About Manfred
Ehemals als Dipl. Chemiker und Unternehmer viel beruflich unterwegs, habe ich das Pilger-Wandern in 2017 gemeinsam mit meiner Frau auf dem Jakobsweg in Spanien lieben gelernt. Inzwischen sind daraus mehr als 3.000 km geworden, zumeist Trainingskilometer für große Touren in Frankreich und Spanien. Nach einer überwundenen Corona-Infektion vom Januar 2020 freue ich mich jeden Tag auf das nächste Wander-Abenteuer - Neues erleben, Erlebnisse vertiefen, Horizonte erweitern.Mein spezielles Interesse gilt dem Wandern auf alten Handels-, Heeres- und Pilgerstraßen in Deutschland, Frankreich und Spanien.
522 mi
159:06 h
Recent Activity
- Manfred, Leo Sausemaus and 43 others like this.
- Manfred
The hike from Habichtsthal followed in the footsteps of an old glass factory in BIRKLERGRUND, which was rediscovered in 1975 after 150 years of slumbering.The actual highlight of the tour, however, were 2.5 kg of chanterelles, chestnuts and porcini mushrooms, which were spotted and harvested from the hiking trail. Rain and sunshine, which alternate constantly, allow mushrooms to grow in the Hochspessart as they have not for a long time. Mushroom hiking - recommended for imitation!Only the foundations of GLASHÜTTE BIRKLERGRUND have been preserved; the furnaces have disappeared. The situation is similar elsewhere. What's behind it?Ecclesiastical and aristocratic forest owners in the Spessart have always been benevolent towards glassworks because they profited from the sale of wood. At that time, one cubic meter of beech wood was needed to make a single drinking cup. Colored glasses for a 1 meter wide and 3 meter high church window required 150 cubic meters.The first modern glassworks in the Spessart was built in BREITENBORN in 1639. The Wenzel glassmaker dynasty, recruited by the COUNT OF BÜDINGEN-YSENBURG, produced drinking glasses at the site. In the years 1680 to 1720 the annual production rose to over 1 million pieces, which were sold all the way down to Holland. From 1695 onwards, the GETTENBACH branch also started producing.Due to their great success, the Wenzels received the offer from the KURMAINZISCHEN ADMINISTRATION in LOHR to bring the French cutting-edge mirror casting technology to the Spessart. For this purpose, the Wenzels built the RECHTENBACH glassworks from 1688. The difficult production of circular flat glass panes, the so-called "moon glass", succeeded in perfection. A group of French glassmakers from Normandy helped a lot.From 1698 the blanks were processed into mirrors in the KURMAINZISCHEN SPIEGELMANUFAKTUR LOHR. These hit a huge market. From Versailles to Lisbon and from Stockholm to Vienna, mirrors and entire halls of mirrors belonged to the stylistic devices of courtly representation.In 1706 "moon glass" was also produced in the new GLASHÜTTE WEIBERSBRUNN. The need for mirrors continued to grow - around 1740 the WÜRZBURGER RESIDENZ and the SCHWETZINGER SCHLOSS had to be equipped.Now the hour has struck for GLASHÜTTE BIRKLERGRUND. In 1765, the most modern French glassmaking technology was imported and set up in Birklergrund. Under the management of Kurmainz, BIRKLERGRUND then produced the urgently needed raw mirror glass. The hut not only supplied lifestyle accessories for the castles of absolutist rulers, but increasingly also window glass for noble and bourgeois builders of the 18th century.The artfully constructed production and supply chain broke with the secularization of 1803/1805 when church assets were privatized on a large scale. The successor, the noble house of Prince Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, did not continue the existing glassworks, but hastily founded GLASHÜTTE EINSIEDEL on its own forestry terrain. After all, you wanted to sell your own wood.The beginning industrialization did the rest. The first industrial glass factories that were fired with cheap coal arose in Saarland. The time of beech wood-fired glass manufacturers inevitably came to an end.
