Cold days, warm places

The cathedral is just a few steps away and my next destination. The golden dome, the bright, cheerful colours and the magnificent mosaics are real eye-catchers. I only find Charlemagne's throne, another highlight, with the help of a cathedral guide who points to the gallery. The rather unspectacular-looking chair is made of marble slabs, the expert tells me, among other things. He can't say for sure whether Charlemagne really sat on it, but gives me a few clues that speak in its favour.

The sun is shining outside, marvellous! And so I decide to take a stroll around the cathedral and then move on to my third reason for visiting: The thermal springs, which, with their water temperatures of up to 74°Celsius, are among the hottest springs in Central Europe. The Carolus Thermen, for example, fill their bathing pools with water from the rose spring. I test the water from the Kaiserquelle, which gurgles away in the Elisenbrunnen. To be honest, I only take a tiny sip because of the sulphurous odour - and only because the water is said to have healing properties. Let me put it this way: it didn't do any harm, maybe I even feel a growing thirst for action? In any case, I have my sights set on my next destination.

Even today, there are still historic copper yards where brass was once produced. As a quick glance at my mobile phone shows, I am able to arrange my stroll through the alleyways and on my way to the station so that I pass a copper yard - and Café Sahneschnitte. I'm delighted to see that they not only serve slices of cake, but also Stolberg Printen.

With Printen provisions in my rucksack, the journey continues. The RB 20 is cancelled, but fortunately there is an alternative in an equally personal setting: I take bus 38, a minibus for a maximum of 20 people, to Stolberg's main railway station, heading for the next highlight - a night in a tree house.

However, some changes are also a purely human decision: for example, there was no bathroom up here in the beginning; initially, guests washed themselves in Irmin's family home. Today, there is a small but extremely fine tree house bathroom with a wooden tub and stone washbasin. I quickly explain the pellet stove - fire at the touch of a button is a great thing - and then Irmin says goodbye. But I'm not alone: my son has joined me.

We take a quick walk outside together, past the shepherd's cart, which is right next to the tree house and is another special place to stay. There's not much else to see in the dark, so we prefer to make a small fire in a fire bowl that belongs to the house.

When we return to the tree house later, it is deliciously warm. Not necessarily on our feet, but at least at head height, we realise as we cook with flushed cheeks. The thermometer hanging on the wall finally reads 28 degrees Celsius. We wonder how the maple can cope with the one-sided heat. We prefer to switch off the oven, which is certainly healthier for everyone involved. For the rest of the evening, we snuggle up in the sofa beds that have been converted into beds and browse through the many books about trees and tree house construction that can be found, appropriately enough, in the house library. There is also good Wi-Fi.

We sleep like marmots. It must have been a windless and therefore noiseless night. Fresh treehouse air and a good espresso wake us up the next morning. Now we can see and recognise the surroundings: The ruins of Windeck Castle can be seen at the top of a mountain. And: a hiking trail, the Meander Trail, which is around eight kilometres long, leads directly past the tree house up to the castle. Tempting, but we'll do that another time. But there's still time for a little hang-out in the hotel's own hammock.