Hundsbrunnen

Northwest of Hochspeyer, Kaiserslautern County, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Although the word “hund” in modern German means “dog”, the word more likely refers to the local Hundred.  Hundred meeting places were frequently at sites such as healing wells, mounds, large and prominent trees, etc.

This Hundsbrunnen is located along a deeply worn forest road leading up to the trace of the ancient “Hoch Strasse” or Ridgeway, running from the Rhine Valley westward through the Kaiserslautern Basin and Marshes. The Pfalzer Wald Verein, a group dedicated to preserving the great Palatinate Forest, the largest contiguous forest in Germany, erected the stonewalling and plaque.  Actually the very northernmost tip of the Vosges Mountains stretching from Switzerland into central Germany, it stretches from the French border to the natural pass near Kirchheimbolanden.

Having only arrived in Germany a few hours earlier after an all night flight from the East Coast, my sister, Em, gamely agreed to go well hunting in the forest near my home. She is the veteran of many well hunting expeditions in England, and Wales, as well as Germany.