July 19, 2021
- Manfred
We have all experienced it - when the federal government moved from Bonn to Berlin, it triggered a huge building boom in Berlin. Something similar can be imagined when Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa completed the construction of his imperial palace in Gelnhausen in 1180. Within decades, the small hamlet of Gelnhausen became a splendid and proud medieval town. Five new monasteries were created in the region. Gelnhausen received the right to mint imperial coins. Streets, squares and walls were fortified; the craft flourished.The trigger for this development was the emperor's passion for hunting. On the slopes of the Vorderen Vogelsberg sloping towards the Kinzig, a large, imperial forest stretched between Gelnhausen and a secluded forester's house on the “Weyrinsbach” - from which Wächtersbach developed much later.Around the year 1170, Emperor Barbarossa invited people to hunt in this forest in winter. The gentlemen von Büdingen were also part of the hunting party and impressed the emperor with their knowledge of the area in the dense and pathless forest. During a rest, friendship was made by the campfire. A chapel was later built in the place where this happened. The “Jagdkapelle” still exists today. It stands, off the path, near the Reffenstrasse, which leads from the Büdinger valley up to Waldensberg.The “Reichstag” set up for the opening of the imperial palace in 1180 can in no way be compared with a session of the German Bundestag, rather with a magnificent inauguration ceremony to which all the mighty of the empire were invited.In the “official part”, domains, claims, law and disputes were discussed. Then they blew to the imperial hunt. At this point in time, the “nobles of Büdingen” had already taken over the administration of the imperial forest. The hunt was followed by sumptuous meals in the imperial palace, to which wines from the monasteries on the Rhine were hastily brought in.As a result, the Kaiserpfalz became more and more an imperial hunting lodge, in which hunting utensils were kept and hunting parties gathered.Another brilliant act of Emperor Barbarossa was to place the unsafe trade route in the Kinzig valley, which was affected by many raids, under "Imperial escort". The commercial traffic on the so-called "Via Regia" or "Hohe Straße" from now on developed rapidly; the road was expanded. The goods to be transported in the direction of Frankfurt were now also offered for sale on the Obermarkt in Gelnhausen.According to the legend, Emperor Barbarossa did not die, he stayed asleep in an underground castle in Kyffhäuser. Gelnhausen will always be the place where memories of the imperial highlights are kept alive with pride.The 32 km long hiking trail ran mainly on asphalt paths, which are mostly used by bikers. The walk through Gelnhausen in the footsteps of Emperor Barbarossa was the highlight and highlight of this hike and is recommended at any time.What you write remains. Experience paths, deepen experiences. This should always be part of your own hiking philosophy.
July 16, 2021
- Manfred
The WIESBÜTT is a place with more than 1000 years of historical significance and at the same time a unique biosphere reserve. In southern German, a “Bütt” or “Bütte” - according to the Duden - means a “tub-like vessel”. The description fits.The WIESBÜTT is a Wiesengrund tub embedded between the Spessart Mountains, located at the intersection of two early medieval trade routes, the Birkenhainer Straße and the Eselsweg. There is no water for long stretches along the two high-altitude trails. The WIESBÜTT was all the more welcome as a resting place for the old drivers, where there was no lack of water for humans and animals.The early medieval traffic junction was administered from the village of Wiesen, where the Counts of Rieneck had a castle and from there they took care of customs and public safety at the rest area.The WIESBÜTT is fed by surface and spring water. From the WIESBÜTT, the water flowed slowly and underground over the Schwarzbach in the direction of Bieber. Most of the water remained in the "tub" and led to the formation of a unique bog.The WIESBÜTT moor is completely overgrown with sedges, rushes and sedge; occasionally you can also see cotton grass. The impression is similar to that of a perfectly manicured golf lawn - the same vegetation everywhere, everything aligned perfectly flat. Along the banks of the river you can find tundra-like landscapes with young birch trees, tufts of arrowgrass and algae-covered water holes. You feel like you have been carried away to distant Siberia; this has nothing to do with the usual Spessart fauna.That the moor also has its own microclimate can be seen from the condition of the many blueberry bushes along the shore zone. It is rare to find such abundant fruit sets as here. Blueberries love a partially shaded location, high humidity and a slightly acidic soil. These conditions are obviously given here to perfection. It looks similar with wild strawberries. These are also flourishing and are currently wearing very well.If you like blueberry cakes or occasionally dream of a wild strawberry sorbet, WIESBÜTT will provide you with the best ingredients.On the way back we came in the middle of the forest in heavy thunderstorms rain. We were able to try out our new stable umbrellas, which repelled the 45-minute downpour very well. From now on, thunderstorms are one of the cherished adventures when exploring our beautiful homeland. Recommended for imitation!
