Fichtelgebirge and Franconian Forest
In the northeastern corner of Bavaria, right where foothills of the Franconian Forest, the Ore Mountains, the Upper Palatinate Forest and the Franconian Switzerland meet, lies the Fichtelgebirge. It has the shape of a horseshoe with its highest peaks enclosing the lower plain. These high peaks are the Schneeberg (engl.: Snow Mountain) with an altitude of 1,051 metres (3,450 feet) and the Ochsenkopf (engl.: Bulls Head) with an altitude of 1,024 metres (3,360 feet).
The name Fichtelgebirge includes the German word 'Fichte' (engl.: spruce) which is the most common tree on the mountainsides. Thus 'Fichtelgebirge' can be translated 'Spruce Mountains'.
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The Fichtelgebirge is Germany's main water shed. Four important rivers rise in it: the Naab flows southbound to the Danube, the White Main westbound to the Rhine, the Eger eastbound into the Czech Republic and the Saale northbound to the Elbe. Four rivers rising in one point and flowing in four opposite directions canīt be found anywhere else. Thatīs why the four rivers are part of our district logo.
Wild brooks and rivers are flowing through deep mixed forests and spruce forests an the mountainsides. They have a wide influence on the countryside and the flora of the Franconian Forest and the Fichtelgebirge. Their sinuosities are cutting through the meadows far away from settlements, busy streets and industrial plants. Vast birch forests in the raised bogs of Sehlohe and Steinkreuzlohe testify an unspoiled nature. |
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The gently declining and plunging down hillsides are mostly grown over with spruces. Centuries ago usually mixed forests could be found in Bavaria's low mountain ranges but the growing timber industry and the great demand for wood during industrialisation changed the characteristic landscape. Spruces are fast growing trees, an attribute which makes them suitable to supply the growing demand. Wood was an important renewable resource for the domestic industrie in Franconia.
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A hiker who is interested in flora and fauna will every so often make surprising discoveries. Rare plants and animals can be found in clearings off the beaten tracks. During the last decades some wild animals found their way back into the Fichtelgebirge which were dispeled over a hundred years ago. The shy lynxes returned to seize their natural habitat and romours are afloat that even single wolves were seen in secluded areas.
The Franconian Forest and especially the Fichtelgebirge are (beside the Harz, the Siegerland and the Ore Mountains) the classic ore mining regions in Germany. But thereīs not much ore to be found in the Fichtelgebirge and thatīs why there are scant poppet heads and smoking chimneys. Only some still open stone pits and overgrown waste rock piles testify to former mining activities. What's left is the glory of minerals treasures which attracts minerals collectors until today.
In the village Neualbenreuth, not far away from Waldsassen, you can find gold. Gold mining within the Fichtelgebirge goes back to the 13th century. In the 19th and 20th century quite a few trials were made to start the mining of gold again but all attempts were in vain. They failed because the concentration of gold was too marginal and too erratic.
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The Fichtelgebirge is one of Germanyīs largest granite ranges. Such granites can, in perfect beauty created by nature, can be seen at the Epprechtstein near Kirchenlamitz and at the Fuchsbau near Trostau. The Felsenlabyrinth (rock labyrinth) of the Luisenburg, a great many of huge rocks is made up of granite. Deeply impressed by the character of this fantastic primeval scenery, the famous poet Goethe already tried to interpret the formation of these enormous boulders.
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Of all German countrysides the Franconian Forest is certainly one of the lonliest amd most unknown regions. In its gloomy spruce forests and on its silent meadows liveīs unhurried and less hectic. There lies a whiff of isolation from the world over the meadows and highs of the Franconian Forest.
The fauna is undisturbed and anyhow shy because they are not used to encounters with men. For nature lovers the woodlands between the river Wilde Rodach and the Red Main affords many surprises.
Sounds like a wonderful spot for scouts and a hike experience, doesnīt it? |
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