Birxgraben Stream and Wooden Bridge

If you follow the stream between Birx and Seiferts you come to the former inner-German border (just before the L 4376). There is a small bridge over the stream. In general, the way down into the valley is very idyllic. You walk away from the main road and cross the meadows until you reach the Birxbach. Then just downhill to the tunnel and then climb a little to get back on the road. The detour is worth it!

The Birxgraben is a brook that rises to 780 m above sea level. NHN rises between Birx and Schwarzer Moor and the Ulster flows to the right. The ditch is considered a biotope connection element between Ulstertal and Hochrhön and has therefore been protected as a natural monument since 1987.The Birxgraben rises in the Langen Rhön and was shaped by several extreme weather events. So it has sunk massively into the underground. A downpour on July 26, 1834 and a sudden thaw in connection with heavy rain on February 9, 1897 are reported to have moved earth and rock. In Seiferts the brook crossed the Götzenhof – Wüstensachsen railway on a concrete bridge. The cut into the site has now been filled. After crossing the village of Seiferts, the stream flows into the Ulster.The flora is characterized by a grove-alder alluvial forest with black alder, ash, sycamore maple and wild cherry as well as hazelnut, black elder, sloe and hawthorn.In 1979/80 the district of Fulda created a nature trail along the lower part of the Birxgraben, which ends at the resting place on the Oberlander Hute. Four bridges between eight and 17 meters in length cross the water. A parking lot for hikers is located above Seiferts in the direction of Fladungen. The bridges were renewed in 2003 at a cost of 15,000 euros.Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birxgraben

The Birxgraben is not just an interesting, gravelly stream with a steep gradient. Not far from here, during the German-German division, there was an insurmountable border, closely guarded by the GDR border troops. The owners of the Birxer Mühle located on Birxgraben were forcibly relocated in 1961 and the buildings were demolished.