Rennstieg

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Rennstieg signpost at Eigenrieden

The Rennstieg is an old running and messenger path, first mentioned in 1448, which runs between Eigenrieden and Behringen from north to south over the ridge of the Hainich . Today it serves traditional hikes known as Hainichrunst and is developed as a gravel forest road. The Rennsteig can be confused with the Rennsteig in the Thuringian Forest because of its similarity .

history

The path is 31.3 km long and has been marked with a white R on a white line since 1924. It has lost its former function as a messenger route. The traditions have been followed since 1883 by the various hiking clubs in the area around Hainich, e.g. B. the Mühlhausen Forest Association, maintained. From 1964 to 1990, the Rennstieg was interrupted by the Weberstedt and Kindel military training areas and was not fully accessible. Since it was founded on December 31, 1997, the Rennstieg has been 9 kilometers in the Hainich National Park .

particularities

Route marking of the Rennstieg: A capital R with a white underscore

The Rennstieg is a ridge and high path that runs almost its entire length through natural beech plenter forests . As a result, it clips here from age class forests emerged structurally rich beech forests of the Mühlhäuser city forest , the selection forests of deciduous cooperatives Oberdorla, Niederdorla, Langula, Großengottern and Kammerforst and existing since 1997 Hainich National Park , whose border he crosses just behind the Anthony hostel. Its forests, which are largely virgin forest, also emerged predominantly from former beech plenter forests. Behind the southeast border of the national park at Craulaer Kreuz , the Rennstieg again runs through beech plenter forests, namely from Craula , Österbehringen and Behringen. Only a few sections at Craulaer Kreuz and behind the Behringer Holz run in the open country. From there there are long-distance connections to the Fahner Heights on the one hand and to the Thuringian Forest with the Wartburg in the foreground on the other.

Attractions

The Rennstieg on the Ihlefeld with the begging oak
"Mareilebank" at Rennstieg, in honor of Jutta Kleinschmidt
Stone table on Rennstieg
The Rennstieg at the entrance to the Hainich National Park

From north to south:

  • Eigenrieder Warte ⊙ and the Mühlhausen Landgraben with its fortifications, old watchtowers and numerous historical boundary stones as a historical border fortification of the imperial city of Mühlhausen.
  • The Heldrasteinblick above Heyerode is not far west of the Rennstieg, which runs along the edge of the forest there. From there, when visibility is good, the Heldrastein (503 m above sea level), a symbol of the Werra Valley, can be seen.
  • the Grenzhaus Heyerode ⊙ , a customs post with a gate building at the so-called neck, a fortification between what was then Hesse and the Landgraviate of Thuringia. Later it was converted into a (border) forester's house. The current building dates from 1650. The building with a gate across the street is a landmark of Hainich and an artist residence. Nearby is the former train station from 1911, now a restaurant for excursions.
  • Forstort Ritzhäuser loading point ⊙ : This is where the wood used to be collected and prepared for removal for a long time. Not far to the west, on the spur of the Sommerstein, is an old refugee castle. Remnants of the moat and ramparts are still there. Below the Sommerstein there is one of the few rocky eruptions in the Hainich.
  • Mareile-Bank forest location. Three benches from March 18, 1995 commemorate the legendary Vogteier Rennsteig hiker Jutta Kleinschmidt born Müller (1905–1965), called Mareile . In 1937 she organized a hike on the Rennstieg from Eigenrieden to Behringen for the first time.
  • Struppeiche forest site ⊙ - at the intersection with the road from Langula to Nazza. The giant tree known as the Struppeiche was felled due to old age and danger to traffic.
  • Twin beech ⊙ : A two-stemmed, old red beech at the junction to Nazza (path through the Lotzengrund), the trunks of which wind up like a screw.
  • Metas Ruh ⊙ forest village , a well-known resting place on Rennstieg.
  • Dreiherrensteine ⊙ : Old, fundamentally triangular boundary stones at the corner points of three former offices or aristocratic courts or corner points of three state borders. On or near Rennstieg, boundary stones between the Kingdom of Prussia (KP) and the duchies of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha (HSG) and Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach (SWE) are often marketed as tri-gentile stones.
  • Forest place Steinerner Tisch ⊙ : A resting place for hikers since 1838 with a stone table and two stone benches. The rest area was built on May 18, 1838 by Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Seebach . The Vorderrhön is said to have been visible from there as late as 1894. In and around the Hainichwald there are around a dozen court places with a stone table (one place per community). Until the 19th century, violations of the right of use of the forest cooperatives were judged there.
  • The Antoniusherberge was a medieval inn and infirmary on the ridge of the Rennstieg, it later achieved dubious fame as a shelter for gangs of robbers and was destroyed in 1568 by the residents of the surrounding communities.
  • The Ihlefeld ⊙ with Betteleiche ⊙ : Forest meadow at the intersection of Rennstieg and Hohen Strasse (actually Halstrasse or Salzstrasse ), an old trade route across the Hainich. At the intersection is the approximately 800-year-old begging oak , today the most famous symbol of Hainich with a man-sized gaping passage.
  • The Ihlefeld Cross ⊙ : is a 190 cm high stone cross made of shell limestone with incisions from a bear hunting scene: a man with a bear hunting spear and, to the right, a bear in an attacking position with raised paws. The cross is dated to the first half of the 15th century, making it the oldest land monument in Hainich.
  • The signpost Iron Hand - here as a copy - is a forged signpost in the form of a hand with five fingers pointing in the different directions. The original is now at the entrance to the National Park House in Weberstedt.
  • The Hellmundstein ⊙ is a 105 cm high memorial stone with a cross and the inscription "JG Helmund". The stone reminds of the fatal accident of the Wagner Johann Gottfried Hellmund from Tüngeda in 1798. It got caught between the trunks while unloading wood.
  • The Craulaer Kreuz ⊙ is a damaged, only one-armed stone cross made of shell limestone on the Hainichrand west of Craula. It was created at the end of the 16th century (incision 157th) and was found again in 1928 by the Österbehringer shoemaker Adolf Giese. During the GDR era, the cross was lost again and has since been replaced by a replica.
  • The Turnerbank has been a prominent resting place since the turn of the century. This is where the sports enthusiasts from the surrounding communities met to take a break.
  • At 493.9  m above sea level, the Alte Berg is the highest elevation in Hainich. From there there is a view of the young forest areas on the formerly wood-free military training area Kindel.
  • Colorful linden tree ⊙ : Old linden tree on the path with woodpecker holes in the bark.
  • The master builder's cross ⊙ is another legendary stone cross. There is a legend about this cross about the master builder of the Großenbehringen Castle, who is said to have been slain by a bricklayer there after the work was done. A cross was set up along the way to commemorate this murder. It used to stand in the hallway between Behringen and Haina. It was named Baumeisterkreuz.
  • A view of the Wartburg is also possible from the Rennstieg .
  • The Rennstieg ends at Behringen Castle . The castle is an important complex from the Renaissance period and belonged to the Lords of Wangenheim. In the vicinity of the castle are the village green, the church and the castle park with sculptures and rare trees, including an old Weymouth pine, one of the landmarks of the place.

