Wieslet: Church, Castle Ruins and Landscape
Accommodation in Wieslet
Wieslet combines a distinctive landscape with tangible evidence of its architectural and local history. The Kleinwiesentäler basin shapes the terrain; the Protestant parish church, the remains of Rotenberg Castle and the Farnbuck slate quarry each represent different historical and geological themes. When planning your trip, these aspects can be clearly distinguished: landforms, ecclesiastical architectural history, a former castle’s role, and the composition of the local rock.
Landscape in Wieslet
Wieslet is shaped by the Kleinwiesentäler basin. Wooded steep slopes and spurs alternate with permanent meadows and pastures in valley hollows and on level ground. In the southern part of the municipal area, the landscape opens out into a wide valley with meadows and pastures. When choosing where to visit, it is worth noting the contrast between wooded slopes and ridges and open meadow and pasture areas.
Church, Castle and Museum
Construction of the new Wieslet Protestant parish church began in 1757. Wall paintings dating from 1760 and historic gallery features in the rural Baroque style have been preserved. Rotenberg offers different historical remains: on a conical hill northeast of the village of Wieslet, the base of a round tower and part of the castle wall remain. Rotenberg Castle was the seat of Dietrich IV of Rötteln. The church offers architectural and decorative features to explore, while Rotenberg is associated with surviving castle remains and its historical function. The Ernst Schleith Museum was established on May 23, 1996, in Ernst Schleith’s former studio at the Wieslet school.
The Farnbuck Slate Quarry
The Farnbuck slate quarry in Wieslet is a small, now-disused quarry in the Weitenau Mountains. Slate rocks from the Schlächtenhaus Slate Formation were extracted there. They are black-gray hornfels slates consisting mainly of quartz and biotite. This offers a different perspective on Wieslet’s history than the church and castle: at Farnbuck, the focus is on the extracted raw material and its mineral composition.
More topics in the wider destination of Kleines Wiesental
The wider destination of Kleines Wiesental offers further distinct cultural and natural attractions. Tegernau Church was described in 1935 as a small “forest chapel” with a little bell tower. In Neuenweg, the pollarded beech is very old and has grown very wide.
Nonnenmattweiher lies at an elevation of 913 meters and is one of the highest-lying stillwater lakes in the Black Forest. It was artificially dammed in the early 18th century; as a result, part of the peat-covered lakebed broke away and formed a floating peat island. Several species of sphagnum moss grow on the island, along with hare’s-tail cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum), cranberry (Vacinium oxycoccos) and round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia); the plants’ presence may vary seasonally.
The Zur Krone museum inn in Tegernau is another distinct historical attraction in Kleines Wiesental. Its rooms include a historic dining room with an adjoining room, an old “Chuchi” with a vaulted cellar dug into the hillside, a historic ballroom and sleeping quarters in the attic. An outhouse dates from 1901.
Discover more destinations: Wies, Raich, BĂĽrchau, Neuenweg, Elbenschwand, Sallneck
Return to the overview of the wider destination: Kleines Wiesental.
