Obrunn Gorge
The Obrunn Gorge is a deep cut into the valley of the Obrunngraben near Höchst in the Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse . The Obrunnschlucht fairytale trail has been located in it since around 1920.
location
The Obrunn Gorge is located between Höchst i. Odw. And Rimhorn in the northeastern Odenwald . The Obrunngraben, also called Obrunnbach, and the state road 3106 run through the narrow gorge. It branches off south of Höchst im Odenwald from the former federal road 45 (now the B 426 ) to the southeast in the direction of Rimhorn. The gorge is about three kilometers long and up to 17 meters below the level of the road. The bottom of the brook is only a few meters wide at the narrowest points.
A hiking trail runs along the entire length of the gorge and crosses it over numerous wooden bridges. Contrary to the general forest path clearance for cyclists, the path may not be used by them. Almost at the upper end of the gorge there is a large forest car park with orientation boards and direct access to the hiking trail on the L 3106. The Obrunn Gorge is part of the Bergstrasse-Odenwald Geo-Nature Park .
geology
The origin of the Obrunn Gorge is not originally due to slow digging, as is common in other valleys with watercourses, but rather to the second unfolding of today's Odenwald about 180 million years ago. Already in the Devonian , caused by the continental drift , a mountain range had formed through large parts of Europe, which in the Triassic sank again to the Germanic Basin and in which layers of the red colored sandstone could be deposited. This basement was initially covered by limestone deposits from a large inland sea and then by the sediments of the Keuper . Only after the second fold was the sediment layer partially removed down to the basement, creating deep valleys, especially in the west of the Odenwald, in which spring waters rising from the plateau easily found their way into the Upper Rhine Plain .
history
The Obrunn Gorge was first mentioned in 1857 and made accessible by the Odenwaldklub founded in 1882 . From 1896 onwards it enjoyed increasing popularity as a romantic valley course thanks to the Wandervogel movement . In the middle of the 20th century, a private initiative resulted in several models of castles, palaces, mills and forest huts on a scale of 1:20, as well as some sculptures from the legendary one after the other in particularly beautiful places in the gorge to the left of the Obrunnbach, without reference to real buildings and fairy tale world.
In 1953 a severe storm destroyed almost all miniatures and wooden bridges in the gorge and made them impassable. In 1961, Höchst citizens came together and began to rebuild and expand the facility. In order to increase the attractiveness, the infrastructure was also improved with a parking lot for hikers and a kiosk with a bar and tables and benches. At the same time, the terrace area with the club fountain and a small hiking hut was built at the top of the gorge.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Obrunn Gorge not only attracted the highest citizens, but also many people looking for local recreation from the entire Rhine-Main area . At the end of the 1970s, however, interest in the romantic setting waned, the miniatures of which had already been gnawed by the ravages of time. The kiosk was abandoned and almost all buildings fell into disrepair or were vandalized.
It was not until 2005 that some committed Höchst citizens founded the Obrunnschlucht interest group and in the same year set out to rebuild destroyed objects or restore remaining relics with the active help of the municipality of Höchst and financial support from numerous business people. In addition, completely new projects were tackled and planned for the future.
In summer 2007, for the 150th anniversary of the first mention of the Obrunn Gorge, the hiking trail and buildings regained their former attractiveness.
In October 2011, the Obrunn Gorge was again the target of rioters. 7 out of 14 models were destroyed. The police estimated the material damage at 1000 euros. The reconstruction of the miniatures was unclear, as the voluntary interest group Obrunnschlucht had probably not started a new reconstruction completely on their own. But help came in December 2011. A benefit evening was organized for the benefit of the project and the Society for Education and Training (BAW) Odenwaldkreis and its craftsmen assured help with the reconstruction.
Objects
The following models existed or are back in the Obrunn Gorge:
- House Odenwald (built before 1953, rebuilt around 1961, destroyed around 1980)
- Haus Waldesruh (built before 1953, rebuilt around 1961, destroyed around 1980)
- Mountain hut (built before 1953, rebuilt around 1961, destroyed around 1980)
- Old Mountain Church (destroyed around 1980, replaced in 2006 by New Mountain Church)
- Wasserburg (destroyed around 1980, reconstruction planned for 2008)
- Erlenmühle (built before 1953, restored 1961 and 2006)
- Sleeping Beauty Castle (built before 1953, restored 1961 and 2006)
- Schwanenburg (built before 1953, restored 1961 and 2007)
- Rübezahl (built before 1953, restored 2007)
- Windmill (built in 1961, restored in 2006)
- Reiter ("Wilde Jagd") (built around 1975, restored 2007)
- Wolfsburg (rebuilt 2005)
- New mountain church (rebuilt in 2006)
- Mouse Tower (rebuilt 2007)
- Owl Mill (rebuilt 2007)
- Waterfall (newly built in 2008)
- Hotel "Zur Post" (newly built in 2009)
- Lighthouse (rebuilt in 2009)
- Höchst monastery (destroyed around 1980, new building completed in 2017)
Hiking trails
The 4.8 kilometer long circular hiking trail R4 leads from Höchst through the Obrunn Gorge and back to Höchst. The Obrunn Gorge is to become part of the regional Geopark project in the future, which provides information about the development of the water body.
literature
- Bernhard Pollmann: Odenwald - 50 selected valley and high altitude hikes between Heidelberg, Miltenberg and Darmstadt , 3rd edition 2007, Bergverlag Rother , ISBN 3-7633-4151-X
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Echo online from October 14, 2011 "Rioters rage in Obrunnschlucht" ( memento of the original from October 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 19, 2013)
- ↑ Echo online from December 4, 2011 “Reconstruction in the Obrunnschlucht” ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on January 19, 2013)
Coordinates: 49 ° 46 ′ 58.1 ″ N , 9 ° 1 ′ 13 ″ E