バイナーシュタットの天然記念物・トップ20

From 1939 to 1941, up to 250 Polish prisoners of war from the Mühlberg camp were housed in a barracks camp in the quarry of the basalt works on the Grosser Gleichberg. They had to do forced labor in the quarry, in the city, in agriculture or in the forest, among other things. From 1941 to 1942, a prisoner commando from the main camp in Bad Sulza with 120 prisoners was sent to the quarry. After the quarry was temporarily closed, a maximum of around 400 "foreign ethnic" forced laborers who had broken their contract were interned there in a Gestapo labor education camp from August 1943 to March 1945. The prisoners had to work in the basalt quarry or in the basalt works at Römhild station. They were also used to build bunkers and positions in Mendhausen and for a time in trades and crafts in Römhild and the surrounding area. At least 500 prisoners died in the camp or on the evacuation march in 1945. This includes 25 to 92 prisoners who were unable to march and were shot in a sand cave on the eastern slope of the Grosser Gleichberg. The cave entrance was then blown up, meaning that the mass grave was not found until the end of January 1947. (Wikipedia)

The dolphin fountain was created and artistically designed by the Thuringian Forest Association Römhild in 1903. Largely destroyed in the early 1970s, the current facility was built 10 years later and was last fundamentally renovated in 2013.

Below the steep edge of the cliff, a huge sea of rocks beckons, with large chunks of rock that give little indication of the force that came from the rock fall. A legend that is described in full very close to the former Villa Iltenburg tells of another rock fall in 1137. There is no clear evidence of this, but it seems likely. According to the legend, there was once a place called Dörfles, which was inhabited by gypsies or Wends, who were not tolerated in Themar, but were important during the market or for entertainment. Just as the Veßra monastery was founded, a monk set out to visit them, but they threatened him and chased him away. He cursed the inhabitants and wished that the mountain would fall on them as a punishment from God. Only one 16-year-old girl showed interest in his teachings. He met with her regularly outside of the town. He begged her to leave the place, because after every winter, new cracks appeared in the rock. After two years, it finally happened and the mountain broke off one night. When the residents of Themar left the next morning, the village of Dörfles had disappeared and all the residents had perished.

In 1595, a large rock collapse occurred here, causing the entire mountainside to collapse into the valley! Since then, the gleaming, white limestone marl cliff has reflected the sun. There is only one path down the mountainside. As it is very narrow, a little attention is required here. The path is still quite steep at the top, but is secured with a railing. It is also worth mentioning that feral goats live here, which can sometimes block your path. This can lead to the odd surprise or chase.

The small cross marks the summit of the 679 m high Gleichberg.

Dainty, but it serves its purpose

Nature has draped a veil of oblivion over this cruel place. Good that there is an information board against forgetting!

Origin: "Dreisbach has always been just a very small village.... The calamity of the 30-year war broke out on the village on October 16, 1634. The Croats under Isolani, coming from Franconia, pursued Duke Bernhardt of Saxony-Weimar over the return break to Suhl to catch him and hand him over to the emperor. When Bernhardt was able to escape in the dense Oberhof forest, Isolani, out of anger, had Suhl set on fire in all corners. On the way back to Themar, the villages of Dreisbach and Keulrod were burned. In Themar, the devastating fire took place St. Gallus night. The stone Croat cross southwest of the Sommerberg on the back break is intended to commemorate these events." https://fraenkischesthueringen.blogspot.com/2018/09/die-wustung-dreisbach-bei-suhl-von-ca.html