oldest fracture areas in Saxon Switzerland. A quarry on the Wesenitz near Liebethal was first mentioned in documents as early as 1346. But sandstones from the Liebethaler Grund are said to have been used as early as 1260 when the Meissen Cathedral was built. In addition to being used as stone, the sandstone from the Liebethaler Grund was mainly used to manufacture millstones .
The well-known chronicler Petrus Albinus wrote about the Liebethaler sandstone as follows:
"From the hard and thick stone at the castle libenthal (...) you make the best millstone, which is seduced far on the Elbe, also in Poland and elsewhere"
The issues of sandstone extraction were already regulated in 1529 in the first mining regulations, further versions were issued in 1547, 1556, 1588, 1660/1663, 1691 and 1755. The rapid decrees show that the 16th century in particular was a heyday for sandstone mining. In 1587 there were 20 fractures on the south side of the Grund (Daubaer side) alone. In later years around 55 sandstone quarries are said to have existed in the entire Liebethaler Grund. In 1765 there were 63 sandstone quarries, including 27 on the Daubaer side and 36 on the Liebethaler side. Some of the quarries, however, were already desolate and were no longer operated, as the mill stones and millstones were transported to the Elbe , the main transport route for the sandstone trade , was too expensive. The quarries near the Elbe could be operated more economically in the long run, so that sandstone extraction in Liebethaler Grund continued to decline in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1818 there were still 9 quarries with 30 workers and in 1950 the sandstone extraction in the last remaining quarry of the Künzelmann company was stopped.
This ended a branch of industry that had been in operation for centuries and that changed the image of the Liebethaler Grund. By extracting sandstone, the valley slopes were relocated and the valley floor widened. Allegedly, the Liebethaler Grund near Liebethal is said to have originally been so narrow that it could be crossed from rock face to rock face with steep climbs. In addition to various sandstone dumps, the rock walls of the valley, which are smoothly hewn in sections, and several preserved sandstone quarries from the 19th century are evidence of quarrying. Also preserved is a boundary sign, which was probably struck in a rock wall in the early 16th century, consisting of a border cross, flanked by the Schönburg coat of arms and the episcopal Schleinitz coat of arms . The von Schönburgs and the Bishops of Meißen were among the owners of the sandstone quarries.
Mills
The water power of the Wesenitz in Liebethaler Grund has been used by various mills since at least the 14th century. In the direction of the river Wesenitz these were the Daubemühle, the Lochmühle, the Liebethaler Mühle and the Grundmühle Hinterjessen.
The Daubemühle was first mentioned in 1465. It was a board and grinding mill, but it was difficult to operate. The millers of the Daubemühle suffered from the Lohmener mill pressure and found it difficult to acquire customers because the surrounding villages actually had to grind their grain in the Lohmener mills. Milling was stopped as early as 1850 in favor of the production of wood pulp . Since 1911 the water power of the Wesenitz with two turbines has been used to generate energy. The wood pulp production of the former stave mill was discontinued in the 1930s. In 1940 a spinning and weaving mill was set up in the building complex. During the GDR era, the Daubemühle was used as a children's holiday camp. In 2000 the community of Lohmen set up a restaurant in the mill. The water power of the Wesenitz is still used by a small hydroelectric power station.
The Lochmühle , located just below the Daubemühle, was built around 1560 as a grinding mill. Their operation turned out to be literally "in the hole" due to the remote location. The Lochmühle Mühle was only accessible on foot via steep paths and stairs from Mühlsdorf and Daube. For a long time, it was not possible to transport it to and from it by horse and cart. Not until 1799 was a road from Mühlsdorf to Lochmühle laid out, which was still extremely difficult to pass due to its steepness. In the course of the tourist development of Saxon Switzerland, which began at the end of the 18th century, the Lochmühle was the first encounter of hikers with the wild and romantic rocky world of the sandstone mountains. Tourism developed into a worthwhile additional income for the "Lochmüller". Since the 1840s the mill was also operated as an inn. In the summer of 1846 Richard Wagner stayed at the Lochmühle several times and composed parts of the opera Lohengrin here . The Richard Wagner Memorial, erected in 1933 not far from Lochmühle, reminds of Wagner's stay . The grinding operation ended in 1880 after the last Lochmüller had a fatal accident in the wheels of his mill. After that, the grinding operation was stopped and the Lochmühle used exclusively as an inn. In the course of the transition and the end of the GDR , the use as an inn was discontinued. The mill has been empty for over 20 years and is becoming increasingly dilapidated.
