Category Archives: Video

Walking the Transylvanian Zeiden Wunderkreis at Dinkelsbühl to the Sound of the Kipfelmarsch, Part 2

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At the 22nd Zeiden neighborhood get-together on June 6th 2015 in Dinkelsbühl marching through the Wunderkreis was one of the highlights.

In my first post from June 21st 2015 I wrote extensively about the Wunderkreis itself and the more “technical” aspects (see Related Post below).

For those who want to know something more about the historical background, I recommend reading the article by Richard Myers Shelton in Caerdroia 44 or to get informed by the articles mentioned in Related Links. The people of Zeiden themselves have written about their traditions and their customs.

In this post, it’s more about the march through the Wunderkreis itself.

Set on a beautiful day in a beautiful environment, i.e. in the heart of the well-preserved medieval Dinkelsbühl, this event was one of the highlights at the 22nd Zeiden neighborhood get-together on the old pavement in front of the “Schranne”.

The temporary Zeiden Wunderkreis in Dinkelsbühl

The temporary Zeiden Wunderkreis in Dinkelsbühl

The through traffic was blocked off the Weinmarkt this afternoon and so many astonished tourists were marvelling at the white lines on the pavement.
A local baker (picture 7) baked about 250 Kipfel specially for this day. The march itself took about 15 minutes. After that the Zeiden brass band offered another open-air concert, where some brave couple even danced.

On this day I had the opportunity to meet the current neighbor father Rainer Lehni (pictures 8, 11) and the old neighbor father  Udo Buhn (Figure 20), and spoke with the people of Zeiden themselves.

Photogallery:

Clicking on a picture will open the carousel, clicking × in the top left-hand corner of the carousel, or the “Esc”- key on your keyboard,  will close it.

Numerous participants walked along the lines of the Wunderkreis to the sound of the traditional Kipfelmarsch, performed by the Zeiden brass band and were each rewarded with a Kipfel (croissant).

Probably we will now have to wait some more years until the next march through the Wunderkreis?

Although the original Zeiden Wunderkreis still exists in today’s Codlea (now Romania), it would be fine if the Zeiden Transylvanian Saxons could continue their tradition here in their new homeland of Germany with a new permanent Wunderkreis.

Note for TLS members: Read the excellent article by Richard Myers Shelton in Caerdroia 44 (April 2015) about the Transylvanian Wunderkreis.

Related Post

Further Links (Sorry, in German only)

The Zeiden Wunderkreis

The Zeiden Wunderkreis

The 9 Circuit Vine Labyrinth of Wiesenbronn (Germany) from the Bird’s-eye View

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Now it is widely completed: The vine labyrinth in the vineyard at the Geisberg of Wiesenbronn. It has more than 50 metres of diameter and is put on from about 1320 vines which are tall, in the meantime, more than 2 metres. The grapes are mature, and you can choose between 10 different types of grapes, mostly seedless.

Because one may miss the labyrinth for the vines, a look from the bird’s-eye view is recommended. And this was granted to me the past days (thanks to my son with his aircraft). I would like to share this look with the visitors of this blog.

From above one sees the whole labyrinth and can also understand rather good the alignment. This follows the Chartres labyrinth and has 9 circuits instead of 11 like the original. The first both are left out. But, otherwise, the alignment is identical. With  changes, caused through the building construction, like the width or length of the paths, arrangement of the entrances and the configuration of the middle. Thereto the wine growers contrived something special. One reaches the center from two sides, shaped by a sort of room-divider in crooked form.

Here the vine labyrinth in a photo gallery:

Here in a short video on YouTube:

A short hint to a better orientation in the video: In all pictures you may see the middle of the labyrinth. And beside the room-divider stands as a small bush like a “beauty spot”. With that one can align oneself anew.

