Schäfersteinpfad

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Boundary stone with mirror-inverted letter F as a symbol for Frankfurt

The Schäfersteinpfad is a historical border route from the 15th century in the city of Frankfurt am Main . Since 1484, the path has marked the parcel boundary of two wooded areas ( Hutewald ) in the Frankfurt city forest used as pasture - that of the city of Frankfurt and that of the Commander of the Teutonic Order based in Sachsenhausen . The Schäfersteinpfad has been used as a circular hiking trail since the 20th century . It leads along the boundary stones from the late 15th century that have been preserved in their historical locations .

history

In 1372, Charles IV , Roman-German Emperor since 1355 , had to cede to the city the manorial power over part of the imperial forest Wildbann Dreieich that had been pledged to Frankfurt due to financial difficulties . At the same time he had to leave the office of mayor to the city , which made Frankfurt a Free Imperial City . The ceded area was a piece of forest located between the village of Niederrad and the Sachsenhausen district, which bordered the river Main to the south. The change of ownership led to a conflict with the Teutonic Order, which had one of its most important comers in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in Sachsenhausen since the 13th century . The order claimed grazing justice for an extensive parcel of land called a wooden hedge on the area given by the emperor. The Teutonic Order derived this claim from the Sandhof, which it has owned since 1221 . This farm, also called the sheep farm because of the sheep breeding there , was one of the manors surrounding the city of Frankfurt, which stood in the northern part of the area. (The field name Holzhecke indicates a western branch of the Frankfurter Landwehr, which was established there in 1396. ) The dispute between the city and the order could only be resolved after more than 100 years in 1484, when the city gave the order for the area Payed a transfer fee of 1,400 guilders and granted them additional grazing rights. The area claimed by the Teutonic Order was marked by boundary stones and a ditch. The street names Holzhecke and Deutschordenstraße as well as Sandhofstraße and Sandhöfer Allee in the Niederrad district point to the history of the area .

Landmarks

Border stone with Balkenkreuz of the Teutonic Order

Originally 60 basalt boundary stones , called shepherd's stones, stood along the path , of which almost 50 have been preserved. The material for this probably comes from a basalt quarry , the Schwarzsteinkaut, which has been used since the Middle Ages and is located directly on the path, to which the street name Schwarzsteinkautweg still refers to today (→ Kaute ) . The boundary stones served the spatial orientation of the cattle keepers working there - including the eponymous shepherds - so that they would not inadvertently let the livestock they supervised graze on foreign territory. On the side facing the Frankfurt area, the boundary stones each have a heraldic shield carved into the stone (in the Spanish form that emerged in the 13th century ) with a mirror-inverted Fraktur capital letter F for Frankfurt, and on the side facing the pasture areas of the Teutonic Order, a similar shield with a cross . It is assumed that the mirror-inverted letter can be traced back to the mistake of a stonemason of the 15th century who was ignorant of reading and who placed the stencil for the Frankfurt symbol upside down when working the stones.

Extension of the borders of the Schäferstein path

The area claimed as pasture for cattle by the Teutonic Order in the 14th and 15th centuries can be traced to the present day through the boundary stones that have mostly been preserved in their original locations. The extent of this area can be largely understood by means of a city map published by the city of Frankfurt, in which the course of today's circular hiking trail is drawn. According to this, this pasture area extended for about three and a half kilometers in north-south expansion from today's Niederräder Landstrasse in the north (the exact course of the border route is no longer recognizable at this point due to modern traffic routes and settlements) to the city limits of Neu-Isenburg in the south.

The western border, marked by the Schäfersteinpfad, the course of which has several cuts to the east and west, essentially follows today's Kennedyallee in its northern section and runs south of the area of ​​the Frankfurter Wäldchestag in a south to south-southeast direction to Neu-Isenburger City limits. The eastern course of the Schäferstein Path extends from Louisa Park in the north to the Tannenwald forest play park in the south. The pasture area of ​​the Teutonic Order had a width of one to a maximum of one and a half kilometers in west-east expansion.