Below Liebethal, at the confluence of the Klemnitz and Wesenitz, is the Liebethaler Mühle . The comparatively young facility was built in 1826 as a grinding mill with an inn. The milling operation ended in 1886 when the new mill owner set up a cardboard factory for leather cardboard after a sale . The factory was continuously expanded and in 1924 already had 249 employees (for comparison: the neighboring village of Liebethal had around 530 inhabitants in 1925). At the beginning of the 1930s, the factory was owned by Osthushenrich AG. After the expropriation at the end of the Second World War, the company belonged to various state-owned paper mills. Cardboard production ended in 1961. The Heidenau networks later used the area. Production ended in 1992. The hydropower plant, which was probably installed before the First World War, is still in operation with two Francis turbines from 1956 (100 kW each) and generates an annual energy production of over 800,000 kWh.
At the western exit of the Liebethaler Grund is the Grundmühle Hinterjessen , which probably existed as a grinding mill as early as the 14th century. In 1781 the mill had 4 grinding stages, 1 cutting mill and 1 oil beater. In the 1830s, 2 more grinding aisles were installed in an outbuilding called the Obermühle. This made the Grundmühle one of the most important mills on the Wesenitz. The leaseholder of the upper mill was u. a. Gottlieb Traugott Bienert , who later became a major industrialist in Dresden as a miller and baker. Bienert supplied his bakery in Dresden with flour from Hinterjessen. The use of water power for grinding ended in 1958 because the Wesenitz weir was destroyed in a flood and not rebuilt. The production was switched to electric motors. Since the 1970s, the Pirna District Council used the Grundmühle as a warehouse for civil defense . Until 2011, the fire fighting center of the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district was located here. The building of the former upper mill is used as a residential building.
tourism
In the course of the tourist development of Saxon Switzerland, which began at the end of the 18th century, the Liebethaler Grund represented the first encounter of hikers with the wild and romantic rocky world of the sandstone mountains. Until the completion of the Elbe Valley Railway (1851) the route from Pillnitz via Graupa and the Liebethaler Grund to Lohmen and the Bastei as the main access route to Saxon Switzerland. The first travelers could only cross the Liebethaler Grund at the level of the Lochmühle, as the valley itself was not accessible. Only in 1841 was a footpath from Liebethal to Lochmühle created by the Pirna authorities . A commemorative plaque on the valley wall below the Copitzer power station reminds of this. This path was extended to the next upstream mill, the Daubemühle, in 1882. This made the wild and romantic Wesenitztal in the Liebethaler Grund even more attractive and easier to experience for tourism. Today this path is part of the Malerweg , the main hiking route in Saxon Switzerland, which has its starting point at Liebethaler Grund.
Artist in the Liebethaler Grund
The romantic nature of the bottom with the raging essence, the mills and sandstone quarries has inspired numerous artists since the end of the 18th century. Painters such as Christian Gottlob Hammer , Carl August Richter , Franz Stadler, Christian Friedrich Sprinck, Adrian Zingg , Johan Christian Clausen Dahl and Ludwig Richter captured the natural and cultural landscape in drawings.
Poets, writers and storytellers were also inspired by the Liebethaler Grund. Early descriptions of the valley lie u. a. by Elisa von der Recke , Carl Heinrich Nicolai and Wilhelm Leberecht Götzinger . Even Hans Christian Andersen stayed in 1831 Liebethaler reason.
“Hardly any painter is able to depict the lovely tree, water and rock areas, my pen is too weak to describe the horrible grace around Liebethal, but horrible areas were still waiting for mine, and so I had to leave the rushing stream of water from the lonely mill. "
"The further we hiked up the valley, the more its beauties developed and now rose above all my expectations."