Related Post

Labyrinths from the Bird’s-eye View

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Only from above one recognises best the structure and the beauty of a labyrinth. For birds this is no problem, but still for us. We have this look maybe as a skydiver, paraglider, passenger in a balloon or an airplane? This is why I am glad that I can show now some labyrinths from the bird’s-eye view. I owe this to my son, which is owner of such a new “aircraft” with camera below, and generously has made some overflights.

Along the waterfront of the river Main (Mainlände) are still standing the sculptures of this year’s sculptor’s symposium to the subject Panta rhei (everything flows). The contribution of  the the kindergarten children Saint Sebastian to this was a first with sawdust scattered Knidos labyrinth on a meadow near the volleyball court, that now is cut.

Knidos Labyrinth at the "Mainlände" Dettelbach

Knidos Labyrinth at the “Mainlände” Dettelbach, photo: Tobias Reißmann

The second labyrinth of the same type is found on a meadow below the pilgrimage church “Maria im Sand”. The entrance is beside the sculpture “Fremder” (stranger), and the labyrinth is aligned to the sculpture “Jakobsstein” (Jakob’s Stone) standing there to represent the end of the Dettelbach sculpture way “Pilgervolk” (pilgrim’s People) from the symposium in 2005.

Knidos Labyrinth at the church "Maria im Sand" Dettelbach

Knidos Labyrinth at the church “Maria im Sand” Dettelbach, photo: Tobias Reißmann

At the beginning of the year  we made some overflights from other labyrinths. The videos can be watched on Youtube.

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Here the Knidos labyrinth of Saint Alfons in Würzburg:

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Here the Medieval labyrinth of Münsterschwarzach:

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Here the Roman labyrinth of Retzbach:

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Also in Google Earth one can sometimes see labyrinths if the quality of the satellite pictures is good enough. The knowledge of the geographic coordinates of a labyrinth (virtually their house number and address) quite help to the search.

Here the labyrinth of type Baltic wheel at the Mönchbergschule in Würzburg in an interactive map:

I owe an other nice view from above to my son-in-law who was on the move as passenger in a balloon just over a year ago, and by chance discovered the labyrinth at Eisingen. The photos are to be seen in the post quoted below.

Related Posts

A New Labyrinth at the Via Nova Pilgrims’ Path on the Blümersberg in Tittling (Germany)

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On the 10th of September, 2012 a new labyrinth was inaugurated at the highest point of the municipality of Tittling in Lower Bavaria (Germany), on the Blümersberg.  The pilgrims’ path attendants Renate Simmet-Burghart and Eva Reif had the idea to offer a labyrinth as a spiritual tool.

Tittling is a station of the European Via Nova pilgrims’ path who runs between Austria, Bavaria and Czechia. The labyrinth of granite stones was built with the vigorous support of the municipal builder’s yard.

From the Blümersberg one has a nice panorama in all four directions, to the hills of the Bavarian Forest in the north, and to the Austrian mountains in the south. A cross, surrounded by lime-trees and benches, is situated beside the reservoir of the water supply. From here steps lead to the meadow with the labyrinth on the cover of the reservoir. There is a small footpath, passing a  memorial stone for Tittlings freemen, to a little view hill at 575-m height. A total of 7 boards with short statements to the labyrinth surround the whole.

The layout

The layout

The classical labyrinth has 7 circuits and a bigger middle (Knidos labyrinth). The diameter amounts to 17 metres, the center with three differently high granite stones has 3 metres. The paved paths are 40 cm wide and run between 60 cm wide grass stripes. The distance from the entrance to the center is about 224 metres.

The following slide show serves as an illustration:

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Here a labyrinth walk  on Youtube (please be patient, as it takes more than 4 minutes to reach the center):

The exact location of the labyrinth is: N 48 ° 43′ 50.5″, E 13 ° 22′ 58.0″.

The surroundings from above, as seen on Google Earth:

[googlemaps https://maps.google.de/maps?hl=de&ll=48.730648,13.382703&spn=0.00828,0.013797&t=h&z=16&output=embed&w=425&h=350]