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Rhon
Rhon
With the Indians of Germany
When their mountains were declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO, the Rhon people believed their fate sealed: now we are the Indians of the republic. Let’s see what really became of them.
Hermann Diel
10/01/1997
We slowly approach the hills of the Rhon from the west, pass the beautiful Fulda and enter the reserve on a winding branch route near Dipperz. There are no controls, no borders, not even a sign. We are curious to see what UNESCO thought of turning the Rohn Mountains into a biosphere reserve, of which there are now five in Germany. Model regions in which the economy and the environment, i.e. the interests of people and nature, should not be in competition, but rather in exemplary harmony. Without a specific goal, we just drive away. And that works really well. With a proper map, we discover wonderful, little streets that stretch like a network through the rolling hills. The paths are narrow, the KTM Duke fall from one curve to the other as if by themselves. Past Kleinsassen, a small road leads up to the Milseburg. At a time when motorsport was not yet demonized in Germany, this series of serpentines was considered to be one of the most beautiful routes for hill climbs in Germany. According to a legend, the giant Mils used to live here. When Christian missionaries came from the south, he pelted them with large boulders. One of them is the stone wall, today a popular climbing rock for mountaineers from the Alpine Club. But even giants have to die at some point, and good Mils is buried here – the old racetrack now leads, so to speak, exactly over his coffin lid and finally on to the ruins of Ebersburg. Opposite is the Wasserkuppe, easily recognizable by the igloos of the Bundeswehr: large radar domes for air surveillance. Suddenly a daring-looking guy is standing around a bend in the street in Lutter: wooden shoes on his feet, the corduroy trousers much too wide, a wheelbarrow in front of him, also made of wood. We stop, chat a little, then Martin – that’s the guy’s name – invites us to his old farm, right next door. In front of the barn door, we can hardly believe our eyes, a blues band is already waiting, whose musicians are working on their instruments: the “Rhoner Sauwanzt”, in High German: the “pork bellies”. Martin and his buddies play the blues from the cotton fields of the Rhon on washboard, tea-box bass and mandolin. So they say. The home of the blues is the Rhon, claim the Sauwanzt. “Land of the poor people” used to be the real name of the barren mountains. Many emigrated from here to America. In the new country they met people who were black and much poorer. The Rhon people finally taught them their old songs about the difficult living conditions. And because there are more colored people in America than Rhon people, everyone today thinks that they invented the blues. So Martin explains it to us with a serious expression, and Grandma Agathe nods in agreement. We slowly get a sense of what we have gotten ourselves into. The Sauwanzt sing Rhoner Platt, the dialect of the region, songs like “Bo kommsdn Du haa?” Or the “Long-sleeved Ongerhoos”. When the Rhon was not yet a reserve, hardly anyone wanted to listen to the songs. The people from the country were not taken seriously by the gentlemen from the city, from Frankfurt, who attack the mountains at the weekend. With the UNESCO award, the villagers have become more self-confident – before they were just stubborn, say the townspeople. And: The Rhoner distrusts everything foreign unless you can drink it. But that’s all half as wild as we learn in the next few days. From the courtyard with the »Sauwanzten« it’s only a few kilometers to the former zone border, to the former death strip. In earlier centuries people were poor here because the basalt soil gave little for agriculture. Later the country was poor because the “end of the world” was here at the zone border. The place Geisa, old Fulder Land, was further away than Rio or Baghdad – not reachable for normal mortals, only to be seen over the fence. Now we just drive over to the former zone. The Hochrhon-Ring is one of the countless paths that are made for our Duke, with tight bends and few straights – lots of fun without a big boiler. We pass the Wasserkuppe – after all, the highest mountain in all of Hesse, almost one thousand meters – and the cradle of gliding around the world. The world’s oldest glider pilot factory is in the small mountain village of Poppenhausen. The model that turned the coffin carpenter Alexander Schleicher into an aircraft designer is now called “Holos, the devil”. The thing was actually called “Get the devil” – at first it didn’t really want to stay up in the air. But Schleicher learned that very quickly: his glider company is not only the oldest, but also the most successful in the world. We finally leave Hochrhonstrasse and thus Hesse and drive on side roads to Birx in Thuringia. Up through a grandiose curve – we are already in Birx. Eight years ago that would have been a sensation. The place on the hill is located in a tiny corner of Thuringia that protrudes into Hesse. The death fence around Birx prevented them from continuing their journey – or from entering the country. The village, which only had a handful of courtyards, used to only offer a view of the fence, because the exit to the east is behind a hilltop. Today hardly anything reminds of the horrors of recent German history. Still, we move on. Over the Hoch-Rhonring in the direction of Fladungen we come to the triangle of three countries. Today there is no longer any border between Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia. Here we find one of those numerous and typical tourist parking lots where everyone should stop anyway. Because there are really good Thuringian sausages. The grill house doesn’t look any more spectacular than any other, but people from Fulda and Bischofsheim have been coming here for decades just to eat a sausage. And because of the great view, of course. Freshly strengthened, it goes over to Bavarian, or rather to Franconian. The path leads through the middle of the »Lange Rhon« nature reserve, repeatedly passing huge meadows of flowers. Here the view extends far into the valley. The land of the open distance is called the Rhon because it is less forested than the neighboring mountains Spessart or the Vogelsberg. In Bavarian, after all, the Kreuzberg is one of our mandatory destinations: there