German avenue street

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German avenue street

German avenue street
German Classic

Hardly anything is as typical of the German East as the endless avenues that once accompanied almost every path. In the meantime a tree route through all of Germany has been designated. Thomas Quast followed her from Vogtland to the Baltic Sea.

Thomas Quast

10/13/2000

When I tip the VFR on the side stand in front of a cafe in downtown Plauen, I only think of one thing: hot tea. Because the way to southern Saxony, planned as a casual end-of-season tour through colorful autumnal avenues, is gradually turning out to be an unexpectedly frosty trip. Bad luck: Except for the thermal jacket lining, all the big stuff is at home. After the warming break, at least the much too thin summer boots have to be tuned with coarse woolen socks and thermosoles from a Plauen department store. The “classic” route of the Alleenstrasse lies ahead of me: from southern Saxony to Sellin on the Baltic island of Rugen. The first 200 kilometers through Vogtland, Ore Mountains and the foothills of Saxon Switzerland lead through a great, wooded low mountain range, but do not exactly correspond to my dream of autumnal colorful, kilometer-long leaf tunnels. Instead, felled trees lie on the side of the road and are planted only once at most. By the time they turn into an avenue, I’m probably no longer sitting in the saddle of a motorcycle. The place name Morgenrote then finally not only promises sun, but also other stars: This is where Sigmund Jahn was born, the first German astronaut, or rather cosmonaut. As an exhibition in the village documents, Jahn was traveling through space with his Soviet colleagues in the 1970s – that is, during the GDR era. If the cosmonaut stories do not wake up childhood memories, then perhaps in Seiffen, the center of the traditional Erzgebirge wooden toy and Christmas decoration handicraft, times long bygone come to life. Even if the route does not even lead over the highest heights of the Ore Mountains, the altitude meters overcome are enough to send even more cold through the gloves. It’s a shame that the weather is reducing the enjoyment of the small streets and the charming low mountain range, and so I avoid the actually tempting detour to Saxon Switzerland near Dresden. North of Dresden it really rains and I ask for a night’s lodging in the romantically lit Moritzburg hunting lodge. In addition, really old tall trees line and roof the streets in and around Moritzburg. Finally! In the hot shower, I ponder why the Deutsche Alleenstrasse consortium has identified the sections traveled through today without any significant trees as part of the route. Days later, I finally found out from the managing director of the working group Dieter Klaus Franke that the concept not only provides for drawing attention to existing avenues and maintaining them, but also for reclaiming old stocks or even enabling complete new plantings. As an investment in the future, so to speak. Via the connecting point of the avenue, the traveler should also experience and discover the scenic and cultural charms of the region passed through. There is actually something to discover very close by the next morning: in Radebeul is the »Villa Shatterhand«, Karl May’s house that has become a museum. Inspired by the writer’s fantasies, I saddle my trusty red “wonder motorcycle”, rub the place between the mirror and the windshield with two fingers, speak the secret word and set off at the speed of sound in the direction of Meissen, the city between the towering castle of Augustus the Strong and the world famous porcelain manufactory. North of Meiben, the avenue runs along the course of the Elbe. Lined with steep rock faces, orchards and meadows on the banks of the river grazed by sheep, whose wool apparently has enviable fewer thermal problems than I. Oschatz is a completely different street scene. The wide avenue leads a few hundred meters past the graffiti-strewn walls of former Soviet barracks. Here the rain starts again, and under the cold gaze of colorful, technoid fantasy figures I transform – at least in terms of feet and hands – into Latexman. An old man fights against wind and rain with his bike. He makes do with plastic bags as rain protection for the extremities. At Pretzsch, the avenues are finally just as I had imagined: bright red leaves lush the trees and form colorful roofs. Unfortunately there are carpets on the street too, which in combination with the wetness and the occasional cobblestone pavement is a slippery pleasure. North of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther wrote his famous 95 theses on the portal of the castle church in 1517, a serpentine road leads up to Rabenstein Castle. In front of the castle, a youth camp is slowly sinking into the mud. One of the youthful outdoor freaks, whose long hair drips rainwater onto his coarse woolen sweater, recommends that I simply make the most of the cold, wet weather and grinning, he raises his tea mug, which smells suspiciously sharp and aromatic. Good idea, but I’d better put it off until later. First I drive on to Wiesenburg, where the castle of the same name is the second namesake for the Dreiburgenland, where I am currently. From the tower you have a great view of the city and the landscape of the Hohe Flaming, but I scurry into the restaurant like squirrels looking for rain protection in the castle garden, and soon I will grab my hands for a cup of hot chocolate ?? without any further aroma? The heat does not last long. The VFR’s outdoor thermometer mercilessly announces the bitter cold reality: the digital display flashes towards zero. The radio in the castle restaurant had spoken of sleet in the greater Berlin area, and in fact, foamy ice is already forming on the water in the basins of the Brandenburg Havel locks. Still making the best of it, I remember the young camper. It is always romantic, and from Brandenburg you will be rewarded with ever lush avenue tunnels. Beyond the rows of trees, mushroom pickers with baskets and thick rubber boots stalk through the wet leaves and moss of forests and meadows. In Linum, the nostalgic, bare-gray facade of a former HO restaurant tempts you to make another stop. A television set and a stork nest? Linum is famous for its storks – they are the only jewelry in the taproom. An old man listens to the Bundesliga broadcast on the radio while the taciturn host serves hot coffee and cake. I’ve decided to go a few more kilometers north. It is already getting dark and fog is rising from the meadows behind the old oak trees along the road. When you stop at a level crossing, the whistle of the approaching train creeps eerily from the gray swaths. Soon the southern edge of the Mecklenburg Lake District is reached in Rheinsberg. In Zechlin I find a room with the nice landlord of the “Waldeck” and the VFR in the garage has the company of an old Honda CB 750 Four. The next day the sun finally breaks through and bathes Rheinsberg Castle in warm light. Unfortunately, the beer gardens along the beautiful, brightly colored Stadtallee are already closed. Further north, ponds, lakes and with the Muritz even a “small sea” glisten between the thick and dense trees at the roadside – this is the translation of the Slavic name of this second largest German lake. A colorful cutter serving as a fish sales booth in the port of Robel almost seems to belong on the Baltic Sea, which is still 100 kilometers away. From Robel via Malchow and Malchin through the Mecklenburg Lake District to the Kummerower See – a landscape that Ehm Welk and its residents in the “Heiden von Kummerow” so vividly describes – the journey continues north through lush and full picture-book avenues. No wonder that the idea of ​​Alleenstrasse started here. After the fall of the Wall, many visitors from the west found the pristine avenues a journey back to their childhood, when there were still many such streets in Germany, explains Dieter Klaus Franke from the Alleenstraben-AG, and so the idea of ​​preserving the magnificent streets was quickly born . However, the side effects of such traffic routes cannot be overlooked: Everywhere crosses on trees testify to the sacrifices that the avenues constantly demand. Excessive speed on the mostly narrow lanes is the most common cause of accidents. The rows of trees often become a hopeless trap, especially for young, inexperienced drivers. In the far north, the island of Rugen – accessible via the Rugen dam near Stralsund – is another highlight. I cruise through old, partly crooked trees and sometimes over the roughest cobblestones along the Greifswald Bodden. The sun shines through the trees, triggering an incessant play of light and shadow. Soon you will reach the old seaside resort of Sellin, and through the Wilhelmstrasse, lined with trees and white wooden houses with hotels and guest houses, you go one last knoll up to the cliff. There a staircase leads down to the foot of the cliff and to the recently built wooden pier that juts out into the sea on high stilts. The Baltic Sea lies below me in the glaring sunlight. And autumn is still just as I dreamed it would be.

