Circular trail around the Schiefersee - Lehesten

We stopped here today on our way home from vacation and didn't regret it one bit. Crystal-clear water, informative signs about the history of the lake, simply beautiful.

I've wanted to look at the old slate quarry in Lehesten for ages, but as it is, with the highlights back home, you always put that aside. Now it finally worked out to take a short detour there. Too short, I have to say, we have to go there again. There is so much to discover 😁. The disused quarry, which dates back to the 13th century, is worth seeing 🤓. We were also told that the weather was coming again, it was just gray and on the way back the sun came out, how mean 😅

If you drive from Franconia towards Rennsteig, you will notice the many slate-roofed houses, some of which even have black slate on their facades. Slate has been mined in the area around Lehesten since the 12th century, initially in open-cast mines, later also underground. This was the largest mining area in Europe. All that remains is a flooded open-cast mine (the chimney of the steam engine is still visible) and some remarkable buildings, such as the workshop where the slate was split for roof tiles and panels, a horse-drawn sledgehammer that was once used to get the water and slate out of the mine, and various pieces of equipment. A hike around the open-cast mine is great, because nature grows and proliferates on the old slate heaps and the views of the blue lake are simply beautiful, and you can also visit the interesting slate museum. https://schiefer-denkmal-lehesten.de/

A truly magnificent industrial monument. Slate was mined underground here until 1999. At its peak, up to 2,500 miners worked here. For me, it's an absolutely amazing detail that Alexander von Humboldt visited the slate mine in 1792. So, I was practically following in the footsteps of what I consider the most fascinating man ever. A short, very informative text about the mine can be found at https://www.reviersteiger.com/schiefergrube-staatsbruch-lehesten/

And when the sun breaks down really beautifully, there aren't any clouds in front of it, the colors are unbelievably indescribable... And then into the sauna - just perfect 👍

Part 2 is another step up. Exactly at the break of the state the rain was there and immediately very heavy. The hall with the locomotives was not a minute too late. Luckily only half an hour. 😏 After the rain everything looked even nicer. It was time to get back to the car. 🌧️Unfortunately the Altvaterturm only in the rain. We saved ourselves the view in the rain.