are pious priests here and they brew a monastery beer that you simply have to drink. The monastery is located in the “Hohen Rhon”, and the road is correspondingly steep. The landscape here is really mountainous, in winter there are several ski lifts, just like around the Wasserkuppe in Hesse. And the view is also tough – because of the good weather, we have great foresight. Fortunately, after enjoying the delicious whip juice in the Kreuzberg monastery, you can stay the night straight away. The next morning, when you get up, the sun is already smiling again. And we’re really lucky with that: The Rhon is rough, a stiff wind almost always blows. Nix, nox et nebulae – snow, night and fog, these were the characteristics of Fulda and the Rhon for Melchior Adam Weikard. At the same time, the episcopal personal physician asserted: “There are few areas in Europe that are more beautiful.” Except that he was only rarely able to show the beauty to his friends abroad – because everything is usually covered by thick fog. The southern Hessians, who are used to the pleasant climate of the Bergstrasse or the artificial warmth of Frankfurt, who freeze in the Rhon – summer, as it is called, is usually on a Tuesday in July, usually autumn or winter, and it is called too , the climate shapes the people. The Rhon people are not considered to be outspokenly cheerful. On the contrary, the people are rough and wild, judged a traveler named Riesbeck. “Ugly to the point of disgust,” he wrote 200 years ago. “The women are the most angular creatures I’ve seen. Your clothes are hideous. You don’t see a waist at all, but you can see the awkward pounding feet up to the knees. The men are not a large, but a permanent and swift batch of people, with tremendous heads and feet. Potatoes and brandy, which are also given to the children, are their most exquisite food. “Indeed: Schnapps was always popular in the Rhon, from the” Kannee “, the little pot. Even today, fruit brandies are a specialty, obtained from local orchards. Medler, the local poet, rhymed to himself and his compatriots: “Rauh the earth that carried me; hard the rod that struck me; dry hedges, wild stone – can I be better myself? ”But anyone who has known the people here for a long time will discover the good-hearted core: With the Rhoner you can steal horses. And the residents have recognized that their landscape is worth something. A few years ago they wanted to build a high-speed rail line through the middle of the reserve. “With us they bite on basalt, Minister.” So it was on the stickers, alluding to the rock in the area. The minister bit on basalt, no rails were laid through the wonderful country. The world actually still seems to be in order here, and the church is still in the middle of the village, wayside shrines and crosses give those who appreciate such a good feeling of security a good feeling of security. We spend the night in the Holzberg hunting lodge, which is in the middle of the landscape is on a slope. There is no electricity here in the evening, but kerosene lamps on the tables and a decent kitchen. Everything rustic, right down to the prices. In a large loop through Thuringia and the Hessian skittles in the Hunstelder Land, we climb back up to the Hochrhon in the Fulda valley. Some clever guy has another story to tell: “The beautiful valley is a delight, but if you don’t have cattle,” it won’t fill you up. ” Yes, we can, we can look really fed up with the fantastic surroundings. And come to the same conclusion as Karl Julius Weber. He simply stated: The area is one of the most beautiful in all of Germany.
Info
A tour through the Rhon and around the Wasserkuppe, the highest mountain in Hesse, is still a journey through one of the lesser-known regions of Germany. The low mountain range attracts with wonderful and varied routes.
How to get there: The Rhon has been right in the middle of the country since German reunification. If you are in a hurry, take the A7, A5 or A4 autobahn. Those who prefer country roads can take the B 27, B40, B 279 or B 278. Spend the night: There is plenty of simple and inexpensive accommodation. Our tip: The Fulda house on the Maulkuppe in Poppenhausen-Steinwand with a great kitchen and rustic rooms for little money. The old, 800 meter high Holzberg hunting lodge in Bischhofsheim also invites you to spend the night in comfort, phone 09772/1207. Further information from the Rhon Tourism Association, Worthstrabe 15, 36037 Fulda, phone 0661/6006305, fax 6006309 The route: In Bavaria and Hesse, the routes are very winding and well paved. Not so in Thuringia, where an enduro is still the best choice. Field and gravel paths are rare here too, but the main connecting roads turn out to be potholed test routes for the chassis. The Rhon is also an ideal starting point for further excursions. In the west lies the Vogelsberg, in the north it goes over the Knull and the Hohe Meibner into the Harz, in the east the Thuringian Forest joins, and in the south the Rhon merges into the Spessart. Literature: The HB Bildatlas provides good information Rhon for 14.80 marks. There is literature about the country and its people in the local bookshops. In the MOTORRAD travel guide Germany North from the Unterwegs edition by Uli Bockmann and Klaus H. Daams, there is a chapter through the Rhon in addition to seven other detailed travel reports. With great route tips, biker meeting points and many hotel addresses. To order for 29.80 Marks at the special sale of Motor-Presse, phone 0711 / 182-1229. If you want to familiarize yourself with the Rhon dialect, read »Es haadd au nuch Schlemmer kann gewaar« by Walter Heller – hearty Rhon humor with translation into High German. Map: General map sheet 11 (large area map). Information: Information is available from the individual administrative offices of the biosphere reserve: In Bavaria on telephone 09974/91020; in Hessen under phone 06683/96020; and in Thuringia by phone 036946/753. The addresses of the individual tourist offices can also be found here. Nature park: The biosphere reserve established by UNESCO in the Rhon is not only a nature park, but rather a model region in which the interests of business and the environment are to be taken into account equally. Environmentally friendly craft businesses and gentle tourism are particularly encouraged in this region. The now widespread distribution of the almost extinct Rhon sheep with the characteristic black head is considered exemplary.
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