The double town of
IDAR-OBERSTEIN
lies some 45km up the Nahe from Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg. Formerly a mining centre for precious stones and minerals, Idar-Oberstein has remained, since the virtual exhaustion of the old lodes in 1870, a centre for stone-cutting and polishing, and for the manufacture of jewellery. Oberstein, crammed into the steeply wooded Nahe valley, is the historic part, while Idar, sprawling northwards up the narrow Idarbach valley, is more commercial in character.
From Oberstein's Marktplatz, 230 steps lead up to the late fifteenth-century
Felsenkirche
(daily: April-June & Sept 10am-6pm; July & Aug 9am-6pm; DM3/?1.50), a whitewashed late Gothic church set in a grotto about halfway up a steep rockface. According to legend, it was founded by a Knight in expiation for the murder of his brother in a quarrel over a woman; in reality, it was built in the 1480s on the site of a small fort by order of the local lord, Wyrich IV of Daun-Oberstein, whose portrait can be seen in one of the stained-glass windows. The font also dates from the time of construction, while the beautiful "Soft Style"
retable
of scenes from the life of Christ is older, painted around 1410 by an unknown Middle Rhenish master who has been dubbed the Master of the Oberstein Altar. Other features include a Baroque organ and a display cabinet of precious minerals, include a piece of agate from Brazil in the natural shape of a cross.
A path leads up from the Felsenkirche to two feudal castles, both of which command good views of Oberstein and the Nahe valley.
Burg Bosselstein
was built in 1196 by the lords of Stein-Oberstein, but was destroyed 38 years later and has remained as a ruin, now rather scanty, ever since. Further up is
Schloss Oberstein
, which replaced it in the early fourteenth century and remained substantially intact until suffering severe fire damage in 1855. Partially restored, it remains an impressive sight, with its south front seeming to grow organically out of the rockface.
On Marktplatz itself is the
Museum Idar-Oberstein
(daily 9am-5.30pm; DM7/?3.50), which details the development of the local precious stone and jewellery industry. It shows how stones were once cut and polished using
Schleifmühlen
, huge sandstone wheels powered by the waters of the River Nahe. Look out too for the translucent flakes of
Landschaftsachat
, fragments of agate on which patterns seem to take the form of ghostly landscapes.
Idar's centre is dominated by the ugly 22-storey office building on Schleiferplatz that houses the
Diamant-und-Edelsteinbörse
, Europe's only diamond and precious stone exchange. The
Deutsches Edelsteinmuseum
(daily 9am-5/6pm;
www.edelsteinmuseum.de
; DM8/?4), which occupies a grand late nineteenth-century villa at Hauptstr. 118, is full of precious stones with "before and after" examples of the stone-cutters' art. Bus #1 runs to the
Historische Weiherschleife
(mid-Feb to mid-March Mon-Fri 10am-4pm; mid-March to mid-Nov daily 9am-5pm; DM5/?2.50) at Tiefensteiner Str. 87 at the northern edge of Idar. There used to be over a hundred such water-powered jewel-cutting mills in the area, but this is the last to survive. Lying face down on wooden beams, cutters demonstrate the traditional techniques of sawing, grinding, sanding and polishing the stones.
At the far northwestern edge of Idar, reached by bus #3, is the
Edelsteinminen Steinkaulenberg
(guided tours mid-March to mid-Nov daily 9am-5pm; DM7/?3.50), the only gemstone mine in Europe accessible to the public. Not for the claustrophobic, this is a huge network of underground tunnels and chambers where agates, jasper and amethysts have been mined since Roman times. In addition to the tourist route, a miners' tunnel has been kept open for amateur treasure hunters. By booking a session in advance (tel 0 67 81/4 74 00; mid-March to mid-Nov Mon, Tues & Thurs-Sat 9am-noon & 1-4pm; DM25/?12.50 per three-hour period) anyone over the age of 16 can try their luck and keep any finds.