Others

In the southern part, the Via Porta, laid out as a pilgrimage route between the Volkenroda monastery and the Waldsassen monastery, runs parallel to the Rennstieg .

literature

  • Harald Rockstuhl , Frank Störzner : Hainich history book - hike through the history of a natural heritage , Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza, 3rd revised edition July 31, 2003, ISBN 978-3-932554-15-5
  • Hermann Gutbier: The Hainich. A contribution to local history . Self-published, Langensalza 1894, p. 48 .
  • Heinz-Werner Schreiber: Paths and desolation in Hainich. Rockstuhl, 1994, ISSN  0941-3219 , p. 20 .
  • Rolf Aulepp: The Mühlhäuser Landgraben, a culturally and historically valuable soil monument . In: Kulturbund der DDR, Kreiskabinett Worbis (Hrsg.): Eichsfelder Heimathefte . Issue 2. Heiligenstadt 1979, p. 110-122 .

Film reports

The Rennstieg was presented as a hiking route in the MDR , backpack series.

See also

Web links

Commons : Rennstieg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerald Patzelt The Hainich . Heiligenstadt 1998. pp. 46-47. ISBN 3-929413-40-X
  2. ↑ Gerald Patzelt The Hainich . P. 13.
  3. ^ Dierk Röbke: The Mühlhäuser Landgraben. The little hiking book. 26 p., Mühlhausen 2002 (Thuringia).
  4. ↑ Gerald Patzelt The Hainich . P. 41.
  5. ↑ Information is provided for the sake of completeness, today there is only a parking lot for hikers and a bus stop
  6. ↑ Harald Rockstuhl: Hainich history book . P. 52.
  7. ↑ Gerald Patzelt The Hainich . P. 44.
  8. ^ Heinz-Werner Schreiber: Paths and desolation in Hainich . P. 6.
  9. ^ Weise, R. et al. Natural monuments in the Unstrut-Hainich district S 55.
  10. ↑ Harald Rockstuhl: Hainich history book . P. 131.
  11. ↑ Distance about 14 km as the crow flies