2020 - Day 9: Exploring Bayerisch Eisenstein

The summation of today is exploring the local area.

The weather forecast for today wasn’t brilliant when we checked last night, but we woke up to a clear morning and the predicted all day rain had changed to later in the afternoon only in the updated forecast, so we decided to take the local Waldbahn train one stop down the line to Ludwigsthal to explore the adjacent Nationalparkzentrum Falkenstein. The Bavarian Forest National Park is full of small park centres such as this one and Falkenstein is themed around a Stone Age Cave and some of the wildlife, both from ancient times and today, that live in the Bavarian Forest. All of the different attractions can be viewed from the 3km Tier Feigelände (Animal Outdoor Area) circular walking route so with no rain due for a number of hours we set off with all the little legs walking for themselves!

Waldbahn at Ludwigsthal.

Nationalparkzentrum Falkenstein.

Paloma enjoying walking with Jana and Emma.

Taking the anti-clockwise route for no reason other than that was the way the kids started to walk, we soon reached the reconstructed Stone Age Cave. Fortunately we were the only people in the cave so could select the English version of the video that described how the landscape and wildlife had changed from the ice age to more recent times. All the kids seemed really interested in the video and it set us up well for the animals that we would see on the rest of the walk. First up were the wild horses and ancient cattle with Forrest taking over the camera duties to take a photo of a baby cow.

Photographing the Waldbahn and wild horses.

Forrest's photo of the cattle.

Whilst not one of the attractions, we were then surprised to see a black squirrel and from having a little Google it would appear that there is a considerable colony here in Bavaria, all with their heritage coming from the European Red Squirrel, but with a faulty pigment gene. The reason for their prevalence isn’t known, but one theory is that the black fur provides better thermal advantage in the cold winters that are common in this part of Germany.

The next two animals were in more secure enclosures, first up were the wolves and then the lynx, but despite spending quite some time hunting for them they were all hiding away in their large woodland habitats. The kids were disappointed not to see either of these species, but we explained that it was much better for them to be living in a naturalised environment instead of a smaller enclosure with guaranteed viewing. Whilst the occasional wolf is still seen in Bavaria, the lynx is no longer native this area since the 19th century. Like the squirrel we did see another unadvertised creature in the shape of a juvenile adder snake and this gave Amber a chance to play with our new rugged point and shoot camera whilst keeping a safe distance away! After a quick play on the small adventure playground we made our way back to the station for the 8-minute journey back to Bayerisch Eisenstein.

The unexpected adder.

We spent the afternoon exploring a couple of different museums in Bayerisch Eisenstein. The first, NaturparkWelten, located in the German half of the old station building, seemed a rather strange concoction of different themes! Everything was related to the local area, but exhibitions included the Cold War, skiing, a model railway and bats. The skiing area had an arcade ski machine game that we all had fun having a go on, although the kids were not quite big enough to be able to control it properly, any offer to help was flatly refused! The model railway included a number of local scenes, the replica of Bayerisch Eisenstein / Železná Ruda-Alžbětín being the centrepiece of the layout. Unfortunately no trains were running today, but the kids enjoyed pushing the many buttons that made other interactive parts of the model come to life.

The real and the model stations.

Bavarian children.

The final stop for the day was also railway themed at the Localbahnmuseum Bayerisch Eisenstein. This small museum is located in the old engine shed and contains a number of relics from yesteryear that are either related to the Bavarian Forest Railway, or other similar local railway across Germany. There were locomotives that the kids could climb on and once the rain, that had finally arrived, had cleared for a little bit we explored the outside area including walking over the roundhouse turntable.

Localbahnmuseum.

It was then time to return to our holiday home and start the process of packing up ready for the next phase of our trip. After a week in Bayerisch Eisenstein we’re now back to shorter hotel stays, starting tomorrow in Fürth, on the outskirts of Nuremberg for two nights as we start to head west back across Germany. Whilst not where we originally planned to stay we’ve had a good week in the Bavarian Mountains and look forward to visiting our original planned destination of Zell am Ziller in Austria next year.

Blogged by Matt.