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| Endangered Species at the Mummelsee - a popular tourist stop on the B500. Her predecessor who had been created as part of an Art Trail around the lake was stolen in 2011, much to the disappointment of art lovers and the community |
All Saints Falls - Die Drei Heiligen
Fired up by the 'success' of my first mission, I thought I’d try
for the All Saints Waterfall next, a semi famous one built on the site of a C12th monastery, steeped in legends and a good way along
the B500. I’d heard there was a bus there too, but the lady at the Transport Information
Bureau which has its back to the public, hadn’t heard of the waterfall, let
alone the bus.
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| This is the front of the Transport Information Office. The actual entrance is hidden around the other side on the right, not the left |
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| This is it - It says "Entrance to the Parking Garage" |
By her accent I could tell that like so many workers here, the person behind the counter was not from here, but she made no effort to find out either. I mean, if Chat GTP could tell me about the existence of a bus into the mountains, then perhaps she would have at least known about it or looked it up. As luck would have it, I discovered a brochure about the buses which serviced this route
on the way out and sure enough, there was one, though it required a change at the mysterious Mummelsee, mentioned on all the tourist maps, before I could get to the falls. Bus passengers at other stops told me where to wait and soon I was on my way to the Black Forest heights.
Unfortunately, the views on the way up were obscured by the same sort of low cloud which had bedevilled our visit to Muensingen and when I got to the Mummelsee, I found out that the buses for the next leg only came every four hours. Even worse, a little note pinned to a post said today's buses had been cancelled because of roadworks.
The swirling mists did however, provide just the right atmosphere for appreciating the legends which surround this body of water. While I waited from around 11 until 3 or 4, I did the obligatory lap around the Mummelsee, wondering what the fuss was about, given that at 192 by 240 metres it wasn’t as big as many a farm dam in Australia and almost overshadowed by the hotel at one end.
However, not many farm dams are steeped in legends or have been a touchstone for countless visitors over the years, or the inspiration for writers and poets. It is precisely this passage of countless feet over many centuries which have ensouled this place.
One of the lovelier stories concerns the waterlilies -also called "nymphs' or Mummeln in Germany, turning into water nymphs at midnight, but only for those with a pure heart. Nymphs were also said to be able to grant wishes and the lake was to supposed to be a place where you could leave your sorrows.
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| Where are the waterlilies? |
When the clouds cleared at around midday
there were stunning views of the surrounding countryside and the place was
absolutely inundated with
visitors. Most were eating and drinking, some were walking and one or two were paddling boats on the Lake.
On one of my regular trips back to the bus stop I did see one bus with the right number on it but it was heading down towards the city, not up. The bus driver, perhaps noticing my desperation, called out that he'd be back to pick me up on his way back. When he returned at about 4.30 the boom gate on the closed road magically opened and I was on the way to the All Saints Waterfall. Some wishes are granted.
I mentioned to the driver my surprise that there were so many people at the Mummelsee and he said, "Oh it's always like that. If the Mummelsee was ever quiet, you’d know the rest of the world had ended."
It was already quite late by the time we reached the start of the falls track. It gets dark early in these deep valleys. The driver said he was a bit worried about leaving me there as there wouldn’t be any more buses after he returned from Oppenau, so I set my phone alarm to make sure I would be there on time even if I didn’t make it all the way to the waterfall.
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| Minor falls on the way to the Big One |
There were several delightful walks here but fortunately, it wasn’t much more than a 10-minute walk to the main waterfall. It wasn’t that the falls were so spectacular – we have bigger ones in our own backyard too, but they were set amid stunning rock formations and steep, moss -clad hills and wherever I walked in these parts, I had the sense that I was walking in the footsteps of my forebears, gazing at places from a time when the world was so much smaller and wanderers and journeymen were the stuff of German folktales.
For most of its history, this area had been very inaccessible - you can read the story of the Abbey's founding along the way. To decide on its location, its benefactress released a donkey into the wild with a bag of gold strapped to its back. She then built the Abbey exactly where the sack of gold fell to ground. Only the hardiest and most dedicated hikers would find their way there. Today, being accessible by car, it is filled with tour groups, private cars, buses and a large party of school children who spoke dozens of different languages between them, but only stayed for a short time.
