Nestelberg – Ebnisee toboggan run

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In the 18th century, the Nestelberg – Ebnisee toboggan run in the Swabian Forest was a route specially created for the purpose of transporting wood by sledge. It led from Nestelberg to Ebnisee , from where the wood was transported on over the Wieslauf by rafts .

Background and origin

In a ducal decree from 1715, Duke Eberhard Ludwig issued the following to the ducal forester von Gaisberg: “In Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg , wood, much more wood, would be needed. There is enough wood in the Swabian Forest, so it should be cut down there. And how the wood is brought to Stuttgart is the problem for the foresters. The Rems would offer themselves . ”Appropriate regional roads for timber transport did not yet exist. The most economical transport route at that time was the waterway.

The reason for the sharp increase in demand for wood were the castle-new buildings ( Schloss Solitude , Ludwigsburg Palace , Favorite Castle , Seeschloss Monrepos ). The first attempts at rafting began. The forests to the right and left of the Rems could not meet the demand for wood in the long run. Therefore, logging in the Welzheimer forest was considered. In 1744 , Duke Carl Eugen issued a decree: “A reservoir must be built. For him the wood would go down too slowly from the heights of the Swabian Forest. ”In 1745/46 the Wieslauf (a right tributary of the Rems) was made floatable as a swell lake by damming the Ebnisees. Every winter, for about six days, wood could be floated on the Wieslauf to the wooden landing sites on the Rems in Waiblingen and Neckarrems .

In order to enable wood to be delivered from a wide area around the Ebnisee, a large number of toboggan runs were created in the Swabian-Franconian Forest around this time. The longest was the 26 km long toboggan run from Nestelberg in the Schmiedelfelder Forest above Sulzbach am Kocher to Ebnisee. The Schlittenweg is mentioned for the first time by the Gschwender pastor and German historian Heinrich Prescher in 1789. In the fourth section of his description of the Imperial County of Limpurg he describes it as follows:

“The Halle need [for wood] would not exhaust the supply for a long time. There are therefore other branches of the timber trade in addition to the strong domestic consumption, which the farmer is useful in dealing with. ” The “ newly created sledge path from the Schmidelfelder forest into the Wirtembergische ” opens up a new “ prospect for the Limpurgian timber trade ” . On this "in the winter between 1787 and 88 for the first time [...] several hundred fathoms, partly stately, partly church council wood, were transported to the rafting place".
“In general, there is a lack of useful military roads for traffic with neighbors. [...] A separate toboggan run, which is closed outside of winter, has been laid out from Nestelberg, in Schmidelfelder Forst, to the rafting site by the raft lake, not far from the plain, for stately wood destined for Stuttgart. It runs the length of a large ridge, now up, now down, about five hours' walk or three-half German miles, north of Gschwend past, in the stone forest, south of Kirchen-Kirnberg up quite a hill, and north past Kaysersbach. On the way there are certain stations where the light sledges loaded with wood, drawn by a horse or two oxen, are exchanged for empty sleds; The empty ones go from station to station to the loading site, but the loaded ones with constantly renewed leaderboards to the rafting site. Supervisors have to see to it that this mechanism does not get out of order. "

There have already been similar paths, e.g. B. in the Black Forest and in the Palatinate Forest .

use

A considerable distance and considerable height differences had to be overcome for the timber transport from Nestelberg. It took about five hours to cover the entire length of the path. The builders knew how to make clever use of inclines and avoid steep gradients. The sleighs were pulled by a horse or two oxen. On the way there were several stations where full sleds could be exchanged for empty sleds. A leader with additional animals was possible for overcoming steep stretches. From 530  m above sea level From the storage area located above the sea ​​level , the wood was "slid" on a roughly 400 m long "giant" to the storage and stacking area 60 m below between the Gausmannsweiler Sägmühle and the Ebnisee. More than 4000 fathoms (14,640 cubic meters) of wood were rafted annually.

