Friday 10 March 2023

Castle, Cross and Crocuses

Last Friday (the 3rd of March) was another sunny day, and the start of our mini break to celebrate the 7th anniversary of our being together earlier that week.

I began and wrapped up work very early and rushed through my cleaning routine in order to leave home shortly after 12:30. The two trains I took were both on time, and I arrived at the tiny station of Bad Teinach-Neubulach at 20 to 2:00 pm.

O.K. arrived soon afterwards, and drove us the 4.5 km up the steep hill to Zavelstein, a village of just under 800 inhabitants. (Clicking on the underlined word will take you to its short wikipedia entry.)

From 1986 to 1988, I attended Librarian School in the nearby town of Calw, and with my friends visited Zavelstein a few times; we loved the picturesque place. In 2014, I returned for a day trip with two of my friends from Librarian School, and blogged about it here. The photos I took then are different from the ones I am showing you today, as it was summer. Please refer to my old post for information about the castle and the village itself; there is no need to repeat it all here.

Checking in at the hotel took longer than expected, but eventually, we were shown to our room. It was exactly the room I had wanted, and with the sun streaming in, it looked very nice - I could easily imagine us staying for more than just a short weekend.

The hut overlooking the valley is a sauna.

Nobody was in the outdoor pool at that moment.


We were just in time to grab coffees and cake before the buffet closed at 4:00 pm, but the beautiful afternoon light was beckoning, and so we were soon on our way to the castle ruins, just along the road from the hotel:















The next few are views from the top of the tower:

Our hotel is just behind the church.



We then walked across the village, following the sign posts to the crocus meadows Zavelstein is famous for. Although there were many buds visible, we came at the wrong time to see the meadows in their full glory - it was too cold, and too late in the day. Still, we could imagine what it must be like when the crocuses are out in full force. Busloads of tourists come up to Zavelstein then, so we were actually lucky to escape that.




On our way back down towards the village and our hotel, we came past a stone cross, erected in 1447. The story behind it is sad: In January of that year, a spinstress by the name Margret Meyr was visiting her cousin in Zavelstein. The cousin's child fell ill, and Margret walked to nearby Calw to get the doctor's advice and medicine. On the way back through the woods, she was caught up in a snowstorm. She would have still made it back to her cousin, but unfortunately, she fell into a wolf trap along the way (such traps were quite common in the woods in those days), where she froze to death.


View of Zavelstein from the other side of the village,
Touching as it was, we were not weighed down by sadness for long; the evening was just too beautiful, and we had a delicious four-course meal to look forward to. Before sitting down at our table in the restaurant, we clinked our glasses of sparkling wine at the hotel bar, observing other guests (and some of them were quite eye-catching - one man with flowing grey locks was dressed all in black and white, wearing a Versace shirt under a boldly patterned knee-length cardigan, ordering a bottle of champagne for just himself and the quiet lady at his side) and talking about what we wanted to do the next day.

The meal was excellent, the service friendly and attentive. The rest of the evening was quietly spent in our beautiful room.

12 comments:

  1. Oh, that's really beautiful, Meike, and I am glad you had such nice weather with those lovely blue skies! What a lovely place for a romantic weekend!

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    1. It really is like something out of a picture book, and not all that far away for us.

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  2. *Our hotel is just behind the church.*
    Beautiful afternoon light. Beautiful Zavelstein.

    Even as a kid I wanted to live in a German village or town like this.
    The gabled, steep-roofed houses with their high windows are quite magical.
    I am glad that you and O.K. had some time away together.

    The fate of Margret Meyr is very troubling.
    Why did anyone set a wolf's trap, wolves seldom pose a threat to humans ?
    Her last hours, alone and frightened, should make us all think.
    Her solitary stone cross reminds me that life is short, eternity is forever.

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    1. The place has something enchanted about it in the golden afternoon sun; imagine what it must be like on a moonlit night, or in mysterious fog.

      Wolves were a threat to sheep and other livestock, and so they were hunted or trapped to be killed whenever possible. When walking in the Black Forst, you often see place names that have something to do with wolves.

      Yes, Margret‘s sad story stuck with me enough to look her up and include her in my post. The fact that her name, trade and exact date of her death are known, and that an expensive stone cross was erected for her, is rather unusual for the 15th century.

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  3. What a lovely little town! I enjoyed your pictures very much. It's wonderful that you were able to have a little weekend get-a-way in such a nice place!

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    1. Thank you, Bonnie. It was a welcome mini break, and I am glad we went - possibly not for the last time.

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  4. There are so many places in Germany I have neither heard of nor visited; Zavelstein is one of them. Gorgeous, quite gorgeous.
    I am glad you had a lovely mini break to celebrate your anniversary, man muss die Feste feiern, etc. As you yourself know time and life can be quite cruel.
    It's such fun to people watch, one of my favourite occupations.

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    1. It has something of a fairytale about it - of course, that's also a lot to do with the fact that we don't live and work there, but only come to have a good, relaxing time.
      People watching is endlessly fascinating!

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  5. Looks charming. And I can't wait to see crocuses again...! ;)

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    1. I have just come in from a quick dash to the shops during my (late) lunch break. The gardens around here are now brimming with primroses, snowdrops and crocus, and if the mild sunny weather lasts (it won't), the big magnolia trees in my street will soon blossom.

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  6. Germany has many beautiful villages. Thank you for sharing Meike. I will find the village on my map when I get home.

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    1. Zavelstein is particularly scenic, and I have seen it in all seasons - my first visit was in the late 1980s in the weeks leading up to Christmas. It felt like stepping into an Advent calendar.

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