japanese maple - spring growth.
green & blue, those were the most prominent colours on our visit to one of the most beautiful ( and only 😜) national parks of my home state thuringia - the hainich, an extensive & lush forested ridge in the northwest. i was on a home visit because of vacations and the weather had been absolutely gorgeous, so we ( my parents, my brother (!) and i ) decided to head to a little village called hütscheroda on the outer border of the hainich which is known for being an informational hub for the wildcats that live in the national park. the village itself is tiny, only 69 people live here, but they live for their mascot - the wildcat. there's an enclosure where you can have a direct glimpse at real wildcats that are too sick or too unfit to be released back into the wild, there's also a visitor's center where you can get more informations about this naturally very shy animal ( and meet some normal house cats that wander around in the building demanding strokes and cuddles ;) ) and you can also walk the wildcat trail - which leads you around the village, passing by a lookout tower & some lost settlements.
we spent our day exploring this exact trail and with learning some more about the wildcats and their natural habitat and why they are so comfortable inhabiting the hainich woods. let's hop on and see what we found!
our walk began on the hills of the kindel, a rather small ridge surrounding the village. immediately, what came to mind ( and eyes ), was how green & lush & fresh everything looked! while we started our little hike in a relatively disgruntled mood ( due to certain family members being mopey about hiking ), it all lifted a bit the more we moved on. me, for my part, i decided to ignore it and stomped onward, stopping every once in a while to take stock of my surroundings and to capture what was obviously really worth exploring. the temperatures were hot, and the general geology of the area was rather treeless ( the reason for this not having a natural cause, but historical, as this area was used as a military training ground in the GDR state ), so shadows weren't exactly aplenty, which provoked some more gripes - that were eventually stopped as soon as we entered the first peripheral woods of the hainich. despite the little fretful little discussions following us on our way to the wildcat enclosure, i surely had a wonderful time taking in this beautiful spot of my homeland. what was not to love about those clear skies and green rolling hills? the heat was absolutely bearable in my opinion, considering what nature offered you as a reward.
old fruit trees could be found along the way as well.
this sign definitely was proof that you in fact were in the vicinity of the national park hainich.
green in every direction, except upwards, where a cloudless sky created the perfect colour-blocking alternative.
slowly we reached those woods in which the wildcats are roaming around. the hainich is a heavily wooded area dominated by beeches, and the fact that this region has an extensive amount of these beech forests makes it an exceptional region worldwide. the wildcat loves to live here, because it offers plenty of protection against possible intruders and they can roam around freely without being disturbed too much. the hainich is one of very few natural regions that still has huge connected woodlands, which is essential for endangered species such as the wildcats ( or lynxes for that matter ).
a glimpse at the faraway north ridge of the thuringian forest.
we reached the lookout and climbed the few steps to get a better overview of the landscapes.
in the back you can see some canola fields, which the thuringian basin is well known for, the region where my roots came to be. and from here you can also finally see the first outstretches of the hainich - a widespread deciduous forest.
after lingering around for a while we continued our way through the woods ( where nothing exciting happened - no wildcat, no bats - all creatures of the dark - were entering our path ). so we exited the woods quite quickly and passed by a former settlement - heßwinkel. it was abandoned in 1976 and only existed for about 30 years since 1945. it was too secluded and because of the military grounds also too restricted. there seemed to have been quite some arguments amongst the families as well and over the years it finally manifested in the decision that families gave up on this settlement and searched for their luck somewhere else. there is not much left to see, only some lilac bushes and some leftover roads and a memorial. it is not dead, though, there's a sculpture park nearby that enriches the former settlement in a very profound way and therefore keeps the history of this place alive.
those sculptures were enchanting, frightening, entertaining & also had an air of mysticism and magic wavering around them. like these poles that could've been left by an ancient teutonic tribe for example.
magical wooden gods were carved into these tree trunks.
this one seemed to be deeply in thought and quite grim. those wooden sculptures are all from the year 2002 and were erected under the name of 'mittelalter' - the dark ages.
these willow globes were erected in 2012 by the sculptor martin hunke. i think the little trees growing inside the globes are willows and are going to grow either through or around them. i guess only time will tell.
we finally reached our actual goal of the day, the little enclosure for the wildcats. we were arriving just in time for the feeding of the cats, and i was really glad we did, because otherwise you wouldn't even have known there were some wildcats around. they hide super well and were fast gone after they got their food. i snapped some real quick pictures, which was difficult because everything happened so fast and i basically wanted to watch the feeding with my own two eyes instead of through the camera. here you have one of the cats getting her mouth watered by the sight of a delicious rat and some meat pieces. this was a total surprise shot and i love it! the little tongue is perfect ❤
and here the same cat is feeding on her little prey, only the tail is still visible. wildcats are extremely endangered, but the hainich woods are one of the last habitats in germany they feel home in. it's said that about 60 animals live in this region - of about 300 in the whole of thuringia. it makes me incredibly sad to know that these cats are so rare. the reason why that is, is, of course, because of humans and their spatial needs. we cut through the territories of a lot of wildlife and therefore stealing their habitats bit by bit. with the installation of the national park hainich it is ensured that at least one of their homes isn't destroyed and they can continue to live amongst us.
after we had the fortune of witnessing these shy creatures having a meal we discovered some more sculptures on our way back to the car. like 'großer vogelstein' ( big bird stone ) by barbara neuhäuser from 1997- an eerily alien looking sculpture - which in the end turned out to be my absolute favourite of all the sculptures we've seen along the way.
eiland ( directly translates into eggland - makes good sense in the english translation of island actually ) by georg mann. this is supposed to be a work in progress, as nature will slowly proceed to shape this statue. this was my second favourite piece, with nature already doing its magic, probably even providing sun spots for lizards! must be like a 5-star-hotel to them, haha.
an idyllic horse scene shouldn't be missed in this report of mine.
we went to have some coffee and cake at the local hotel 'zum herrenhaus' where we would also discover some curious heads sitting in the gardens.
like this head that looked a bit like walter ulbricht - a former GDR politician. loved the wilted dandelion decoration on his head.
this one was downright creepy, and i want to delete it from my brains forever. but i can't. i memorialized it forever with a click on my camera and something in me said i should not dare to delete it. people say, trust you intuitions. so i will trust mine. for good luck and no spook.
while we walked back to the car i stopped by this abandoned farm building. i actually wanted to explore it some more, but some members of my family wanted to go home and so i obeyed. i swear, the magic of abandonment attracts me everytime.
there was no way around it, we had to say goodbye, but as with most of the places i visit, i promised to return someday, even if it would be a different part of the same region. the hainich surely offers lots more to see and if you want to visit this region as well, you should definitely check out the national park's website for more infos.
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