The full length of the toboggan run was in operation for 66 years. The construction of the Remstalbahn in 1862 brought the end of the Remstal rafting business. The end of rafting on the Wieslauf had already come in 1861. Until the end of the rafting, only the western section of the sledge path from Kaisersbach was used. Around this time, the energy source coal began to displace wood in its role, and the sledge path was no longer used accordingly.

course

Nestelberg – Hohenohl
The Nestelberg – Ebnisee toboggan run was a simple two meter wide dirt road. The route section Nestelberg – Hohenohl is approx. 6 km long and overcomes a difference in altitude of approx. 70 m (Nestelberg approx. 460  m above sea level , Hof Hohenohl approx. 530  m above sea level ). In this section, the toboggan run cannot be seen in the terrain or on maps. During the construction of the K 2635 leading through the forest area from Sulzbach / Kocher to Rotenhar on the northern edge of the Frickenhofer Höhe , its route was probably used for the new inter-regional connection road.

Hohenohl – Waldhaus
The stretch from Hohenohl on the L 1080 Rotenhar – Gschwend ( 530  m above sea level ) to the Waldhaus on the B 298 Gschwend – Gaildorf ( 510  m above sea level ) leads through the “Schlittenrain” part of the forest and measures around 2 , 5 km away. The TK25 is labeled "Schlittenweg" on the route.

More recent information board about the sledge path

Waldhaus (Stone Forest) -Waldteil case Wies
On the route from Waldhaus to church Kirnberg the carriage way of lying at the foot of an elongated northern flank districts can be as simple dirt road not in the forest Part Weinhalde, nor on the free corridor Lämmershof , Gläserhof , Chandler Mountain and Vögelesreute recognize. In the Weinhalde forest immediately west of Waldhaus, the former route is probably used by one or more of the connecting and forest paths that exist today. The toboggan path probably ran across an open corridor without an excellent route. In the forest part of Kirchwäldle below Leukers, south of Kirchenkirnberg, the toboggan run is clearly visible again in parts. From there it leads up the “Fallenwies” part of the forest. The length of this route is 7 km. Height information for the most important points: Waldhaus 510  m above sea level. NN , Vögelesreute 470  m above sea level. NN , part of the forest Kirchwäldle 475  m above sea level. NN , height of forest part Fallenwies 530  m above sea level. NN , crossing the L 1150 at the forest part Killengehren 520  m above sea level. NN .

Forest part Fallenwies – Königseiche
Below the L 1150 and the border of the forest departments Fallenwies and Killengehren, the sledge path branches off to the left from the above-mentioned forest road. Here, for the first time, the toboggan run is very clearly visible in its original form as a simple, two-meter-wide dirt road, which was planned by its builders with great empathy, making the best possible use of the terrain and integrated into the forest landscape. Heights and valley cuts (blades) are bypassed in elegant turns in order to avoid steep inclines and bridges. The distance from the Fallenwies forest to the Königseiche is around 8 km. A total gradient of 35 m is overcome. Height information for the most important points: Entrance Waldsträßchen on L 1150 (Fallenwies and Killengehren) 520  m above sea level. NN , Fritzenwiesle 505  m above sea level NN , Steinhäusle 515  m above sea level NN , forest part Schlittenweg 525  m above sea level. NN , Kugler private forest 540  m above sea level NN , young forest 550  m above sea level. NN and royal oak 555  m above sea level. NN .

Königseiche - Unloading place in the forest part of the glasses path
The Königseiche is on the L 1150, where it emerges from the north from the forest into the Gausmannsweiler field. This is the apex of the sledge path ( 555  m above sea level ), here it also crosses the Limes , temporary border of the Roman Empire, of which there are clear traces in the forest not a kilometer further north. The boundary between Kaisersbach and Welzheim runs along the Königseiche . From here the toboggan path leads a short distance westwards with a slight incline to the unloading point in the Glassteig forest part, 500 m away. From here ( 530  m above sea level ) the approached wood was "slid" on a 400 m long "giant" to the storage and stacking area 60 m below between the Gausmannsweiler Sägmühle and the Ebnisee. The location of the unloading area at the end of the toboggan run and the course of the “giant” are clearly shown in the first land map from 1831 (so-called original map) produced by geometer C. Schaber.

literature

Web links

Individual documents and sources

  • Information board on the sledge path
  1. ^ History of the Ebnisees ( Memento from February 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Prescher I, p. 51f
  3. ^ Prescher I, p. 53
  4. ^ Prescher I, p. 53
  5. ↑ Prescher I, p. 59f
  6. ↑ a b Measured on the TK25.
  7. ↑ See literature
  8. ↑ The royal oak was probably planted in honor of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg (1816–1864) and is at least 150 years old.