#2025-04

[merpmonde]

Hornberg (at last!)

I've been putting this off for long enough, but here is a real gem in the heart of the Black Forest: the little town of Hornberg! Located in the Gutach valley with hills on all sides, it makes for an easy-access spectacular outing, as my parents would hopefully attest to having been there recently. This will be a mini-series as there's a lot to see, but let's start with some establishing shots and the two most obvious sights: the castle and the railway viaduct.

The castle on the top of a rock face is the first view on offer when coming out of the train station. It dates back to the 1200s and the first lords of the town. Progressively, the area came under the control of larger and larger domains, first Württemberg, then the Grand Duchy of Baden. Today, the tower remains, and can be climbed to enjoy a 360° view of Hornberg.

The railway viaduct is part of the ramp the Schwarzwaldbahn uses to get out of the Gutach valley cul-de-sac. Trains start climbing out of Hausach, and after Hornberg, they continue to Triberg and its loops. The view of the viaduct and station from the castle is marketed as a "life-size model railway": once an hour, Regional Express trains come through in both directions, and if they're perfectly on time, they cross the viaduct in sync!

After walking down from the train station, several routes lead to the castle. The steep, winding path on the Eastern rock face, visible in the second photo, is the quickest, but not always open, depending on the season. Going around the South side of the mountain leads to two more access roads, one straight up from the residential area and again rather steep, and the paved road, which is the easiest but, of course, the longest. In any case, it takes less up to an hour (longest route and really strolling) to get to the top - in time to watch the model railway!

[merpmonde]

Towers and trains at Oberwesel

Downstream from Bacharach and Kaub seen in the most recent posts, Oberwesel is a gorgeous town on the left-hand side of the Rhine, with many of its medieval walls and towers still standing. The railway was built alongside these walls near the river, and even goes between two towers, the Katzenturm (left) and Ochsenturm (right). Add the hills in the background, and it is certainly a spectacular train spot.

Here is another tower, the Haagsturm, in a view from the station platforms. (I just got off that train and failed to position myself in time to get the sign out of the way bottom left.) The two trains shown were the only types visible that day, as the intercity traffic was diverted to the other side of the river via Wiesbaden.

Further from the river, another section of town walls and towers runs through the hills. In the centre of the picture above, taken from the short but steep Elfenlay trail, is the Kuhhirtenturm (with raised drawbridge), with St Martin's Church rising behind it.

Oh alright, have a wider view from the Elfenlay.

[merpmonde]

Running around Koblenz station the other evening, I couldn't resist the cute message on this local train. Instead of a deadpan "depot" or "not taking passengers", this train is "going to bed"!

[merpmonde]

Local Ampelmännchen!

While the East Berlin Ampelmännchen has become a cultural icon, other cities in Germany have been getting their own personalised red and green men for pedestrian traffic lights, from historical figures like Karl Marx in Trier, to mascots.

So on the left, we have Brezelbu, a mascot for Speyer's annual pretzel festival. These lights were implemented in time for the 2023 edition.

On the right, we have Det, one of six little characters introduced in the 1960s on TV channel ZDF to transition in and out of ad breaks. The characters were called the Mainzelmännchen, or the little men from Mainz, so the city has adopted them as mascots of sorts.

[merpmonde]

We've seen these trains before, quite recently in fact, but they're back, on a much brighter day to really make their colours pop, and in a different border station between France and Germany.

This is Lauterbourg, the easternmost town in France, in the North-East corner of Alsace, and it shows the contrast between the line on the left-hand side of the Rhine, and the one on the right-hand side. The line from Strasbourg to Wörth am Rhein is not electrified to this day, and only sees local regional traffic. Nonetheless, Lauterbourg appeared to have a massive yard back in the day, now just a flat expanse of disused rails.

At the North end of Lauterbourg station, we find some old German mechanical signals, still in use!

Finally, like in the previous post on these trains, I have an amusing place name to share. It's more funny to pronounce with an English accent than anything else, but it also looks like a game of Countdown gone horribly wrong!

[a74-vrc]

2025/04/28 なぜか見覚えのある場所

[a74-vrc]

2025/04/28 未投稿