Anyone climbing the Hasenpfad in Ranstadt-Dauernheim on foot or by car will need strong calves or all-wheel drive. With a gradient of 29 percent, this narrow road is considered one of the steepest roads in Hesse – this is especially true in case of autumn frost, ice and snow. winter becomes a real challenge for residents, visitors, post offices and delivery vehicles. City grinding vehicles don’t stand a chance here and on some days a grinding and cleaning service on foot is nearly impossible. The homeowner must then do it themselves.
So that heavy bags do not have to be carried or even dragged to Hasenpfad in winter weather, containers filled with de-icing salt and sand will be available at the roadside about halfway from autumn onwards. There may be a bit of a mountain feeling, says Mayor Cäcilia Reichert-Dietzel. The ski lift or cable car in Hasenpfad isn’t bad – but unfortunately the municipal budget doesn’t allow for that, says local politician SPD with a wink.
Weekend residential area with traps
This part of Ranstadt-Dauernheim was once a weekend home settlement where people from Frankfurt and other areas of Hesse also found a place to stay. Now this area has become an ordinary residential area – although it has certain obstacles: For example, there are no sidewalks on the narrow rabbit roads. To throw their rubbish into the rubbish bin, residents have to make a short journey through valleys and mountains, because the vehicles of responsible waste disposal companies cannot reach here. Therefore, residents park their trash cans further down the slope, where they are also emptied.
Rainwater that falls during storms also causes headaches for the community – the canals fill up quickly, as they are only designed for weekend areas and not for many residents. Today you wouldn’t build like that any more, the Mayor said. There are also no school buses in Hasenpfad, which is especially a problem in winter as children often have to get off and back along narrow roads in the dark.
Beautiful views thanks to its location on the hillside
Anyone who settles here despite the mentioned difficulties will be rewarded with beautiful views of the Nidda flood plain and the nearby Vogelsberg. On a clear day you can see the Frankfurt television tower and the tower at Hoherodskopf, says Reichert-Dietzel. Deep below the city are many pretty half-timbered houses – and on the streets people still say “Hello”, as it says on the Ranstadt website.
The mayor could not understand why new residents once complained to him during a site visit that they had bought the house “in the summer” and were not prepared for problems in the winter. When buying a home, you should think about it first: “What will it be like in winter? “It’s coming up every year,” says Reichert-Dietzel.
Training route for “Ironman”
However, there are also people who are drawn to Hasenpfad precisely because of its steep climbs – like triathlete Jan Künne, who toured here on his racing bike one afternoon in November to train on the small mountain trails. It was “a challenge to ride here. “Let’s face it, it wasn’t that easy,” said the 27-year-old – but then he managed the route without much effort. No surprise – Künne is a starter and qualified as an amateur this year to take part in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 2026.
Uphill – it’s better to go back
There are also steep roads in other places Hesse – in Gelnhausen in the Main-Kinzig district, for example, or in Marburg. To clear the Franziskanerweg in Gelnhausen when it is slippery, the city’s winter service has to drive backwards up the mountain, said Jakob Morkel, head of the Gelnhausen city depot. Because the de-icing salt is distributed over the rear of the vehicle, the vehicle has better grip on the freshly greased surface, Morkel said.
It is rare for employees to have to work on foot along the Franziskanerweg. To know exactly when deployment was necessary, the depot carried out inspection trips at night, especially on the high ground at Gelnhausen. With a gradient of more than 27 percent, the steepest road in the town of Barbarossa has also hosted the “Red Bull Hill Chasers” cycling sprint twice – most recently in September 2023.
Accidents are not ruled out
According to a city spokesperson, in Marburg, in addition to the upper city, there are very steep roads in the districts of Ortenberg and Ockershausen, which are also often narrow and winding. A Unimog with snow chains can usually do winter service there with great care. However, if the road surface is slippery enough, even if you are careful, a vehicle that is clearing the road with snow chains could slip and hit a parked vehicle.
In frost-free periods, slopes are no longer a problem on narrow and winding roads. “Parked cars that make it difficult or impossible to pass are commonplace, although the city of Marburg already has small dump vehicles specifically for narrow streets.”
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