July 5, 2021
- Manfred, Achim Weikinger and 59 others like this.
- Manfred
This tour is for everyone who cannot climb into the Bavarian Alps or South Tyrol or who does not want to be rescued from the wall by the ZDF mountain rescuers and transported to the nearest hospital by helicopter.You too can live out your enthusiasm for the mountains on a tour high above the valley floor from the Kahlgrund. Thanks for the inspiration for this tour goes to our dear Komoot colleague AMK!At the very beginning of the tour, a sticker posted on a lamp post got me off my feet. On it was the following quote from Friedrich Schiller:"The great cease to rule,
when the little ones stop crawling ”.Remarkable - maybe I should deal with Friedrich Schiller again.The tour led first along the mountainous rippling Kahl. In Blankenbach the path then turned downhill through a small strip of forest up to Kahlgrund alpine meadows with grazing cows and a panorama that we have never experienced in Kahlgrund before.The angle of view extended from Johannesberg in the west to far beyond Schöllkrippen to the east and covers about 15 km as the crow flies. All the mountains that have rank and name on the opposite side of the Kahlgrund are gathered here - Franzosenkopf, Hoher Berg, Menschenkopf and Reuschberg, to name just the highest. Those who love the Allgäu will also love this view. For complete happiness, they wanted a small, managed alpine hut. The Kahlgrund deserves it.The next big hit was waiting for me only a few meters further on. A young roebuck was eating 10 meters from the path. I approached cautiously. He turned his head in my direction and paused for a few seconds. Then he lowered his head again and continued to graze. I took this as a sign that we were both friends. I took a few more pictures and then carefully slipped away. Only in paradise should there be unlimited friendship between humans and animals. The mountains high above the Kahlgrund are such a small paradise.After a short forest stage you come to the Eichenberg cemetery. There I replenished my water supplies - completely in the pilgrim style. The path led steadily uphill through beautiful high forest. The roof of the tour was at the intersection of seven beeches. From there it went over to the hut destination of the tour, the Waldhaus Engländer, which is idyllically located on the Spessart-Höhenstraße and is very popular as an excursion destination.The descent led over a steep ravine down to the main path in the Steintal and from there - past the beautiful St. Mary's Grotto - to Sommerkahl and on to the starting point.It was a beautiful day of mountain adventure on the heights of the Kahlgrund. Highly recommended for imitation.July 3, 2021
- Manfred
Today's tour led from Schöllkrippen over the Reuschberg, the Alteburg and the Rodberghütte over to Sommerkahl. We took over the route with thanks from TORSTEN.The Kahlgrund is in itself a Sunday landscape - neat, personable, green as far as the horizon, little traffic and absolutely no aircraft noise. But we are particularly fond of the back of the Kahlgrund. You will find magnificent “alpine meadows” with seas of flowers in red, yellow, blue, pale purple, pink and white.The renunciation of manure-intensive agriculture and consciously created flower meadows have created eco-paradises that one would like to see in many more places.Bee-friendly meadows have become more and more important to us in recent years. People fondly remember the referendum “Save the bees” in Bavaria, in which more than 1.745 million people took part. Hay milk or hay milk cheese are popular specialties, for which you like to dig a little deeper into your pockets.We started at the Ernstkirchen parish church, whose origins date back to 980 AD. reach back. The path led over flowering meadows to the Reuschberg and then up to the Alteburg. Excavations in 2005 showed that the ramparts were built around the year 1100 and that people and cattle from the surrounding villages should serve as a refuge and fortified castle in times of need. However, sparse finds suggest that the facility was rarely used. It used to be peaceful in Kahlgrund.We descended on summer-scented, pine-lined paths and followed the DEGEN path to the Rodberghütte, where we particularly liked the Marienkapelle with its artistic glass windows. We went on to the half-timbered village of VORMWALD with a population of 275. The restaurant WALDESRUH presents itself here with a spacious terrace to enjoy and keep your distance.Past the well-frequented Röll trout grill and the “Grube Wilhelmine” mine, we reached Sommerkahl, a neat place that - as so often in Kahlgrund - shines with extensive new construction activities. Via the beautiful “Seven Sorrows of Mary” church built in summer in 1959, we soon returned to our starting point.A beautiful and highly recommended adventure tour!
