Heidenhäuschen

Seen the heath cottage Merenberg from

Block of basalt sea on the top of Heather Cottage

The Heath Cottage is a mountain ridge and also a nature reserve on the southern edge of the Upper Westerwald to Limburger Basin in the northwestern district of Limburg -Weilburg in Hesse.

• 2.1 origin of the name

Geography

The ridge is part of the Upper Westerwald, a plateau of the Rhenish Massif. The multi- peak plateau extends over a length of about 3 km in the north-south direction. West extends in a north-south direction, the Elbbachtal. South of the ridge is the Limburg Basin.

The Heath house is located about 11 km north of Limburg an der Lahn, between the towns of: Castellar, Hintermeilingen, Steinbach, Oberweyer, Oberzeuzheim and Hangenmeilingen (all Limburg- Weilburg, Hesse).

Geology

The heath cottage consists mostly of volcanic origin Olivinbasalt. This has formed the Miocene in the transition from Oligocene approximately 28-22 Mya. Two former volcanic craters are detectable. The block of basalt sea has formed essentially under glacial conditions.

Height

The Heath house reaches a height of up to 398 masl and overlooks the adjoining Limburger Becken and the Elbbachtal by up to 200 meters.

History

Archaeological findings show that people settled early on in the area of ​​heath cottage. So at Niederzeuzheim a stone box grave was discovered, which was created in 1900 BC. With several nearby places grave urns were discovered from the period around 1000 BC. For the Hallstatt period (about 700-450 BC) can be Wallanlagen demonstrate at the summit.

During the La Tène period (about 450-0 BC), the region was inhabited by Celts. On the heath house several ring walls were created. Relations with about 6 km away Celtic oppidum on the Dornburg are presumed. In 1902, two coins were found at the Heath house, which were dominated by the Treviri.

The Celtic population was increasingly displaced from 300 BC by Germanic tribes. To the Heath house, the Ubii settled. This ethnic group entertained on the mountain, a place of judgment, which was dedicated to the Matronae Mahalinehae. This court was the court of the Franks. With the Christianization of the court was the holy Maximin of Trier subordinated and postponed in the Middle Ages by Castellar. The local legend of the Wild army is interpreted to the effect that the old pagan court with the Christianization went into the ground and as a kangaroo court persisted. To date, the closer environment of the Heath Lodge is still popularly known as "the court ".

In the area of ​​heath cottage run several old streets that are part of the road network between Limburg and victories. These include the High Street, which was probably created when King Street during the Carolingian period, the old road through the forest forest and the Old Rhine road. In the 18th century (now B 49) and the Mainzer Landstrasse (now B54 ) redesigned the trunk road network with the construction of the long mile.

Seven Joys created - at a spring at the foot of Heath Lodge, the Catholic sanctuary was 1885 Seven Sorrows. The source can be attributed healing powers. From the neighboring towns Processions to this pilgrimage place.

On 7 February 1927, the nature reserve has been set up in the area of ​​heath cottage.

Origin of the name

The name of Heath Lodge is derived from the former place of judgment. The under King Dagobert written down to 633 Collection of Laws of the Ripuarian francs Lex Ribuaria certain the harahus as the place to swear on oath were. This name has been preserved in the vernacular hârehäusje and was interpreted in the early 19th century as a heathen house. Similar developments can be traced to other court sites also.

The name of the Ubischen matron Mahalinehae to be the root word of the place names of Hintermeilingen and Hangenmeilingen and the Remelsberg.

Routes to the summit

The summit of the heath cottage can ascend from all the surrounding locations. The long-distance IV of the Westerwald club passes right below the summit.

Nature reserve

The nature reserve heath cottage is since February 7, 1927. Today it has a size of 114.23 acres and is part of the nature reserve Südoberwesterwälder hill country with Gauderfest Bacher plate. The nature reserve heath cottage is almost identical with the eponymous conservation area of 116.27 hectares. Conservation objectives of the site are the woodruff-beech forest and canyon and slope mixed forests. In addition, some plants grow here that are listed on the Red List, these include the Lesser Butterfly Orchid ( Platanthera bifolia ) and the Greenish butterfly orchid ( Platanthera chlorantha ).