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| There are a number of lesser falls and pools along the way |
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| It's Golden Hour again by the time I reach the main fall, which doesn't do a lot for these pictures. |
When my alarm rang I hurried to back the bus stop. Most of the cars had gone, but it wasn’t long before the big red bus came hurtling around the corner again from the direction in which it had disappeared.
At first I was the only passenger since it was probably too late in the day for most day trippers. The driver being a former international coach tour driver, was in his element, pointing out places of interest and providing a running commentary. He also asked me a lot about Australia. He was very proud of having a ‘Koala’ on board and mentioned this often as other passengers joined us. “Imagine,” he would say,” This lady has come all the way from Australia.” I was quite a novelty really – a celebrity even. I gather few Aussies make it this far from Munich.
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| Sunset at Hornisgrinde, the highest point on the road at 1164m. You can see over much of the Black Forest from here |
He was also determined to show me as much as possible of the
B500 as his route allowed, to make up for the long wait at the Mummelsee. The road here is full of stunning scenery - high craggy mountains and deep green valleys populated by small neat villages like Michelbach. We stopped briefly at Hornisgrinde, the highest point on the road to pick someone up. I gather Hornisgrinde, where there was a rather elegant restaurant, was his regular coffee stop as everyone there greeted him like an old friend and the views were quite spectacular. This area is very popular with hikers. If you would like more information on any of the walks in this region, check out the AllTrails.
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| Others also stopped to admire the sunset |
There's a curious tower here too. In contrast to most of the other buildings we've been looking at, this only dates from 1910 when it was built by nature enthusiasts calling themselves The Black Forest Club, to yield even better views. Today it houses a small museum, but it was also used as an observation post during the war.
Being at such a high elevation, I thought Hornisgrinde might be a good place to try out my phone and catch up on any messages. I got one. "Welcome to France. We are now charging you 1.50 per minute." Not sure now if that was in Euros, Francs or Dollars, but it was pretty much academic anyway. I'd learned early on this trip that that was a very quick way to burn up phone credit and WhatsApp was the way to go.
As we picked up passengers here and there, the driver had a kind word for everyone who got on the bus and especially his “regulars” – “How was their health?” “How were the children” and so on. He used to do the school bus run too and knew most of them by name. Nor was he averse to a joke or two.
To two young girls who were being a bit boisterous at the front of the bus and with a wink at their parents who were already struggling with a baby and a tired toddler, he said with mock seriousness, “If you girls don’t sit down, I’m going to have to make you sweep out the bus.” The girls didn’t know if he meant it. They looked from him to their parents, but there was no reprieve there. They did however, sit very quietly for the rest of their journey with somewhat worried looks on their faces.
It was pitch dark by now and I was afraid that I might miss the connection to Michelbach - the last bus left Gaggenau at 7.30, but he had a solution to that too. After he had parked the bus in the depot, he drove me all the way to Michelbach, stopping along the way for a big serve of lasagna. He refused to take any money, but said I’d have to pay him back when he got to Australia. I have to say that’s the best value Day Ticket I have ever had. A big thank you to the man in the big red bus! Deutsche Bahn, his employer, ought to give him some kind of award for services to tourism.
Copilot a.k.a. Bing AI and I have tried to make you an interim one. Alas, I have no idea what the bit in the middle is and it was supposed to have a bus, not a human, but here it is and at least the man has 5 fingers.
This wasn't about getting something for nothing - I often refuse gifts, either because I fear some obligation could be attached or because I know that I won't be able to reciprocate and I am also very restricted in the amount I can carry. It's about someone going above and beyond, not just doing their job's worth, unlike the experience I had had at the bus depot.
I also liked that he was concerned about me being stranded at the All Saints bus stop, knowing that there wouldn't be another bus after his. He could just have taken the the ticket money and said nothing. It's also about the way he engaged with people -connecting with them. It made me feel as if I mattered. I wondered for example, how many people getting on that bus were having a bad day before the bus driver asked them how they were doing? And how many felt better after he did so? I guess that's the kind of thing that makes an impression on me.
Big thanks to Chat GTP/ aka Copilot though, for facts and figures, the medal and also the helpful suggestions while planning this trip
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