Franconian Switzerland

Franconian Switzerland

The Franconian Switzerland (German "Fränkische Schweiz") is an upland in Upper Franconia, northern Bavaria and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the Pegnitz River in the east and the south, the Regnitz River in the west and the Main River in the north, its relief reaches 600 meters in height.

The Franconian Switzerland is one of the oldest and most popular holiday areas in Germany.Fact|date=July 2007 It was given its name by Romantic artists and poets in the 19th century who compared its landscape to Switzerland.

The Franconian Switzerland is the region with the highest density of private breweries in the world. [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A4nkische_Schweiz]

Name

The region was once called „"Muggendorfer Gebürg,“" which translates into English as "Muggendorf mountains". The first tourists arrived during the age of Romanticism. Two law students from Erlangen University, Ludwig Tieck and Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder have been credited as "discoverers" of the region. Their travel report from 1793 enthralled many contemporaries. The 1820 book „"Die kleine Schweiz“ (Little Switzerland)" written by Jakob Reiselsberger from Waischenfeld gave the region its name.

The description "„Switzerland“" was common during the 19th century for landscapes with mountains, valleys and most significantly rocks (i.e. Saxon Switzerland, Märkisch Switzerland, Mecklenburg Switzerland or Holstein Switzerland). In 1829 Joseph Heller's book „"Muggendorf und seine Umgebung oder die Fränkische Schweiz“, Muggendorf and its surrounding or the Franconian Switzerland" was published.

Tourism

The Franconian Switzerland is one of the oldest tourist regions in Germany.The first travelers arrived at the beginning of the 19th century. The most attractive tourist locations are the many caves. The area is also popular with hikers who can make use of countless marked hiking paths.

Mountains

The most prominent mountain is the mountain commonly known as "Walberla", a mesa east of Forchheim. The official name for the mountain is Ehrenbürg. The Ehrenbürg consists of two peaks, the Rodenstein of 532 meter and the Walberla of 512 meter. On the mountain, there is a small chapel, which is called the Walburgis Chapel, whose existence was first mentioned in a document from 1360. This chapel has given the mountain its name. Furthermore, there is also an annual fair on the mountain on April 30, the birthday of the holy Walburga, which attracts thousands of people.

Other popular mountains are
* Leienfels(near Pottenstein), 590 meter
* Spiegelfels along with the Pfarrfelsen near Affalterthal, Markt Egloffstein, 468 meter
* Wichsenstein (near Gößweinstein), 587 meter
* Signalstein (near Wolfsberg, Obertrubach), 582 meter
* Small Kulm (near Körbeldorf), 623 meter
* Hohenmirsberger Plateau (near Pottenstein), 614 meter
* Neubürg (near Wohnsgehaig), 587 meter
* Tannenberg, 599 meter
* Graubühl (near Creußen), 569 meter

The rocks of the Franconian Switzerland's mountains provide an important area for mountain climbing. With its more than 6,500 routes is one of the best developed climbing areas in the world.

Important climbing areas are:
* Trubach Valley
* Walberla
* Wiesent Valley
* Leinleiter Valley
* Püttlach Valley
* Aufseß Valley

Caves

There are countless caves in the Franconian Switzerland, of which the Devil's Cave (Teufelshöhle) near Pottenstein is the most famous. The region is a typical example for a Karst topography.

Accessible caves:
* Binghöhle (near Streitberg)
* Teufelshöhle (near Pottenstein)
* Sophienhöhle (in the Ailsbach valley)
* Oswaldhöhle (near Muggendorf)
* Rosenmüllershöhle (near Muggendorf)
* Quackenschloß (near Engelhardsberg), cave ruin
* Zoolithenhöhle (near Burggailenreuth)
* Esperhöhle (near Gößweinstein)
* Förstershöhle (in the Zeubach valley)
* Schönsteinhöhle (in the Long Valley)
* Klauskirche (near Betzenstein)
* Riesenburg (near Doos)
* Hasenlochhöhle (near Pottenstein), known for having housed people during the Stone Age.

