To the hugel graves at the thorny
During an excursion by the bad staffelstein cultural initiative (KIS) to the summit of the dornig, the 24 participants were also able to experience an exciting journey into the time of the hugel graves that were once built here. Kis director herrmann hacker, anton kocheler and bernhard christoph, who jointly led the excursion, buried the good-humored hikers at the hikers' parking lot near dittersbrunn.
In the waldmeister beech forest
In a relaxed atmosphere they went downhill in the direction of dornigspitze. The pace was deliberately kept slow in order to pause and add some interesting facts to the hike. "You can tell by the knotted grass that this meadow is unmanured", said nature lover hacker at one point, in order to point out a natural woodruff beech forest at another point, whose name comes from the medicinal and root plant that can be found here.
At suitable vantage points, the hikers enjoyed the view and at the same time learned about geological relationships in a vivid way. "All this makes up the south german cover landscape", hacker spanned an arc from the marl limestone here on the thorny to the lower franconian shell limestone to the primary rock in the black forest and rhon. Instead of rushing through nature with blinkers on, the excursion took time to follow the "tracks" nature, which reveal quite a bit about the way of life of our ancestors.
Where oxcarts rumbled
"This old road was used by ox teams until about a hundred years ago", bernhard christoph explained to the participants. And then the group came to the first historic burial ground – overgrown but still easily recognizable, one of at least 84 that were documented to have been laid out around the summit of the 530-meter-high thorny mountain. Around 200 years ago, the first explorers were concerned with this topic.
According to anton kocheler, the graves were not only created in the early celtic period, but also in the "hallstatt period" but also in the bronze age. "Buried were burgers of higher rank", explains the head of the KIS archaeology working group, bridging the gap between history and modernity: because the technology of the 21. The researchers will benefit from a bird's-eye view of the twentieth century to determine revealing differences in relief on the ground. "Digital landing models are created using the airborne method, which provide information on "hugelgraber", so kocheler and hold a corresponding map with high lines. Further kocheler went into detail about grave goods in the tombs at the dornig or elsewhere. Kocheler lent vividness to his explanations at this point by bringing along replicas, such as a hoe and a spearhead made of bronze, as well as a dagger made of deer horn. "For the handle of the axe were used suitable aste, because a complete production of the tool from bronze would have been too expensive and also too heavy", the "archaeology virus" explains in the positive sense infected unterzettlitzer.
But also numerous objects and jewelry were hidden in the open hugel graves. Just like kocheler, christoph and hacker were able to "carry" the participants along with them through their competent explanations.
Past the dolomite rock formation "steinerne braute" surrounded by myths the group finally reached the summit area of the dornig, where once the outer bailey or main castle of the former medieval fortress was located in the dornig summit area.
Spectacular view of the valley
Purely optical "pay" today only a few stones remain as remnants of the walls of it. Through the words from the mouths of competent excursion leaders, however, the past becomes alive again in front of the inner eye. "Here was probably the gate to the plant", bernhard christoph spread out his arms to show a drawing of what the castle might have looked like in the past. "The dazzling view that now awaits you, you have earned", promises christoph then. The vantage point at the dornig summit – uncovered about three years ago as part of the celtic trail project – offered the excursion participants an outstanding view of the valley with the staffelberg mountain on the opposite side.
"Whoever walks through our beautiful landscape with its history also appreciates nature", this is the summary of hermann hacker. On behalf of the cultural initiative, he thanked christoph and kocheler for accompanying the excursion in such a profound way. Several participants met for a break in the local gastronomy. In a cosy atmosphere, they like to review the great impressions they have made.