Waldsteinhaus
The Waldsteinhaus is a year-round managed accommodation facility of the Fichtelgebirgsverein on the summit of the Großer Waldstein at 855 m above sea level. NHN in the High Fichtel Mountains (Northeast Bavaria). It belongs to the political municipality of Zell im Fichtelgebirge and can be reached on various hiking trails and on a road.
history
The house was built in 1853 as the "Waldstein Hospice" for a royal forest warden, completely taken over by the Fichtelgebirgsverein in 1965 and substantially modernized in 1993.
When people reflected on German history in the age of romanticism, the castles and their ruins became popular places to visit. The number of hikers increased, too, and became intoxicated with the "wild romance of the rock-staring forest stone peak, its view and its ruins". This led to the fact that around 1850 a friendly hunting lodge was built on the Waldstein summit in the forecourt of the Rotes Schloss castle ruins near the Teufelstisch. As the flow of visitors got stronger and stronger, “a permanent hut” was built right next to it for the guests to stay. A wood cutter served beer there as needed. In 1853 the state had the Waldstein hospice or Waldsteinhaus built below the castle ruins . A forest ranger found his apartment there. The foundation stone for this forester's house was laid on May 6, 1853 and the new building was inaugurated on August 8, 1853. This “hospice” had a completely different appearance than the current Waldsteinhaus, it was built mostly of wood in the “pleasing Swiss style ”, so it was a one-story wooden house. There was then again simple food and Weißenstädter beer and there was also a modest place to stay. On beautiful summer Sundays, it is reported, musicians from Münchberg , Schwarzenbach an der Saale and Hof alternately organized brass music concerts, which were very popular. In 1889, the state forest completely converted the wooden building into a two-story brick structure. The lower rooms were cultivated, the upper floor served the respective forester.
The opening of the Münchberg – Zell branch line in 1902 gave even more hikers and guests to the Waldsteingipfel and the Fichtelgebirgsverein the idea of building an extension to the forest administration's forester's house. It was not until 1906 that property negotiations took place with the state, on May 2, 1907 the notary certified the purchase of the property, and on June 21, 1908, the completed extension could be inaugurated. Now two houses stood directly next to each other on the Waldstein, one spoke of a forced marriage and from the beginning the respective forest warden had the right to manage both houses.
In 1964, the forest service center housed in the old building was closed and the forest house was up for sale. The Fichtelgebirgsverein took it over on a lease basis from the forest management in Bayreuth and after lengthy negotiations the purchase contract for the state part of the house complex was concluded on December 27, 1965. Now the Heimatverein land and house owners over the entire area on the Waldstein, whereby the local group Münchberg has taken over the care since that time.
The Fichtelgebirgsverein made the last major investments in 1991. First, the Waldsteinhaus was connected to the public sewage system of the market town of Zell with a 1.9 km long canal. Extensive construction and renovation work took place in 1992/1993. The two original detached houses were joined by the construction of the middle wing and the entrance, kitchen and toilet areas as well as the guest rooms in the former forest building were redesigned.
literature
- Dietmar Herrmann: All about the Great Waldstein in the Fichtelgebirge , Volume 16/2008 of the series of the Fichtelgebirgsverein Das Fichtelgebirge
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 37 ″ N , 11 ° 50 ′ 44 ″ E