00:00Laura, Maine is one of the last stops on our trip through the Spessart.
00:15We have seen many exciting and interesting things, and that's not all.
00:20In addition to the wining and dining activities, we also find culture and history here in Laura.
00:26We saw the approximately 250-year-old iron hammer mill in Hasslach, the heavy industry
00:31of the late 18th century.
00:34Today there is still heavy manufacturing in the Spessart, for example the Bosch Rexroth
00:38iron foundry in Laura.
00:42We find an impressive illustration of how everything is interconnected in the Castle
00:46Museum.
01:56What looks so romantic and nostalgic here is actually evidence of the harsh everyday
02:14life of the inhabitants of this area.
02:25In our archives I found a few recordings from 1997 in which Mr. Bald, the museum director
02:31at the time, shared his profound knowledge of the ancient life and work in this region
02:36with us.
02:42We want to know from Herbert Bald what life in the Spessart meant for the common people,
02:46because the people here did not have an easy life.
02:49This ambiguity of the Spessart has shaped the lives of the people here from the Middle
02:53Ages, that is from the beginning of the settlement to the early 20th century.
02:58On the other hand, the forest has also offered opportunities for survival firstly through
03:03its abundance of timber and secondly through the red sandstone itself, which we can see
03:08quite well over here.
03:10The red sandstone of the Spessart was mined in quarries, as we can see here in the large
03:16photo.
03:17This group of people was photographed in 1899 and it gives a very good impression of what
03:23people were like back then, marked by hard work.
03:27And then blocks of stone were taken from these quarries and transported to the stonemasons'
03:32workshops.
03:33The export of the colored sandstone went far beyond the borders of the region, as far as
03:39to the Rhine area.
03:41We are now descending into the castle's cellar and, symbolically speaking, also into the
03:45Spessart soil, where I will show you a few natural resources, especially the economically
03:50most important one of the Spessart, namely iron.
03:54The work of the blacksmith was already semi-automated by the end of the Middle Ages, so to speak.
03:59This means that water-powered hammer mills were set up where it was possible in the landscape
04:04and then some of the work could be done with these large machines.
04:09Such facilities were also set up in the Spessart area.
04:12In terms of economic history, this practically represents an intermediate step between the
04:16forge, with its pure manual labor, and industry, which is characterized by full automation
04:22and a very strong division of labor.
04:26This young lady is Snow White.
04:28With a little luck, you might come across her at weekends or on holidays.
04:32Lore has a very special relationship to her.
04:42Lore Castle is, as is well known, the home of Snow White.
04:46And Snow White was a daughter of the House of Aertal, who resided here as the chief officers
04:51of the Electorate of Mainz.
04:53That is, so to speak, they were governors of the Elector and Archbishop of Mainz, who
04:58ruled over the eastern part of the Spessart on behalf of this high lord and naturally
05:02had to have a residence befitting their rank.
05:06And this room, which is the only one still preserved like it was in the 18th century
05:11from the period around 1700 to 1750, gives a small impression of how one lived here as
05:17a bailiff of the Electorate of Mainz.
05:20And while we are on the subject of the relatives of Snow White, we have here Friedrich von
05:25Aertal, her younger brother, who later became Prince-Bishop of Würzburg and Bamberg.
05:32In the fairy tale of Snow White, the talking mirror plays the decisive role.
05:37It set the catastrophic events in motion with its saying.
05:41And such talking mirrors actually existed, and they were made here in law.
05:47And one such example hangs here in the Spessart Museum.
05:51These mirrors from the early 18th century contain sayings, as can be seen above.
05:56And that's what gives us a talking mirror, so to speak, polished language.
06:07Our visit to the Spessart Museum in Lohr is coming to an end.
06:19We have learned about the highlights of the Western Spessart, which deal with the forest,
06:23the development of heavy industry, and the challenging living conditions of the population.
06:28We have also been introduced to the historical links to the story of Snow White and the Seven
06:32Dwarfs.
06:34I will tell you more about this in our feature about the city of Lohr and Maine, among other
06:37things.
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