“The longer we went, the narrower the valley became, the rock walls moved closer together, and we could only walk one behind the other on the narrow footbridge. (...) Only a few rays of sun fell between the rocks. (...) We turned back and looked for a guide at the mill, now we wanted to go from above into the quiet, romantic Liebethaler Grund, which we had all got to know in its deepest sanctuary. "
One of the most famous guests of the Liebethaler Grund was the composer Richard Wagner , who stayed at the Lochmühle several times in the summer of 1846 and composed parts of the Lohengrin opera here . Wagner visited the valley again in later years. The world's largest Richard Wagner monument, erected in 1933 not far from Lochmühle, is a reminder of Wagner's stay . The landlord of the Lochmühle made the property available for its construction, as he hoped it would increase the number of guests in the mill. The more than four meter high bronze statue depicting Wagner as the guardian of the Grail was designed by the Dresden painter and sculptor Richard Guhr as early as 1911/12 . After attempts to erect it in front of the theater in Teplitz-Schönau and in the Great Garden in Dresden failed, the monument was erected in Liebethaler Grund and unveiled on May 21, 1933, the 50th anniversary of Wagner's death.
Climbing facility
At the western entrance to the Liebethaler Grund there has been a climbing facility in an abandoned sandstone quarry since 1984, which is now looked after by the Saxon Mountaineering Association. The smooth quarry walls were partly provided with artificial handles and can be walked on over 60 paths with difficulty up to level XIa .
literature
- Pirna and its surroundings (= values of the German homeland . Volume 9). 1st edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1966.
- Alfred Meiche : Historical-topographical description of the Pirna administration. Dresden 1927. ( digitized version )
- Frank Richter: The historical painter path. The discovery of Saxon Switzerland in the 18th and 19th centuries. Century. Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 2006, ISBN 978-3-86530-080-5
- Manfred Schober : The mills of Saxon Switzerland. Right Elbe area , monographs on Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland, Volume 2, Berg- & Naturverlag Rölke, Dresden 2009, ISBN 978-3-934514-24-9
- Manfred Schober, Peter Rölke: Malerweg hiking guide. In the footsteps of painters, poets and composers through Saxon Switzerland. Berg- und Naturverlag Rölke, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-934514-19-5
- Sizzo Stief, Ulrike Eichhorn (ed.): The Lohengrin House in Graupa and the Richard Wagner Memorial in Liebethaler Grund: Researched and experienced, ISBN 978-3-8442-0048-5 (print), ISBN 978-3-8442- 0912-9 (ePub) . Berlin 2010.
Web links
- The Malerweg on the website of the Saxon Switzerland National Park Administration
- Information about the climbing facility
- Rock information from the German Alpine Club
Individual evidence
- ↑ Horst Rast: Geological guide through the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. Freiberg 1959, p. 52ff.
- ↑ NATURA 2000 Wesenitz below Buschmühle
- ↑ Alfred Meiche: Historical-topographical description of the Pirna administration. Dresden 1927, p. 160
- ↑ Alfred Meiche: Historical-topographical description of the Pirna administration. Dresden 1927, p. 161
- ↑ Petrus Albinus : Meißnische Land- und Bergchronik , 1589
- ↑ Dieter Kutschke: Quarries and stone crushers in Saxon Switzerland. Series of publications by the Pirna City Museum, issue 11, Pirna 2000, pp. 137f.
- ↑ Willy Herrschel: The Saxon sandstone industry. Borna / Leipzig 1908, p. 80
- ^ A b Dieter Kutschke: Quarries and stone crushers in Saxon Switzerland. Series of publications by the Pirna City Museum, issue 11, Pirna 2000, p. 27
- ↑ Willy Herrschel: The Saxon sandstone industry. Borna / Leipzig 1908, p. 80
- ↑ Alfred Meiche: Historical-topographical description of the Pirna administration. Dresden 1927, p. 161
- ↑ Rüdiger Ocken, Helmut Cedra: From the mill to the paper mill. On the history of a production branch in the Pirna area. Pirna 2007, p. 92
- ↑ Rüdiger Ocken, Helmut Cedra: From the mill to the paper mill. On the history of a production branch in the Pirna area. Pirna 2007, pp. 93f.
- ↑ Liebethaler Grund hydropower plant , accessed on November 2, 2019.
- ↑ historical drawings of the Liebethaler Grund in the holdings of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden ( Memento from August 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 2, 2019.
Coordinates: 50 ° 59 ′ 47.9 " N , 13 ° 57 ′ 44.3" E