The rhon is a cultural landscape. Over the centuries, man has shaped and shaped it according to his needs. These changed over time, some disappeared over the years and fell into oblivion. To this klaus wehner liked to counter something. That’s why he got the ball rolling for a new hiking trail in the upper ash valley. On almost six kilometers of track, wehner wants to open windows into the past of the market. Information boards provide hikers with information about old coal piles, the water supply and a jewish trade route through the rhon.
Wehner is no stranger to the market burkardroth, he was for a long time the chairman of the resident rhon club. The idea for the new hiking trail near stangenroth grew out of two previous projects in which he played a leading role – the cultural trail in the aschach valley, which focuses on the dams and water systems along the aschach river, and a book on it. "After the cultural path in the lower ashach valley was finished, we first saw how many old weirs were there", he says. The trail is only signposted in the lower section in the direction of aschach.
"Then came the idea that we also need something in the upper area", says wehner. Together with the local rhonklub he approached the market burkardroth. The municipal councils approved the project in march and secured the financial support of the municipality.
Wehner based part of his research for the planned route on another project. Together with alois muller – a colleague from the rhonklub – he worked out a book about the aschach and the village life in the area of the creek in the past years. Among other things, the duo mapped the entire aschach river from its source above the village of stangenroth to its mouth in aschach.
"We went to the archives in wurzburg and looked at old maps and documents," says wehner, says wehner. Wehner and muller also received advice and tips from friends and family members at the time. "In the past, people talked about old paths and trails, but now many things have been forgotten, says wehner. An example of this is the trade route popularly known as the judenweg (jews’ way). "During the research for the book, we repeatedly came across old maps in which the path was in fact also marked as a jewish path."
The judenweg crosses the upper aschachtal coming from steinach in the direction of platz and geroda. "The path runs in the vicinity of the vogelsbrunnen. This is where the jews used to rest and herd their cattle. This should not be forgotten, but remembered", he says. The hollow way can still be seen today. For wehner, it was clear that this was the content of one of the four information boards.
In this area, the first work has already been done. The area was in a bad condition, the fountain collapsed. In 1993, the rhon club removed the dead wood and restored it to its original state. This was done without any ulterior motive for the trail that is currently being built. In addition, the club put up a boulder with the inscription of the fountain’s name. "Since then, it has naturally grown moss and suffered minor weather damage." last year the stangenroth stonemason hartmann worked up the weathered stone on an honorary basis because of the planned trail. "Together with the market’s building yard, he even re-seeded it", says wehner.
An old coal mine is the subject of another information board. "An old boy gave me the idea, his father left him an uncanny knowledge", he explains. Even today the ground at the site is black. Another panel provides information about the water supply situation in the narrow and mountainous upper aschachtal region. "The weissenbrunnen was the source of water supply for burkardroth until the 1970s." the first water pipeline was in 1914, before that troughs were found in the villages. "Due to complaints, however, the management then came", female wehner. The fourth panel deals with the forest conversion currently taking place. "The food, agriculture and forestry office is responsible for the future of neureuther."
Wehner is already in the middle of the project. He has already written the texts for his three information boards. "I’ve put about 20 hours of work into the project so far – but really, it’s just getting started now", he says. This concerns for example the exact location of the boards. For this, there has already been a site meeting at the starting point of the path with the mayor waldemar bug (odp) last week.