Autumn at the Werra / Weser

Autumn is my favourite season, and it has truly arrived here. Not only with the flame coloured leaves and melancholical mists, but also with storms and rain, and the first hoarfrosts.

The Werra, linguistically the same as the Weser (the Roman Visurgis), is another of those typical German rivers surrounded by mountains and fertile plains where the valley widens. It runs through Thuringia and northern Hessia, the ancient land of the Chatti. Like most German rivers, its main direction is south to north to either the Baltic or the North Sea (the Werra / Weser runs into the North Sea).

Werra river in the autumn sun
It is an area rich in history as well, all the way back to the Roman camp in Hedemünden close to where the Werra confluences with the Fulda and is then called Weser.

View from the Hanstein
A view from Hanstein Castle overlooking the Werra. I love the warm colours and the soft haze that veils the distant views, the promise of winter in the crisp air. It's a time of melancholy and poems, of breathing more slowly and deeply, of being aware of time.

Werra river with limestone cliffs
The dramatic cliffs in the background are shellbearing limestone, carved out by the river during thousands of years.

Another view of the cliffs
The place is called 'Werra's Knee', a bend in the river near town and castle Creuzburg (another castle connected with the landgraves of Thuringia - and another one on my increasing list of Posts to Write If I Can Find the Time).

Creuzburg Castle in the evening sun
The Creuzburg is an intact (partly reconstructed, of course) castle that today houses a hotel and restaurant. It has a different atmosphere than those splendid ruins so abundant in Germany, but at least it survived by being in use over time.

A reconstructed Medieaval boat on the Werra
We came across this reconstructed merchant vessel in the Schlagd, the old harbour of Wanfried. The Schlagd of Wanfried was a change harbour where goods from the ships were loaded upon pack animals and wagons for further transportation.

Old guest house at the Schlagd in Wanfried
Today a nice little town on the border between Hessia and Thuringia, Wanfried was involved in several feuds in the Midde Ages.

Hawthorne
The photos below are from the part of the river known as Weser, after it confluences with the Fulda in Hannoversch-Münden.

Meadows and woods at the Weser
The fields are plown, the winter wheat starting to sprout. Red and yellow leaves rustle in a breeze still warm with memories of summer.

An old orchard
Grazings and orchards down at the river, woodcovered mountains, haze-veiled, rising behind.

Sunset
I love to just sit and watch the dark waters flow by and the sun vanish behind the hills. And I think maybe Arminius has sat here as well, finding a moment of peace.

Westwork of Bursfelde Abbey
Traces of the past: the the west towers of the Romanesque abbey church in Bursfelde, surrounded by some former abbey buildings.

A river of history and myth
The leaves begin to turn yellow and red, and on a hazy day, a golden shimmer lies over the woods. We've had the first autumn gale that sent the leaves dancing and the crows swirling towards the town with angry croaks. Mists veil the valleys in the morning, and the air smells of wet leaves and coming frost.

Woods at the Weser
It is my favourite time of the year. Somehow I always wax a lot more poetic when describing fall than spring. Maybe it's the gentle melancholy of this time that responds to my mood, the muted light and warm colours.

A hidden lake
Of course there are other days, too, days of what one website called Varus weather. Torrential rains and icy blasts that make the ground slippery and bend the branches. Days where you want to stay inside with a cup of hot tea and listen to the rain drops singing on the window panes