Schmallenberg

84 districts are spread across the municipal area of Schmallenberg - the largest municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia. Some of them are so small that their population is in single figures. In between, there is plenty of space for nature and darkness at night. That's why the Schmallenberg Sauerland offers a starry sky like few other regions in Germany, especially in winter when the weather is clear.

Close to the stars

"The colder the winter day, the clearer the sky" is an old saying among amateur astronomers. On a really cold winter's day, let's put this to the test.

Warm light falls invitingly from the windows of the Schäferhof in the Jagdhaus district of Schmallenberg. We accept the invitation and find a seat right in front of the fireplace. It's just the right atmosphere for a cozy end to the day with wintry drinks, pleasant warmth and the slow onset of drowsiness. As cozy as it is, it doesn't fit in with our other plans. We're only here to soak up the warmth. We have a suspicion that we might need it. The real program for the day doesn't start until after we've warmed up by the fireplace.

Stefan Schwope is waiting for us in a hut below the Schmallenberg ski lift. He belongs to the "Heimatfreunde", a group of locals who allow small groups of guests to share their hobbies, their work or simply their everyday lives. From a walk with the Sauerland's most famous magazine publisher to a stalk with a hunter, a chat in a magical garden and a hike with cheese and wine, the offer ranges all the way to a herb cooking course. The innovative and above all very individual offer has earned the Schmallenberg Heimatfreunde the ADAC Tourism Award for NRW. Visits to the Heimatfreunde can be booked via the Schmallenberg Sauerland Tourism website.

First of all, our host Stefan Schwope invites us into the parlor of his lovingly restored cottage. There are bizarre and technical objects in every free Winkeln. The reflecting telescope in one corner is so large that we wonder how he managed to fit it into the little room. In front of it is a glowing model of the moon. Flashing technical devices with functions that are completely unfathomable to the layman are reminiscent of robot parts. Astronomical books, star charts and 3D-printed models of moon craters complete the picture.

With unwavering cheerfulness, enthusiasm, humor and, above all, great expertise, he patiently explains the functions of the devices that are about to accompany us out into the Sauerland mountains. However, one of the models on the table created in the 3D printer does not actually show a mountain on the moon. "That's the Wilzenberg," Stefan Schwope clarifies, "and right next to it is the Blinker II sculpture on the forest sculpture trail. That's where we want to go right now."

The Forest Sculpture Trail is a hiking trail from Schmallenberg to Bad Berleburg, along which eleven large modern sculptures by internationally renowned artists have been erected. Blinker II stands on a mountain saddle between Grafschaft and Almert, right next to the Wilzenberg. The villages at its feet lie so deep in the valley that their light is not disturbing - at least not on a night as extremely clear as this one. Haze in the air would of course suck the light up from the valleys, but at below -20ºC there is no haze.

On this night, the sky is really clear. We only think we have spotted a band of clouds from the Wilzenberg right through the zenith above us. Stefan Schwope has to smile: "That's not a cloud but the Milky Way, our home galaxy. To see it with the naked eye, it has to be really clear and dark." It must be pretty clear and dark, at least we start to freeze while Stefan Schwope points his smaller telescope at some spot between the stars. "And this is Andromeda, our neighboring galaxy," we learn, "it takes up almost as much space in the night sky as the disk of the full moon." None of us knew that, we thought distant galaxies were just dots in the night sky. The thing becomes so fascinating that the temperatures are forgotten.

A few years ago, a visitor to an aurora photo exhibition accused me of saying that the images were computer-generated. His reason for his suspicion was that there weren't as many stars as could be seen in the pictures. What would this skeptical city dweller say if he could see what now stretches above us: a sea of billions of shining dots and very faint shimmering spots. The view of the winter sky is an attraction of the Sauerland.

Meanwhile, the larger telescope aims at one of these spots. It can be seen just below the center line formed by three stars in a slightly skewed rectangle of particularly brightly shining stars. Unfortunately, we can't see through it. A camera is mounted on the telescope. Aligning the device is absolute millimeter work, after all, the camera has to expose for quite a while to reveal what Stefan Schwope wants to show us. Because the earth does not stand still, but rotates under the starry sky, the telescope must be tracked using a sophisticated technique in order to keep the subject in the viewfinder. The tinkerer in Stefan Schwope designed and built the necessary device himself. When the finished image appears on the laptop monitor under the telescope stand, we are amazed at the splendid colors - we see the Orion Nebula, a cosmic gas nebula between the stars in bright colors.

Meanwhile, Stefan Schwope is looking through a much smaller optical device. "Do you want to see what's rustling there?" he asks, "Those are deer in the meadow just below us." With his night vision device, we can see who is watching us. For some reason, our fingers are a little too stiff to hold the device properly, but out of sheer enthusiasm, we can't think of what that might be.

Klaus-Peter Kappe