June 29, 2021
- Manfred, ROC Team Vegan and 36 others like this.
- Manfred
If you read tour descriptions from Wittho1, then they always impress with their enthusiasm for the local forest. To me they seem like the siren songs that irresistibly attracted poor Odysseus back then.That is why I started today - in Witthos's footsteps - on a tour that led through both the Biebergemünder and the Bad Orber forest. The continuous rain during the lap turned out to be rather refreshing, especially since I was able to successfully defend myself against total soaking with an umbrella.The tour starts with a crossing of the grounds of the Naturfreundehaus Günthersmühle with its cozy beer garden. The path runs for 6 km, mostly gently rising in the Kasselbachtal and overcomes a difference in altitude of only 130 m. Along the valley floor you come across several romantic ponds.Prussian hydraulic engineers recognized over 150 years ago that the deep Kasselbach valley is an ideal water catchment area. They have taken many springs and connected them to one another via water pipes. The collected spring water has been directed to Frankfurt since 1874.In the Kasselbach valley floor and the slopes there are many forest meadows that are designated as water protection areas. Everywhere you can find the typical Prussian paths, which have been paved with stones that are joined together. In very few places you can still find the original Prussian paving, otherwise the paths have been revised from time to time, but the original condition has been preserved in the best possible way.Obtaining water in the Kasselbachtal is evidently many times more important than logging. Traces of forest work can only be found where the path of clean water into the spring pots is not disturbed.
Soft paths, small ponds, forest meadows and many sources of water - all of these add up to a wonderful four-tone sound. I am happy to share the enthusiasm for this.In the upper Kasselbach valley you can reach the Bad Orber area from Biebergemünder. This changes a lot for the hiker. Suddenly you can find chic numbered benches and lots of nesting boxes everywhere. The paths that were already good before are now becoming real well-being paths. The hiking trails designated by the spa administration are meticulously maintained. The beautiful high forest allows wide views in many places and often seems like a fairy tale itself. Forest parking lots, e.g. Friesenheiligen, Hartmannsheiligen, facilitate the forest access. Not to forget the signs of popular piety that can be found in many places in the Orber Forest.I liked everything very much. The feel-good check ends with top marks. Thanks to Wittho1 and the others who are promoting this beautiful piece of earth with so much enthusiasm.P.S. The route was 15.2 km long. Part of the route was not properly recorded - it was self-inflicted.June 24, 2021
- Manfred
"Stay healthy and brave - fear weakens the immune system"We discovered today's tour motto on a small, wooden votive plaque that was placed at the foot of a large field cross near WICKSTADT and the MARIA STERNBACH church. Many thanks to ANDRE DOMA, through whom we discovered the historically remarkable monastery hamlet WICKSTADT near FLORSTADT in the first place.For the period between 767 and 778, the first small wooden churches can be identified for FLORSTADT and STERNBACH. These resulted from the Christianization of WETTERAU and the VOGELSBERG under BONIFATIUS and his companions, which was driven forward from the bishopric of MAINZ.In the flourishing Christianity, Cistercian monks founded a monastery in WICKSTADT in 1230 with a large-scale agricultural property. This developed splendidly and was gradually expanded. In 1709 it received its structure, which has been preserved unchanged to this day. In addition to large grain stores and many stables for field and carriage horses, the estate includes a recently renovated domain castle, which is used privately by the current owners, the Counts of Solms-Rödelheim and Assenheim. In 1709 a small baroque church was added, which has been completely renovated and is still in use from time to time.Particularly exciting are the servants' houses on the edge of the estate, which are built closely together in the medieval half-timbered style and could easily serve as a film set. In this unique ensemble of houses, artists, health practices, specialist restorers and a cooking studio have found living and working spaces. In normal times, the residents organize an annual artist festival. One can hardly imagine a better ambience than this Hofgut, which has remained unchanged since 1750.The forest church MARIA STERNBACH is definitely worth seeing. For almost 800 years it was actually a village church with surrounding courtyards and a small village pond. However, the place disappeared from the scene by 1564; only the church remained and was maintained from WICKSTADT. The plague raged in the Wetterau in 1555. It is very likely that the residents of STERNBACH were taken away. Any survivors found their livelihood with the monks in WICKSTADT.Also worth seeing is the historic private cemetery next to the domain courtyard, in which primarily upscale employees - chief foresters, commercial advisors - and their families found their final resting place.We are on the Nidda cycle path back to FLORSATADT and have delicious refreshments there in the JOLLY ice cream parlor. A tour to wander afterwards!
