The Mossau Valley - Where the Living is Good

Mossautal

The Mossautal (photo by Graham Watson)

The Mossau Valley, lying in the southern Odenwald district just west of the town of Erbach, epitomizes the rural idyll of green pastures, rolling farmland and wooded hills. The valley, which is recognized by the state as a resort area, has something for everyone: wellness hotels, farm holidays, hiking, historical sites, water sports, camping and fishing. The Mossautal is also known for its fresh, local produce, where guests can taste spring-brewed beer at the Schmucker brewery, visit the smallest dairy in Hessen and catch fresh fish straight from the ponds of Hüttenthal. I recently visited Mossautal while on Stage Three of the long-distance trail, the Nibelungensteig, and was struck with the beauty of the valley, both natural and man made. 

Siegfriedsbrunnen (Sigfried's Spring)

Siegfriedsbrunnen

Walking in a south-easterly direction from the town of Grasellenbach, I came upon Siegfriedsbrunnen (Siegfried's Spring). The spring, located about 1.5 km from the center of Grasellenbach, is the best known among the places claiming to have been the site of Siegfried’s murder, one of the most famous scenes in the Nibelung Saga.

The saga is an epic poem, written down in the 13th century, based on events in the Burgundian kingdom of the 5th and 6th centuries, some of which are known historical incidents. The various Nibelung-themed hotels, restaurants and cafes in Grasellenbach is evidence that the town has marketed the site extensively for tourism for a quite some time.

The water from the spring flows from a flat stone decorated with a coat of arms featuring a lily, and an inscription describes the place as Siegfriedsbrunnen. Next to the spring, a Gothic stone cross was erected, upon which is carved, in Middle High German, a portion of text from the saga. In 1951, the well dried up after the old deciduous forest in the vicinity was replaced by faster-growing softwood, which altered the flow of the groundwater. To maintain the illusion of a spring, water is piped in from the Grasellenbach municipal water supply.

Rotes Wasser Olfen (Red Water of Olfen)

The Red Water of Olfen (photo by Graham Watson)

After leaving the well, I continued up the mountain through the forest of the Spessartkopf, where I soon noticed a distinct change in the landscape. This area is a high moor known as the Red Water of Olfen, and it is one of the last real moors in the Odenwald and is a listed nature reserve. The Red Water is a bog, one that occurs when rainwater cannot seep through the ground. As a result, dead grasses, herbs, mosses and willows cannot be completely decomposed, and they gradually form layers of peat that slowly grow above the level of the groundwater. The name, "Red Water," derives from the brown alga, which binds the iron content of the water and settles as a rust-red surface

Olfenerbild (Olfen Picture)

The Olfenerbild

Monument still
containing a picture

After spending some time looking at the beauty of the moor, I returned to the trail to make my way to the village of Güttersbach. Just before reaching the K47, approximately one km north of the village of Olfen, I came upon a monument made of red sandstone called the Olfenerbild (Olfen Picture). The monument stands about three meters high and is one of the simplest and oldest of the Odenwald Bildstöcke (Picture Sticks).

Bildstöcke are stone shafts topped with a carved niche, which house (or housed) a religious picture. They were often placed on historic pilgrimage routes. In the case of the Olfenerbild it stands on the route to Schöllenbach and Walldürn, almost equidistant between the villages of Olfen and Güttersbach. The villagers of Olfen, who had no church of their own, used to stop at the Olfenerbild on the way to church services in Güttersbach. Though the Olfenerbild no longer houses a picture, other Bildstöcke further along the trail have retained theirs.

Güttersbach

After leaving the site of the Olfenerbild, it wasn't long before I arrived in the village of Güttersbach. Once you enter the town, one of the first things you will notice is the Protestant church. Archaeological evidence points to the possibility that Irish or Scottish monks could have founded the first church here, near the Kindelbrunnen Spring, which is today located in the cellar of the vicarage.

