The best traffic-free bike rides around Obergailbach

The sign reads - Part 3: An old wayside cross still commemorates the wondrous story on Brudermannsfeld. The culturally and historically significant cross was donated in 1695 by the then prior of the Gräfinthal monastery, Wilhelm Klocker. The "Madonna with the Arrows", which was venerated in Gräfinthal until the dissolution of the Wilhelmiten monastery in 1785, is now located in the Kreuzkapelle in Blieskastel.

On the sign it reads - Part 3: Like many others, Countess Elisabeth von Blieskastel also visited the hermit to see the miracle. As she suffered from a painful eye disease, she smeared her eyes with the blood of the Madonna. The Countess was cured on the spot. Out of gratitude, she decided to build a worthy chapel for the Madonna. She had wood and lime bricks brought to the site. But when the builders wanted to start their work, the building material was suddenly gone. They found it in the nearby valley of the Letschen stream. Thinking it was a prank, they brought the wood and stones back to Brudermannsfeld. But the next morning, the building material was again in the valley. Countess Elisabeth saw this as a sign from God and had a chapel and a monastery built on the Letschen stream. Since then, this spot has been called Gräfinthal.

On the sign it reads - Part 2: Like many others, Countess Elisabeth von Blieskastel also visited the hermit to see the miracle. As she suffered from a painful eye disease, she smeared her eyes with the blood of the Madonna. The Countess was instantly healed. Out of gratitude, she decided to build a worthy chapel for the Madonna. She had wood and limestone brought to the site. But when the builders wanted to start their work, the building material was suddenly gone. They found it in the nearby valley of the Letschen stream. Thinking of a prank, they brought the wood and stones back to Brudermannsfeld. But the next morning, the building material was again in the valley. Countess Elisabeth saw in this a sign from God and had the chapel and a monastery built on the Letschenbach. Since then, this spot has been called Gräfinthal.

On the sign it reads - Part 1: The Brudermannsfeld near Bebelsheim According to tradition, a pious man lived on the Brudermannsfeld in the 13th century. He had carved an image of the Madonna which he greatly revered. The image of the "Sorrowful Mother of God" stood in the niche of a hollow, old beech trunk at the edge of the forest. One day, robbers came by, who beat the pious man and shot arrows at the Sorrowful Madonna in the tree niche. Five times they hit the image of suffering. And then the miracle happened: Warm, red blood flowed from the five wounds of the wooden figure. The highwaymen fled in fear and terror. The hermit, however, spread the miraculous story throughout the region.

On the bronze plaque it reads: The Miracle of Brudermannsfeld In the first half of the 19th century, some hermits of the Order of St. William settled at this spot. In the hollow of an oak tree, they had placed a wooden carved image of the Mother of Sorrows with the dead Son on her lap. Ruffians shot arrows at the image. Blood flowed from the impacts. Countess ELISABETH v. Blieskastel was healed of an eye ailment by the blood. Out of gratitude, she founded the Gräfinthal Monastery. • Gräfinthal Support Association

Bliestal Cycle Superhighway. Still beautiful

Very nice bike path!

At this spot, in the forest northeast of Lviv, the trees give way slightly, creating a clearing where, at an altitude of 420 meters, stands the small sacred monument known as the "Croix Saint-Hubert." A low stone wall and a wooden fence create a small "sacred precinct," at the center of which is the well-preserved cross. At the very bottom of the lower section is the well-known scene from the Life of Hubertus, featuring a stag with a cross between its antlers. Above it, at the very bottom, are reliefs of two figures, the one on the left identified as a monk with his tonsure and habit; between the two images, the year 1786. Above this, rises the actual cross, which also bears the body of the crucified Christ.