Castles

The Franconian Switzerland is located along the so-called castle road (Burgenstraße), which connects more than 70 castles, palaces and fortresses between Mannheim and Prague. Most of these castles were constructed in the Middle Ages.The following castles and castle ruins can be visited:
*The ruin of the Wolfsberg Castle
*Unteraufseß Castle
*The ruin of the Neideck Castle
*The ruin of the Neidenstein Castle
*The ruin of the Streitburg Castle (Markt Wiesenttal)
*Gößweinstein Castle
*Egloffstein Castle
*Greifenstein Palace (Castle of the Stauffenberg family).
*Rabenstein Castle
*Rabeneck Castle
*Pottenstein Castle
*Waischenfeld Castle
*The ruin of the Bärnfels Castle
*The ruin of the Leienfels Castle
*The ruin of Stierberg Castle
*The ruin of the Wildenfels Castle

Customs

The Franconian Switzerland is the origin of the so-called "Osterbrunnen". It describes the colorful decoration of public water wells during the Easter season. During the time of modernization and the construction of canalization, this custom had lost its significance. Only in the early 1980s, it was rediscovered and in 1986 169 villages again decorated their water wells. Today, more than 200 villages decorate their village well with colored easter eggs. The main reason for this custom is probably the significance of water for the arid high plateau of the Franconian Switzerland. The "Bieberbach Osterbrunnen" (Egloffstein) was admitted to the Guinness Book of Records as "the largest Osterbrunnen of the world".

Image gallery

Literature

"In English:"
* Milner Barry, R.: Bayreuth and Franconian Switzerland, London, S. Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co., 1887.

"In German:"
* August Sieghardt: Fränkische Schweiz. Glock und Lutz, Nürnberg 1971, aus der Bibliothek Deutsche Landeskunde
* MERIAN Monatshefte, 6/XXVI: Fränkische Schweiz. 1973
* Friedrich Herrmann: Höhlen der Fränkischen und Hersbrucker Schweiz. Regensburg 1980
* Brigitte Kaulich, Hermann Schaaf: Kleiner Führer zu Höhlen um Muggendorf. Nürnberg 1980, ISBN 3-922877-00-1
* Fritz Krause: Großer Fränkische Schweiz Führer. Deutscher Wanderverlag Dr. Mair & Schnabel & Co, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-8134-0135-9
* Peter Poscharsky: Die Kirchen der Fränkischen Schweiz. Palm & Enke, Erlangen 1990, ISBN 3-7896-0095-4
* Rainer Hofmann u. a.: Führer zu archäologischen Denkmälern in Deutschland Fränkische Schweiz. Theiss, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8062-0586-8
* Hans-Peter Siebenhaar, Michael Müller: Fränkische Schweiz. Michael Müller, Erlangen 1991, ISBN 3-923278-15-2
* Gustav Voit, Brigitte Kaulich, Walter Rüfer: Vom Land im Gebirg zur Fränkischen Schweiz. Eine Landschaft wird entdeckt. Palm & Enke, Erlangen 1992, ISBN 3-7896-0511-5
* Gustav Voit, Walter Rüfer: Eine Burgenreise durch die Fränkische Schweiz. Palm & Enke, Erlangen 1993, ISBN 3-7896-0064-4
* Rolf K. F. Meyer, Hermann Schmidt-Kaler: Wanderungen in die Erdgeschichte (5). Durch die Fränkische Schweiz. Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München 1992, ISBN 3-923871-65-1
* Reinhard Feldrapp, Willi Feldrapp, Adolf Lang: Die Fränkische Schweiz. H. Stürtz, Würzburg 1992, ISBN 3800302101
* Toni Eckert, Susanne Fischer , Renate Freitag, Rainer Hofmann, Walter Tausendpfund: Die Burgen der Fränkischen Schweiz; Ein Kulturführer. Gebietsausschuss Fränkische Schweiz 1997, ISBN 3-9803276-5-5
* Stephan Lang: Höhlen in Franken - Ein Wanderführer in die Unterwelt der Fränkischen Schweiz. Verlag Hans Carl, Nürnberg 2000
* Hardy Schabdach: Unterirdische Welten - Höhlen der Fränkischen und Hersbrucker Schweiz. Verlag Reinhold Lippert, Ebermannstadt 2000
* Thomas Hübner: 25 mal Fränkische Schweiz. Heinrichs-Verlag GmbH, Bamberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89889-058-8

External links

* [http://www.fraenkische-schweiz.com/bilderbogen/index_en.html The Franconian Switzerland]
* [http://www.walkingworld.com/home/index.asp?id=35&nid=211 Walking World]
* [http://www.naturerlebnis-fs.de Franconian Switzerland 360° Panoramic Images]


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