Slate and quartz

Weisel

The small village of Weisel, like many of its neighbours on the hills overlooking the Rhine River, has a lot of houses with slate rooves (Ziegeldächer) which is not surprising since slate mines are common in the area. They have been closed as they are no longer an economic proposition.

It was mined nearby and the remains of the mines are still visible.  The slate is interwoven with quartz and black and white rocks seem to ooze from the mine sites. 

Slate and quartz

Slate pile

Near the Lorelei

Weisel: with slate walls and a sun-shine tree. (View up Altpforter Stree)t

History marks people, even centuries later.

Our last stop in Europe was in Weisel, a small village 5 km from the Lorelei on the Rhine River. There is a slate pit in the gorge leading to the Rhine and many of the houses in Weisel have slate walls as well as roofs.  It is a neat and tidy place. The few shops hidden away in houses just have a small sign indicating that there is a bank, a hairdressing salon or a shop within. Last time I was here the bank was housed in a cow stall; now it has a more salubrious setting on the town square. All the houses are inhabited, but you would never know if you just walked through.

We were at the end of a history tour of Germany, a history of invasions and battles, often battles fought between invading armies on German soil. The old Germans fought the Romans here and the Swedes swept through as they fought Napolean, finally sending the Napoleonic army packing. My friend in Weisel tells me history that has marked the local community and that it is no wonder people barricade themselves in their homes and are wary of strangers.

If you are in the area Weisel is worth a visit - especially as there is a good restaurant hidden away here.  It is called Hannots and is housed in a quaint old building in Altpforter Street (picture) one of the main streets in the village. Hannots  is as welcoming as anyone could wish. The cook knows his trade and attracts people from surrounding areas. It makes a nice change from tourist restaurants on the Rhine. If you do visit, make sure you go upstairs to view the paintings of the Weisel and the Kauber Platte which hang on the upper floor.

Wine and Hannots in Weisel

You know you are in a wine growing region when grape vines grow on railway tracks. This picture was taken near Rüdesheim on the Rhine River.

I drank an excellent wine at Hannot's Restaurant in Weisel which has a lovely garden at the back complete with large apple tree drooping with fruit.  The wine glasses below were drawn at Hannots.

Fruit hanging from trees

All trees in the back yards from Salzburg to Frankfurt are dripping with fruit. It has been that sort of autumn.

On the Kauber Platte (the high flat hills a few km behind the Lorelei on Rhine River) apple trees are heavy with fruit and the laneways are red with rosehips hanging from the bushes.

I spent 3 days in Weisel on the Kauber Platte. When I wasn't walking among the fruit trees I was sleeping off my Maribor exhaustion - 10 hours a night every night. When I woke, this was the view out my attic window.

Weisel

This house is the first house you see when you arrive in Weisel from nearby Kaub. Weisel is not a large village. If you drove through you might think the only shop in town is a small grocery store but there are many more that you don't see. They are in peoples houses. As well as the grocery and the pizza shop there is a hairdresser, two banks (knowing their clients personally is the security they offer), two backeries, a bottle shop, animal care store, optician and several others you only know are there because of the small notice on a door. I am told there are 75 associations as well, the life blood of every village.
These two pictures are exhibited in Hannots, a local restaurant that serves very good food in a lovely old building. It is worth a visit.

Kornblumen in Weisel

An attic in Weisel

This attic is in Ulla's house in the small town of Weisel, perched among the hills along the Rhine.

 

Some houses in the village date from 1770 and I would guess Ulla's house is at least 200 years old. It has crooked floors, narrow hand cut wooden stairs and a half timbered barn. It was a ruin when she bought it, but is now a real charmer. It is a pleasure to go up and down the handmade narrow staircase to the top floor attic bedrom.

 

View from the attic window.