Elmstein valley
Place and castle ruins Elmstein
The valley is a valley region Elmsteiner in the middle Palatinate Forest between the towns Frankeneck and locust Cross ( Rhineland -Palatinate). Through the valley flows the Speyerbach, a left tributary of the Rhine.
- 2.1 Structures
- 2.2 Museums and Themenwanderweg
- 3.1 Economics
- 3.2 colonization
- 3.3 traffic
Geography
Geographical location
Most of the Elmsteiner Valley is located in the district of Bad Durkheim, two smaller subregions belong to Neustadt on the Wine Route or the district Southern Wine Route. The valley is 24 km long and falls in west-east direction approximately from 470 to 170 meters from.
Waters
The Elmsteiner valley is drained by the Speyerbach. With its tributary streams, whose water-rich here are the Helmbach and Breitenbach, the Speyerbach drains the valley, whose tortuous course he determined, and the surrounding heights it.
Mountains
The surveys left, ie north of the valley, are a maximum of 514 meters ( Mückenberg ) significantly lower than those on the right. There the Bloskülb 570 and the Brogberg reach 567 meters. The highest point in the West, also the beginning of the valley, lies on the watershed Rhine / Mosel, which separates the basins of Speyerbach and Schwarzenbach in this area. In the east the valley ends at the confluence of high Speyer Bach in the Speyerbach.
Attractions
Structures
The four medieval castles above the valley, namely Elmstein, Breitenstein, Erfenstein and Spangenberg, secured the ruling noble families here over the centuries their supremacy. Today, its ruins are visited by tourists, not least because of the legend of the Leather bridge that should have existed between the castles Erfenstein and Spangenberg. Of the other historic buildings in the valley the ruined tower of the church built in 1488 Appenthal probably the best known.
Museums and theme trail
Three museums in Elmstein inform about the work in the forest, two of them are located in the same historic building: the forest working museum upstairs comprehensively deals with all the activities that were relevant in the forest. The Wappenschmiede in the basement is an iron hammer, who once used the Speyerbach water to generate energy for the blacksmith's trade; Today electric current is produced and fed into the public grid. The Old Samenklenge has specifically the importance of forestry to the topic and provides information on use of forests, seed production and reforestation.
The information boards along the trail of drift Speyer Bach explain the technique of drift. The tourist information on the municipality Elmstein offers guided hikes.
Economy and infrastructure
Economy
From the Middle Ages to modern times in the entire region was the Forestry of the main branch; numerous pasture plants were used to transport timber on the streams whose water power was used to power mills and hammer mills.
Colonization
The Elmsteiner valley is very sparsely populated, the population is below 3,000. Most important community is Elmstein from which the name comes, with its smaller districts. With the decline in forestry more and more residents of the Valley commute to foreign jobs.
Traffic
Developed for the road is the valley through the provincial road 499 that leads from Frankeneck of currants Cross and thereby the federal highways connecting 39 ( Frankenstein -Neustadt on the Wine Route ) and 48 ( high- Speyer- Bad Bergzabern ). In addition, a bus connection with the line 517 ( Neustadt on the Wine Route - Iggelbach ) exist, their journey takes about an hour.
To prevent motorcycle accidents, the winding road is blocked by the Elmsteiner valley on weekends during the summer months ( April to October) for the motorcycle traffic; only residents - not residents - must travel the route during the reclaim time by motorcycle.
Along the Speyer Bach of Frankeneck to Elmstein runs the Kuckucksbähnel, which opened in 1909 and took place on the passenger until 1960. 1984, the line was reactivated, since the Kuckucksbähnel is used as a museum railway for tourism purposes.