winter landscape in niederlibbach.
even living close to a low mountain range is not a guarantee for snow, so everytime i hear in the weather news that conditions are right for at least a tiny bit of snow, i will try to head out and find some ( giving that i don't have to work that day ). it feels like a winter full of snow already lies in the past, we rarely have a constant timeframe where the snow is staying on the ground for more than one day. i wrote it before, but this winter's been absolutely snow free, and it makes me sad that we didn't even get ONE day of snow. global warming is a thing, y'all and it robs us from beautiful winter days spent sledding in the snow or making snow angels or heading out for snowball fights. i miss white landscapes, they have a soothing effect that is pretty difficult to top. and they make winter so much better, because otherwise you would just have bare landscapes everywhere, lots of grey skies and rain, rain, rain. it is pretty dreary, and it always makes me blue, and it is worse when even the white days are missing, as i tend to stay inside and not go out exploring so much.
for my snow fix i tend to go up the taunus mountains, as chances are a bit higher there to find snow-covered grounds ( i've probably mentioned that quite a few times already ). for this snow adventure i made my way to niederlibbach, a tiny village that is part of the taunusstein community. it's situated in the eastern aartaunus ( where the river aar originates ). the landscape is a really lovely one, with soft rolling hills and tiny streamlets everywhere. visiting the mountains always ends up being a wonderful thing ( i really should do it more often... )
there wasn't much snow on my visit, but it was enough for my fickle needs, which was basically 'give me at least a tiny bit of snow, so i can survive this dreary winter' 😂.
as you can see, the snow was already melting, but what gives? i wouldn't complain! as long as it crunched underneath my feet i was happy.
there are several lifts around niederlibbach, embracing the little village in the aubach valley. they are only around 400 meters high, so not exactly the alps, but still pretty ;)
the lift i was walking here is called 'auf der scheid', and the german name indicates that it probably had been borderland formerly. niederlibbach and its neighboring village oberlibbach had been part of bleidenstadt monastery, who held reign over the lands, despite it being surrounded by the nassau-idstein principality.
nothing beats a real good tree skeleton, right? 💀
view down into the aubach valley.
a little panorama of the whole landscape. from left to right: the jungwald ( young woods ), the hohelar lift ( 387 above sea level ), gerömser fields & geröms lifts and a tiny part of the steinwald.
my path led along the steinwald ( stone woods ), where i discovered this gnarly old oak tree.
someone must've removed one of the old branches, leaving an insight into the lifespan of the branch. the texture of tree rings is most satisfying for me.
i have a thing for benches standing in the woods. sometimes they look forgotten, like this one, and sometimes they are pretty artistic.
randomly found a wire tunnel. while it is really shitty of people to randomly dispose their rubbish in the woods, sometimes it creates unintentional artwork. ( maybe it was expired by the art museum down in the village? )
a bench designed as a memorial of martin binger. martin binger was a local composer who wrote a few carnival hits.
gnarly roots ( in case you didn't notice, i love gnarly looking things ;) ).
back to the snowy fields.
there's something so soothing to these lines and colours.
i walked into the village and stopped by the aubach stream. it is a tributary river to the bigger aar river, which the region got its name from.
the little streamlet passes by the evangelical church of the village.
the church dates back to the 12th century, but this building was first erected in the 15th century. the current nave is from 1774.
right next to it you can find the obligatory war memorial.
there's also an angel sculpture greeting you in front of the portal.
roswitha kacmaczyk made the angel, a local citizen of the village, in 2009.
i love me some old village timber-framed houses, especially cute ones like these ❤
glückliche fügung ( happy coincidence ) by evelyn hellenschmidt.
the newest gain ( and definitely a curiosity in a tiny village like niederlibbach ), is the kunsthaus taunusstein, a small art museum that showcases the collection of a local couple, dr. irene haas and ulrich van gemmern. it is a place for contemporary art, with a focus on abstract/expressive art & sculptures. it was open when i checked it out, but i was actually not in a mood to go inside ( sometimes walking in nature satisfies all my needs when it comes to art, because nature is art, too ). maybe i'll try to visit it again another time ( i probably will soon, as there's an exhibition about chinese artists on display at the moment ). it's pretty cool to know that something of this reach is existing so far away from a bigger city, making it an absolute insider tip and bringing some life into an otherwise seemingly sleepy little place. i guess it just shows that the people living here are actually pretty surprising and have more than one ace up their sleeves :)
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