After
breakfast I went to the bakers and bought one of the last two wood-fired oven
loaves, opting for the 1 kg one rather than the 1.5 kg. It looked very good and
had traces of wood ash on the bottom, which is always a good sign.
Having headed up the hill yesterday, we decided to walk up the Leinleiterbach valley
today and set off past the swimming lake. We were immediately just above a
marshy area that, I suspect, used to be man-made pools probably used either to
regulate water to the mill (built 1168 and closed 1978) in the town or as a
trout farm or possibly both, over time.
We first came to Zoggendorf, a typical, small farming village full of farms and
barns. Every country building has one, often many, neatly organised and covered
stacks of firewood. Zoggendorf was no exception and one farm had a very large
stack that had a sign on it ’Tornado 25.07.22’. A little Google research
revealed that a very severe storm hit this area on that date with torrential
rainfall, intense lightning and gale-force winds. The damage to the local
forests was huge with some forest owners losing one quarter of their trees.
Trees were left in a dangerous state and many roads were blocked. It must have
been horrendous but it did give everyone a lot of firewood!
On then to Burggrub, a larger village where another stream ran into the
Leinleiterbach. There is a mill with a history dating back to 1275 although the
current buildings are much younger. The mill closed in 1959 and the waterwheel
is now very dilapidated. Apparently, there were many mills in the
Leinleiterbach valley and the valleys of its tributaries. There was also a
small church attached to a large building with a massive barn in its grounds. I
suspect that this was the barn of a manor that also built the church.
We reversed our route and returned to the van for a late lunch of cheese with
that lovely wood-fired oven bread. Many German loaves are flavoured with
spices, the most common of which is fennel. I am not a great fan of heavily
spiced bread but this one had a very mild fennel flavour that was quite
pleasant.
Just before 18:00 we set off walking the short distance to the town market
square so that we could find out what the Rathaussturm was all about. When we
arrived there was a big crowd already there. One stall was selling drinks,
another snacks and there were raised tables mounted above oil drum wood-fired heaters.
It was a pleasant evening, dry and no wind but it was cool enough for us to
appreciate the heaters. We queued to buy gluhwein (hot, spiced wine) and found
a spot where we could see the stage.
Just after 18:11, some people moved towards the back of the square and I
followed them. In the distance there was a street drumming band playing, their
drums lit with fairy lights. They were soon joined by lots of female dancers
and the whole group paraded past the square, round some of the town centre and
then back into the front of the square. A number of speeches were given, which
we didn’t understand and then the drummers took to the stage. That was followed
by performances by all four of the dancing groups aged from probably 18 years
old down to very cute 5 or 6 year olds. During this time, I went to buy Paar
Bratwurste (two sausages in a roll for €4) and whilst queuing I asked the group
of drummers whether they spoke English. The drummers were mainly in their
sixties or older but one young girl volunteered and she spoke excellent
English. I asked her to explain what the event was about. She explained that it
was all put on by the Carnival Club and that Carnival celebrations ran from 11th
November (which explains the 18:11 and other .11 starting times) right through
to a climax in February. Sounds like great fun!
More speeches followed and the new Carnival Queen and King were crowned. The
Queen was presented with a bunch of flowers and the King was presented with a
carved snail on a stick. The carnival club’s mascot, adopted by the town, is a
snail, hence the ‘Holy City Snails’ title of the club. The drummers gave
another performance and that was followed by a very impressive dance
performance by the eldest group to the soundtrack of Indiana Jones.
It was a really fun evening and we were very glad that we had decided to stay
for the extra days. We are sure that we were the only English visitors at the
event and, quite possibly the only non-German attendees.
Photos: The Heiligenstadt bakery; And the wood-fired oven loaf; ‘Vorsprung
durch Technik’ of a different age; The Manorial(?) barn in Burggrub; The crowd
in the market square awaiting the performances; The parade; The oldest dance
group waiting to perform; And mid-routine; The Carnival Queen and King (note
snail on a stick) together with the drummers and their Brazilian(?) dancer.
