The best running trails around Gau-Odernheim

nice place to take a break

Beautiful view over the old town

The Rossmarkt [Note 1], together with the neighboring Fischmarkt (Fish Market), was the city's main marketplace. Its name derives from the horse market originally held there. A watercolor by an unknown artist, dated between 1814 and 1820, offers a glimpse of the old Rossmarkt. In the first quarter of the 19th century, the Rossmarkt housed, among other things, a pharmacy, a cooper, two butcher shops, and the Sauer inn. A guesthouse with a brewery and a post office of the Thurn and Taxis postal service were also located there. As early as 1460, an inn stood on the site of today's Kaiser medical supply store. During the time of the Electors, the building was known as the "Herberge Zum Hizen" (Inn at the Sign of the Chizen), and somewhat later as the "Gasthaus Zum Hirschen" (Inn at the Sign of the Stag). In 1905, the entire square was repaved, and some houses had to relocate their staircases to the interior. Today, half-timbered houses from the 17th and 18th centuries adorn the square. At its center stands a landmark of the city since 1985: the Rossmarkt Fountain. Source: https://www.regionalgeschichte.net/rheinhessen/alzey/kulturdenkmaeler/rossmarkt-mit-brunnen.html

In 1985, the Neustadt artist Professor Gernot Rumpf created the Rossmarkt Fountain. The horse and fountain represent a monument to a famous son of Alzey: the legendary minstrel and knight Volker von Alzey from the Nibelungenlied. This 13th-century epic poem has its historical core in the Burgundian kingdom of the 5th century, which counted Alzey among its centers, and describes the noble Volker as a "man full of fighting strength" who supposedly carried the banner of the Burgundian king in the campaign against Saxony. This proves that, although of lower nobility, he held a high military rank. The Nibelung hero met his death in the Battle of Etzelburg near Gran, fighting against the Huns. But Volker von Alzey was not only famous as a warrior and tournament rider; his Minnesang (courtly love song) and poetry are also mentioned in the myth. Therefore, the depiction of the coat of arms on the horse is complemented by a minstrel's fiddle on the other side. The horse itself—a status symbol of knights and nobles—is powerfully built and clearly identifiable as a draft horse, one of the heavy warhorses of the Middle Ages. Draft horses are still bred today as calm, undemanding, and very strong draft animals. Besides Volker von Alzey's horse, the design of the fountain basin is also inspired by the Nibelung saga. According to the legend, Hagen von Tronje, chamberlain to the Burgundian king, sank the Nibelung treasure in the Rhine. Even though the historical figure of Volker von Alzey is difficult to grasp and much of the legend is based on the Nibelungenlied, it is hard to deny that the person and the myth are still present in Alzey today. A glance at the city's coat of arms shows a minstrel's fiddle beneath the Palatine lion. The Alzey-Worms district also features the instrument in its coat of arms. ] . ... (https://www.regionalgeschichte.net/rheinhessen/alzey/kulturdenkmaeler/rossmarkt-mit-brunnen.html?L=0)

Impressive castle complex, which unfortunately is not accessible everywhere.

The lanterns are a detail worth seeing.

Space directly on the bike path but unfortunately also on the road.

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