One day begins to look like another day and I can't remember just what transpired after we left Klings. We must have stayed somewhere. On the next day the objective was to reach Siegen, but we had plenty of time so we planned a leisurely trip. The first place we stopped was Herborn, not far from Siegen. Herborn has many half-timbered structures and is a rather interesting place to visit. We were beginning to feel that we were at Siegen because of the names that popped up. We had Richter Optics and Steinseifer Hardware.
Herborn had an earlier university but it is gone. There is a Lutheran Seminary in the old Herborn Schloss.
We were now traveling in a narrow valley. Because of the difficulty in expanding away from the road, all of the space along the road is used. Shortly, we reached Eisern. We stopped here because I was disappointed in the photos from the last trip. The present day was misty and, given the character of the town, it was going to be difficult to get good pictures. In Eisern, the favorite material for covering a house from the roof ridge to the walls down to the ground is gray slate. Grey slate is not exciting but the owners and builders have compensated for this by the variety of patterns with which the tiles are used.
After Eisern we went directly to the hotel in Buchen where we stayed. Then we went out to Fellinghausen where there is a demonstration Hauberg. Progress in harvesting the oak bark and wood was slower this year than two years ago. One plot also had grain, a feature we had not seen two years ago. Grain was traditionally planted between the oaks stumps after the oaks were cut off. Because the roots or stumps were not grubbed out, it meant that "ploughing" the ground and working it up were difficult. For a few years, until the oaks had grown enough to be competition for the grain, grain was planted. So a Hauberg could yield large wood for charcoal, small wood for heating and cooking, bark for the tanneries, and grain for food. The process was inefficient but the need for the raw materials forced the endeavor.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.