The Güttersbach Church

The Güttersbach church is the oldest church in the southern Odenwald, its tower foundation having been built in the 13th century, at the same time as a once-present moated castle. It was a stop-off for pilgrims on their way to Walldürn before the reformation in 1544. The nave of the church dates back to the early Gothic era, though it underwent changes in the late Gothic period. The rectangular choir is dated to 1480 and the pulpit to the early 18th-century. The church contains an organ from 1740 and a stained-glass window in the sacristy, which, in the 19th century, was made up of parts of much older stained-glass windows and was donated to the church by the Counts of Erbach. The vicarage was built in 1596 and is the oldest existing vicarage in the Odenwald.

The Lindenplatz next to the church was once used for judicial proceedings, the stone seat under the Linden tree being a relic from this time. The tradition of holding a judicial court under a linden tree is an ancient German tradition, and the tree under which the court is held is called a Zentlinden. The word “zent” comes from the Latin word for centre, meaning one hundred, as one hundred families were represented by the court. Meetings were normally held once a year, mostly in the autumn under the shade of the linden tree, though special sessions could be called if needed. Courts of this type dealt with issues such as theft, fraud, adultery, witchcraft, brawls and even murder.

Güttersbach itself is recognized by the state as a health and relaxation resort and has a good number of guest facilities for a village of its size. The first mention of the village was as "Gunderspach" in 1290, at which time the presence of the church was first documented, and the fact that a mill existed in the village was first mentioned in 1424. The village was owned by the counts of Erbach, before becoming Hessen in 1806. Leaving Güttersbach, I followed the trail up the hill to the south of the village, over pastureland and through the forest and towards the village of Hüttenthal. 

Across the Meadow to Güttersbach (photo by Graham Watson)

Hüttenthal

Hüttenthal, which belonged to the counts of Erbach, was first mentioned in 1366 in regards to a dowry for the wife of Konrad of Erbach. The village remained an Erbach possession until 1806 when it became part of Hessen. Before the Thirty Years War left the town devastated and abandoned, there were four iron works in Hüttenthal, the oldest having been first documented in 1366. It was from this industry that the village got the name “Hüttenthal" as Hütte, in addition to meaning "hut", also means "iron works". It was only after Swiss immigrants arrived in the valley in the late 17th century that iron smelting, using water-powered hammers and bellows was again present in Hüttenthal.

The Dairy

Today, Hüttenthal is most famous for the small, private dairy located in the village, the Molkerei Hüttenthal. The origins of the dairy lie in the cooperative efforts of local farmers in the early 1900s. Later, Wilhelm Kohlhage took over the endeavor and turned it into a family business which has been running for three generations. Today, it is the smallest dairy in southern Hessen and the only dairy left in the Odenwald to produce the geographically-protected cheese known as Odenwälder Frühstückskäse, a soft cheese produced from pasteurized cow's milk. This cheese is often used to make a regional specialty called Handkäse Mit Musik (hand cheese with music), thus named because the cheese is formed by hand.

Marbachstausee (Marbach Reservoir)

The Marbachstausee (photo by Graham Watson)

The trail lead me past the Hüttenthal dairy and then through a scenic, coniferous forest.  I soon saw the waters of the Marbachstausee (Marbach Reservoir) peeking though the trees and underbrush before coming down the hill to walk along its southern shore. The reservoir was built from 1978 - 1982 for flood protection; however, it has become a popular place of relaxation for locals and visitors alike. Activities include: swimming, boating, windsurfing, sailing, fishing and hiking. The west end of the reservoir is a nature reserve for birds, and you can often seen some interesting waterfowl here. A camp site is also located in a designated area nearby.

The Mossautal (photo by Graham Watson)

Location
Two B roads run through Mossautal, the B47 (Nibelungenstraße) in the north and the B460 (Siegfriedstraße) in the south. The valley is bordered in the north by the community of Reichelsheim, in the east by Erbach, in the south by the town of Beerfelden, and in the west by the communities of Wald-Michelbach, Grasellenbach and Fürth. Villages which lie in the Mossautal are: Güttersbach, Hiltersklingen, Hüttenthal, Ober-Mossau and Unter-Mossau.