Ludwigsstadt as the home of slate

The path leads along Bahnhofstraße to a pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks. From there, it continues along a path that first leads past fields and then into the forest. As part of the Franconian Forest, the Rennsteig region is a hiker's paradise. After approx. 1.7 kilometres, you reach the geotope "Oertels Dachschieferbruch".

From the edge of the former slate quarry, you can take a look at the history of the earth. An information board explains the geological context. You learn that the sediments were deposited around 350 to 360 million years ago. However, the normal layer sequence of the rocks - younger ones lie on top of older ones - is reversed here: the reason is the extreme folding of the rock layers during the formation of the mountains.

A young mining engineer named Alexander von Humboldt was also interested in this phenomenon in 1792. He travelled around the region, which at the time belonged to Prussia, to explore mineable mineral resources. The "blue gold", which slate had been regarded as since the Middle Ages, seemed to him to be worth mining here on a large scale.

It was years before many small open-cast quarries were replaced by lucrative large-scale quarries. In 1849, the entrepreneur Karl Oertel took over some of these small quarries and by 1890 had grown them into the largest open-cast slate mine on the European continent. The construction of the railway line contributed significantly to the expansion of slate production.

The "Oertels Dachschieferbruch" geotope was awarded the "Bavaria's most beautiful geotopes" seal of approval.

Every year on the third Sunday in November, the "Day of the Geotope" takes place throughout Germany.

From the roof slate quarry, a forest path leads down to the Trogenbach stream. Follow Kehlbachstraße and later Rosengasse back to Ludwigsstadt. The path leads past the "Gasthof am Trogenbach" and the "Torpeter" restaurant, both of which tempt you with genuine Thuringian dumplings. Cross the railway tracks once more and you have reached the market square.

The imposing half-timbered building of the Old Town Hall stands on the edge of the market square. It was built at the end of the 1740s. As befits the region, the mansard roof of the town hall is also covered in slate. A ridge turret with bell, clock and weather vane testifies to its dignity as a town hall.

The town hall, which is no longer open to the public, is the starting point for many hikes through the Franconian Forest.

However, the Old Town Hall is no longer the seat of Ludwigsstadt's town council. This is located just round the corner at Lauensteiner Str. 1.

On Lauensteiner Straße, it is about 500 metres to the next highlight of the tour - the Slate Museum.

The German Slate Museum offers a comprehensive presentation of slate production from simple domestic trades to industrial production. Historical artefacts are used to show the work in the slate quarry and in the splitting huts. You can marvel at the fact that children all over the world learnt to write on slates from Ludwigsstadt. Deliveries were made to Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and America. A good 36 per cent of the world market was served by the Ludwigsstadt blackboards. The introduction of paper exercise books in the 1960s ended the era of slates.

The German Slate Museum is a hands-on museum. In a historic classroom, you can try out for yourself what writing on slates felt like. If you like, you can buy a slate in the museum.

It is only a few steps from the Slate Museum to the railway station.