Info

The classic route of the Deutsche Alleenstrasse runs from Rugen via Brandenburg through the entire former GDR to Saxony. It leads through changing, but always attractive and interesting landscapes. What began as an idea to preserve the beautiful old avenues in the northeast has now grown into a network that extends to Lake Constance with the involvement of the old federal states. Because even in the west there was a desire to draw attention to avenue stocks and to preserve them.

Arrival: If you want to start the tour in the south, you can use the A 9. Coming from the north, take the B 282 from Schleiz to Plauen and from the south in the Bavarian-Vogtland triangle on the A 72 to Plauen. Arriving from the northeast, you are already on the A 72. Those who start at the Baltic Sea, take the A 24 to the Wittstock / Dosse junction, then the A19 to Rostock, from here on the B 105 coastal road to Stralsund and Rugen. Or follow the B 105 and A 20 directly from the northwest via Wismar and Rostock to Stralsund. Travel time: It certainly depends on which avenue you are dreaming of. Spring-like budding and blooming, lush summery green, or autumnal colorful despite the unpredictable weather. On the road, especially on cobblestones and wet, the splendor is sometimes uncomfortable. Sights: There is a lot to see on the route beyond the leaf tunnels. The German Space Exhibition in Morgenrothe-Rautenkranz was successful and ostalgisch. For those who prefer brightly painted wooden toys, the toy museum in Seiffen is recommended. The romantic Moritzburg hunting lodge, located in the middle of a lake, organizes regular exhibitions; A Kathe Kollwitz exhibition and memorial is permanent. In Radebeul, reading and lying rats should visit the Karl May Museum. The porcelain factory in Meiben with a demonstration workshop is fragile. In addition to the portal of the famous castle church, Wittenberg offers a lot on the subject of Luther. Two of the castles on Alleenstrasse that gave the Dreiburgenland its name are of landscape and cultural interest: “Rabenstein” near Raben and “Wiesenburg Schloss” in Wiesenburg. The rococo castle in Rheinsberg is worth seeing and famous through the stories of Tucholsky and Fontane. In the north, the extensive lake landscapes and the old towns of Waren and Robel an der Muritz beckon. Rugen and the restored old pier in Sellin form a great finale. Accommodation: Along the route there are of course accommodation of every color and in every price segment, from campsites to youth hostels to hotels. We have divided the route into three sections: Moritzburg (near Dresden), “Eisenberger Hof”, Kotzschenbrodaer Str. 8, phone 035207/81673, fax: 81684, DZ 110 Mark; “Dorf Zechlin” (near Rheinsberg), Am Kunkelberg 4, phone 033923/70480, fax: 70515, DZ 105 Mark; Sellin (Rugen), the hundred-year-old “Villa Elisabeth”, Wilhelmstrasse 40, phone 038303/87044, fax: 87045, DZ 110 Marks. Literature: Tips and literature are available from the ADAC, which set up the AG Deutsche Alleenstrasse. The small, free folding maps with routes and descriptions of sights are sufficient for information and orientation. Pages 1-4 show the classic course of the avenue street described here. Unfortunately out of stock, but the following illustrated books are still available to borrow in libraries: Ulf Bottcher & Wolfgang Hoffmann: The German avenue street. From the island of Rugen to Flaming, Mitteldeutscher Verlag 1995; Thomas Billhardt & Gunther Bellmann: The German avenue street. Between Rugen and Rheinsberg, Ullstein 1996; Thomas Billhardt & Gunther Bellmann: The German avenue street. Between Rheinsberg and Wittenberg, Ullstein 1995; Udo Lauer: Alleen in Brandenburg, Ullstein 1997. The best maps come from Marco Polo: The general map, large sheets 9-11 on a scale of 1: 200,000 at 12.80 marks each. Distance covered: 900 kilometers Time required: about 4 days

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