June 20, 2021
- Achim Weikinger, MoLa „Gut Fuß!" and 34 others like this.
- Manfred
With the current summer heat, we all love the cool forest. The forest creates cooling through evaporation of moisture.Researchers in the Netherlands have calculated that a large tree can provide a cooling capacity of 25 kilowatts. With this cooling capacity, you could cool a multi-party house with 350 m² of living space to comfortable temperatures.There are 11 million hectares of forest in Germany. Each hectare of forest can be statistically assigned to 60 large trees, each of which has the aforementioned 25 kilowatts of cooling capacity. The 660,000,000 "cooling capacity trees" in the German forests together stand for the dizzying cooling capacity of 16,500,000,000 kilowatts or 16,500 gigawatts.A single world-class power plant has an output of 1.4 gigawatts that could also be used for cooling. But in order to keep up with the concentrated cooling capacity of the German forest, 11,785 world-class cooling power plants would be needed in our country in the hot summer months - a ludicrous thought!Only 1.7% cooling capacity of our forests would be needed to cool the entire living space of all Germans to a comfortable level.The remaining 98.3% of the cooling capacity of our forests are therefore still available to all of us together as a fantastic climate contribution for our country.That's why I dedicated my tour today to our fantastic German forest. The route ran on forest paths and paths without any asphalt.
The path led over the Niederrodenbacher Wingerte to the Schäferberg and then on to the Antonius grotto. From there it went up the slope to just before Hof Trages, then over to the Naturfreundehaus “Dicke Tanne” and back via Sauloch, Junkernberg and Buchberg.If we build up our forest in a healthy way, care for it diligently and provide enough water, then we get the cooling performance practically free of charge and without environmentally harmful side effects.The forest is one of the strongest climate partners we can imagine.June 18, 2021
- Manfred
With a flawless sky and the heat of the sun we decided to take a tour to Bad Orb today. So far, we knew Bad Orb rather superficially. Today we wanted to dive deeper and get a better feeling for a city that has long flourished as a very successful spa town, but now - after the elimination of health insurance-financed cures - is working on its repositioning as a center for health and relaxation and currently with a slight shrinking population struggles.We started from the parking lot below the St. Martins parish church and the neighboring castle, whose architectural richness reflects the potential of the "golden age" of salt production. This began in 1064 and ended at the beginning of the 19th century. The salt was obtained in graduation towers through evaporation of brines. The salt was sold through various trade routes, preferably in southern Germany.Our way led us quickly uphill on forest paths, past a Marian grotto and a memorial stone for a shepherd who was struck by lightning in 1808 and then up to the Hartmannsheiligen plateau at 400 m above sea level.From here you can enjoy fantastic views over the Vogelsberg - with wind turbines on the Vogelsberg side as far as the eye can see. It should only be mentioned in passing that there are fewer or no wind turbine projects in the Bavarian Spessart and in the Bavarian Rhön. As far as the commentator knows from his own local political experience in Bavaria, wind turbines are regularly attacked there.The climate in the Orber Hochwald was extremely pleasant. A cooling breeze was constantly blowing, the tops of the towering spruce, beech and oak trees almost perfectly shielded the actually scorching sun. You have to choose such a route if you are thinking of approaching your personal performance limits in the summer months.As a smart spa town, Bad Orb has created several hiking parking spaces in the forest and set up rest huts. On our way we passed the Pfarrküppel hut, the Fleischmann hut and the Bieberer hut, which is located at an altitude of 449 m. From there it went down a fairly steep, straight path through the Haberstal valley.When we had almost reached the bottom of the valley again and the path made a small left curve, we were completely surprised in front of a recently opened restaurant. What attracted us magically was initially the very special location in a forest park, consisting of meadow, huge Conifers and large rhododendrons. In between there were chic-set tables shaded with umbrellas. The "FILOSOFIA DEL GUSTO" - the "philosophy of good taste" kept what it promised. We had poached salmon on mild pistachio pesto and a variety of grilled vegetables - simply delicious.We have promised the empathic owner, Stefano de Raimondo, who is a fan of Eros Ramazotti and Luciano Pavarotti, in mutual sympathy that we would like to include him in our tour description. That is why we have chosen his “Bruschetta Classica” as picture of the day.
