Fairytale grove

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Postcard from the 1930s

The fairy tale Hain was from the 1930s to 1980 above the wine village Niederheimbach situated enchanted forest and a tourist attraction on the Middle Rhine .

history

The builder was the sculptor Ernst Heilmann (born March 30, 1877 in Münster , † 1969 in Niederheimbach). He came to Niederheimbach in 1910 and opened a modest workshop in 1911 in which he made altars, pulpits and chairs for various churches, e.g. B. built in Arzfeld , Neuerburg , Montabaur and Alsace .

From 1927 Heilmann created the fairy tale grove on a plateau that had been created by a landslide.

On August 10, 1927, a restaurant and pastry shop was opened at what is now Bundesstraße 9 . From there, 132 steps led to the actual fairytale grove with a magnificent view of the Rhine . In front of another restaurant building on the Märchenhaingelände there was initially a playground, which later became a large dance floor. The inauguration of the grove took place on July 2, 1931, the unveiling of the Brothers Grimm on August 6, 1932. At this celebration, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf were performed as an open-air play.

Fairy tales were reproduced in small houses on the site, including a “Kusperhäuschen” for the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel , a Snow White house and a Cinderella house. Other fairy tale characters such as Little Red Riding Hood spread over the property. Heilmann's “mother monument” found its place on the Rhine. Heilmann Niederheimbach's children and his own family served as models for both the fairy tale characters and the mother memorial.

During the time of National Socialism , the organization Kraft durch Freude (KdF) initially brought even larger numbers of visitors to the Märchenhain, but this collapsed during the Second World War .

After the war there were already 3,500 visitors in 1951. The number of visitors increased steadily. Many well-known actors attended. In the 1952 film once on the Rhine by director Helmut Weiss , the upper restaurant in the fairy tale grove went down in film history as the “Rheinschlösschen”. Many Niederheimbach citizens served as extras. The park recorded the 500,000 in 1953. Visitors. In 1957 a large dining room was added to the restaurant, so a total of up to 3,000 guests could be served. Ernst Heilmann became an honorary citizen of Niederheimbach in 1961; he died in 1969 at the age of 93.

In 1980 the Märchenhain was sold, the new owners had no interest in continuing the park. The property and the building have since fallen into disrepair. However, following a citizens' initiative, the fairy tale characters were rescued and restored and found their new place on an idyllic path near the village. There are now many fairy tale characters such as Little Red Riding Hood , Hansel and Gretel and many more to look at in new splendor on the “Kuhweg” and in the castle gardening shop. The figures were transferred to the Niederheimbach municipality in 1998 by the owners of the Märchenhain grounds.

gallery

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Bröder: Once upon a time on burgenblogger.de ( Memento from August 24, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Honorary Citizen ( Memento from February 9, 2020 in the Internet Archive ) Former Niederheimbach website

Web links

Commons : Märchenhain Niederheimbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 1 ′ 53.9 "  N , 7 ° 48 ′ 35.7"  E