Geo Nature Park "Mother Hulda Land" - the fabled home of the fairtale figure
The Geo Nature Park "Mother Hulda Land" lies picturesquely in a hill and valley landscape in the middle of Germany. The 300 km long Werra River flows past many small towns and villages full of half-timbered houses and local charm. In the spring, seas of cherry blossoms on about 150,000 trees bewitch the eye, and summer delights with bright yellow rape-seed fields that appear to be painted on the landscape from observation points. Twenty-nine hectares of poppy blossoms in Germerode and Grandenborn seem to be a manifested dream in pink. Autumn brings an unbelievable play of colour with yellow, orange, brown and red tints in the forests and meadows. On and around the Mother Hulda mountain, the Hohe Meißner, winter can paint works of arts into the scenery with snow and ice.
The Geo Nature Park for friends of fairy tales
In the Werra valley, you can stroll along the footsteps of Mother Hulda, which you can particularly discover on the Hohe Meißner, Northern Hesse's highest mountain, but also in Bad Sooden-Allendorf, Eschwege, Hessian Lichtenau and Witzenhausen. There are ten legendary locations on the Hohe Meißner attributed to Mother Hulda. Probably the most impressive one is the Mother Hulda Pond near the observation point Schwalbenthal. The idyllically located pond, on whose edge stands a wooden sculpture more than three metres high, marks the entrance into the subterranean realm of Mother Hulda. If you are there at the right time, the wind is good and you have a little luck, you can hear Mother Holda’s song at this pond. The premium hiking trail (P1) "Hoher Meißner " offers many additional Mother Hulda sites, such as the Kitzkammer, a rock wall of pentagonal and hexagonal basalt columns, with a great cavity. It is said that Mother Hulda transformed quarrelsome girls into cats and locked them up here.
At the annual Fairy Tale Week in Bad Sooden-Allendorf with a colourful program for young and old as well as a great pageant held after Easter you can observe Mother Hulda shaking her cushions. In Eschwege, you can experience a fairy tale town guided tour with cinnamon waffles, and on a guided walking tour on the Hohe Meißner, you are drawn into the spell of the fairytale world.
Frau Hulda Land for holiday tourists and day visitors
There is much to see on the 25 quality-tested premium hiking paths: spectacular prospects, mighty rock formations and stone pits, gentle valleys, dense forest and lakes shape the region, where many undisturbed and tranquil areas have been preserved. The green belt with its fascinating previous inner-German border history as well as its rare flora and fauna exerts an almost magical attraction. One encounters rare orchids, discovers fort ruins and palaces, and climbs observation towers. Attractive half-timbered restaurants in colourful towns and townships invite you to taste culinary specialties, and exceptional museums such as the exhibition mine Gustav, the border museum Schifflersgrund or the salt museum and other recreational facilities appeal to diversified interests. The Mountain Wildlife Park Meißner, the Barefoot Path (Barfußpfad) at the youth village (Jugenddorf), the Climbing Park Leuchtberg or the Adventure Park Ziegenhagen prevent any sort of boredom in young and old alike.