Lias jigsaw puzzles: I spent a few days in northern Bavaria

2015-06-10

I spent a few days in northern Bavaria

Every year my family and I spend a few days together somewhere in the middle of Germany.

We have fun gathering together and discovering places.

This year we met at Staatsbad Brückenau, a health resort in northern bavaria

The Hall, built in the early 19th century as a masterpiece example of neoclassic architecture.

The cornerstone was laid at King Ludwig I. birthday 25th August 1827

Inside the Hall you can explore amazing paintings inspired by italian renaissance

The so-called "Elisabethenhof" named after Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sissi), who lived here 1898 for four weeks. A few months later she was killed by Luciano Lucheni at Lake Geneva....

Statue of King Ludwig I. of Bavaria (1786-1868) - he stayed here several times

essential part of every german health resort is the garden. In Staatsbad Brückenau the first garden was designed in the late 18th century according to baroque ideas. Decades later, the King upgraded several main buildings and upgraded also the garden. Its concept changed from baroque to 'english', but the main part between the hall and hotel is still symmetric. The trees, mainly chestnuts, are trimmed to special shapes.

I explored three very special and old trees:

1) a miraculous tree - it bears oaktree leaves and ironwood trees mixed all over the treetop

Definetly not made by geneticists, but by nature itself! A biological mutation:

2) The King Ludwig Oak which is at least 800 years old

it was amazing to see this tree on a hot day with blue skies.

A description in german and english:

100 years ago the tree top reached out to 45 metres and people had meetings and parties below the huge branches. Today the soil is injected with oxygen and it is not allowed to stay there for a long time. The roots need to stay loose to 'breathe'. Here you can see the main hall viewed through branches and supports (iron and wood)

A weather-beaten inscription: "King's Oak - King Ludwig I of Bavaria spent many happy hours in the shadow of this oak" (Same inscription in 2007)

The iron supports are fixed with iron nails inside theold wood

Today sheep spent some lazy hours in the shadow of the oak

3)Thuja plicata aka gigantea (Western red cedar)

an evergreen coniferous tree native to Northern America.

This tree was planted 1910 and seems to be almost 15 metres high.

In Northern America it can grow up to 50 (!) metres

The next day we went to a deer park to visit endemic animals :-)

We experienced a guided tour

A statue of a wild boar at the entrance.

A female Moufflon (Ovis orientalis) with winter coat

A lamb

Cervus nippon - an alien species brought to germany in the late 19th century

I really like to detect the animals through the woods! The compounds are really vast and allow the deers to hide and live as natural as possible. For example, the guide told us that he often discovers new small goats born wild. It's different from the zoological parks where most of the animals are on display to everyone any time.

Capreolus capreolus - it is really untameable! Even if you keep a fawn,

it will be aggressive or will leave you once sexually matured.

Did you know that young deer don't have an odor until they are able to run like their dam?