Circular hiking trail

Board with a map of the circular route (dark red line). North is on the map below

Today, the Schäfersteinpfad is mostly on the wooded area of ​​the southern Main Frankfurt districts of Niederrad and Sachsenhausen. The 13-kilometer-long former border path was laid out and signposted as a circular hiking trail by the Frankfurt City Forestry Office in 1967. Several wood- carved panels provide information about the respective location using a site plan. A northern part of the Schäferstein path is identical to the Oberforsthaus circular path set up there, which is also signposted ; a short southern section of the Schäferstein circular hiking trail runs in the urban area of Neu-Isenburg . Striking points along the hiking trail are the Jacobiweiher and Tiroler Weiher ponds , which were created in the Frankfurt city forest in the 20th century, and a short section of the Königsbach, which has been documented since the 12th century .

Transport links

Thanks to the numerous traffic arteries running through the Frankfurt city forest, the Schäfersteinpfad circular hiking trail can be reached in several places by private transport and public transport.

  • Designated parking spaces for motorized individual traffic are located at the following places on the hiking trail or in its immediate vicinity (clockwise, starting in the north): Waldspielpark Louisa / Mörfelder Landstrasse, Isenburger Schneise / Oberschweinstiegschneise, Stadionbad / Mörfelder Landstrasse, Isenburger Schneise / Am Oberforsthaus.
  • Stops of tram lines of the Frankfurter Verkehrsgesellschaft VgF on Schäfersteinpfad (clockwise, starting in the north): Louisa Bahnhof (line 14), Oberschweinstiege (line 14), Stadion tram (lines 20, 21), Oberforsthaus (lines 20, 21).

literature

  • Hermann Mayenschein, Michael Uhlig: Between Sandhof and Mainfeld - past and present of the former village and today's district of Niederrad . Published by Frankfurter Sparkasse from 1822 (Polytechnische Gesellschaft), third, expanded edition 1987. Therein: Chapter The German Knight Order and the Sandhof, pp. 20-26
  • Environment Agency of the City of Frankfurt am Main (Ed.): GrünGürtel-Freizeitkarte, 7th edition, 2011
  • Various authors: Oberforsthaus-Rundweg in Grüngürtel Park . Leaflet, published by the Environment Agency of the City of Frankfurt am Main and the RheinMain Südwest GmbH Regional Park. 1st edition, Frankfurt am Main / Kelsterbach, June 2009

Web links

Commons : Schäfersteinpfad  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ^ City of Frankfurt am Main, Environment Agency, Green Belt Project Group (ed.): Oberforsthaus-Rundweg im Grüngürtel Park . Leaflet, 1st edition, 2009
  2. ↑ Hans-Otto Schembs: History of Alt-Sachsenhausen No. 1 - Deutschordenshaus in: Module 1/08, booklet series on the history of Sachsenhausen, Volume 1, p. 8 f. Published by: City of Frankfurt am Main, City Planning Office, July 2008
  3. ↑ Hans Pehl: When they once protected the city - Frankfurt's fortified manors. Verlag Josef Knecht, Frankfurt am Main 1978. ISBN 3-7820-0411-6
  4. ↑ Mayenschein / Uhlig: Between Sandhof and Mainfeld, p. 23 f.
  5. ^ A b City of Frankfurt am Main, Forest Office (ed.): From Altheeg to Vierherrnstein - names in the Frankfurt city forest . Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald, Kreisverband Frankfurt eV, 1988, p. 79
  6. ↑ a b c Schäfersteinpfad at par.frankfurt.de , the former website of the city of Frankfurt am Main
  7. ↑ a b c Environment Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main (ed.): GrünGürtel-Freizeitkarte, 7th edition, 2011
  8. ^ City of Frankfurt am Main, Forest Office / Protection Association of German Forest , District Association Frankfurt eV (Ed.): From Altheeg to Vierherrnstein - names in the Frankfurter Stadtwald, p. 42. Frankfurt am Main, 1988
  9. ↑ This quarry with a basalt layer up to twelve meters thick was used until the beginning of the 19th century. Today the site of the former Schwarzsteinkaut is closed to the public for security reasons. (Source: City of Frankfurt am Main, Environment Agency, GrünGürtel project group (Ed.): Circular route in the Grüngürtel Park Oberforsthaus . Leaflet, 1st edition, 2009)
  10. ↑ All information on borderlines and dimensions taken from: GrünGürtel-Freizeitkarte, Umweltamt der Stadt Frankfurt am Main (Ed.), 7th edition, 2011; with marked course of the Schäferstein path
  11. ↑ traffiQ Frankfurt am Main (ed.): Frankfurt compact leaflet - route network, city map, tariffs . Status: 12/2011