June 13, 2021
- wittho1, Michael 🏞 🥾 and 66 others like this.
- Manfred
The inspiration for the tour came from MARIANNE M., the busy long-distance hiker with the sensitive pictures and texts. I continued the tour to WALDENSBERG and declared the Reform Protestant Church there to be my tour destination.The community of Waldensberg was founded in 1699 by 28 families from the Piedmontese valleys, who were persecuted because of their reformist religious orientation and therefore undertook an 800 km long, dangerous march under their leader Henri Arnaud, to finally be led by FERDINAND MAXIMILIAN VON YSENBURG-BÜDINGEN to be accepted as a new citizen in his territory.The planned 37.5 km with a real 500 meters altitude was a record distance for me. I have broken them down into stages with intermediate goals and laid them down in a “marching plan” in order to alleviate the discomfort with the required overall performance. In the short night before the start of the tour, I still didn't sleep well and was already up an hour before the alarm clock.The day was supposed to be hot. I have therefore plenty of dextrose and mineral tablets as well as 1 ltr. packed energy drink. I would find water for the rest of the drink on the way. I couldn't get past business on the tour. I have therefore relied on the old pilgrimage strategy that cemeteries are always a good source of fresh water. That's exactly how I did it and covered my water needs in the cemeteries in Waldensberg and Hain-Gründau. 3ltr. Energy drinks on the way and another 1 ½ ltr. upon return. The fluid requirement on such a summer tour is high.I started punctually at 5:00 a.m. It went wonderfully. After 6 km I reached the Büdinger Forest and lined the cool forest 12 km uphill and downhill up to Waldensberg. There were four "distant" encounters with deer along the way; Traces of all kinds of game could be seen on damp, sandy paths. The forest was well cared for everywhere and far away from the now often invoked forest dieback caused by climate change. I didn't see a single spruce tree infested with bark beetles on the way in the forest.Around 10.30 a.m. I arrived at the top of the sun-drenched Vogelsberg slopes. Picture of the day is a cornfield into which vast amounts of poppies and cornflowers have smuggled in, as I have not seen them for a very long time. In the times of Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet, fields of poppies were one of the most popular motifs. The work of the two painters goes back almost 150 years. Only then did the age of agrochemicals begin.When I arrived in Waldensberg, I set out purposefully in the direction of the church. With my crumpled pilgrim hat, rough hiking boots and determined step, a citizen noticed me. She introduced herself to me as a member of the Waldensberg church council and asked if I wanted to visit the - normally closed - church. Of course I did. This turned into a wonderful church tour.The church is simple but full of dignity. After a tragic war destruction on April 2, 1945, it was rebuilt exactly as before. She still breathes the spirit of the people who came here as persecuted to start a new life. The names of all pastors since 1699 are recorded on the wall in the church interior. I have never seen this before in any other church. In the cemetery you can still find gravestones with French lettering from the generation of immigrants.The way back through the princely forests went smoothly. Only the last 6 km were a “tour of the suffering”, largely on asphalt in blazing sun at 28 degrees Celsius. Now the steps were getting shorter, the body longed for shadow. That is also part of it.For me the tour was worth it. It doesn't depend on the kilometers you have covered, but on overcoming the limits of your own comfort zone and, if necessary, accepting suffering. The prize to be won consists of a feeling of freedom, an increase in strength and pride in one's own achievement. And it's always worth the effort.
June 11, 2021
