This circular hiking route connects the beauties of the river landscape with the historic cultural landscape of Wünschendorf, Cronschwitz, and Weida – the cradle of the Vogtland.
Highlights of the hike include the wooden bridge and the parish church of St. Veit, Mildenfurth monastery, the hike along the White Elster River, the Clodra mill, and the town of Weida. In addition, there are small country hotels, inns, guesthouses, a campsite, and several holiday apartments along the route to enjoy a pleasant short holiday here.
The Gramannel of Wünschendorf
In Wünschendorf, it is said, many years ago there lived a pious and hardworking little mother in a small house at the Röhrenstuhl. All day she sat at her place behind the small window and spun wool. She left it only to prepare and eat her meager midday meal, then soon returned to her work. Her supplies were soon used up and her wooden floor was almost empty, so one day she hurried to the back Schlüsselberg to bring in a supply of dry wood for the winter. As she walked there with the heavy load on her back along the narrow edge of the community path, an old leather backpack lay near the cow pen not far from the Kühlkorbfichte, which she took home even though it was quite heavy. After carefully stacking her dry branches in the corner of the small yard, she gently untied the little backpack, and to her horror a small gray little man, a Gramannel, jumped out, who hurried behind the stove and begged pitifully to be allowed to stay there during the night. The little mother hesitantly agreed but often looked fearfully at that corner during her work and locked her door when going to bed. Early the next morning she got up and searched for the little man but he was nowhere to be found. Then her eye accidentally fell on the spinning wheel, and with horror and joy she saw that the spindle, which was empty yesterday, was now fully spun. The next morning, the empty spindle was again full of the finest yarn, and so it went on for a while. The little mother hid her joy and kept silent. But since her secret slipped out in the barred confessional in the old St. Veit’s church, the spindle remained empty.
