Shortly before Christmas 2020 my friend Erik visited me and we went on a photo trip to Fuhr’s Huette in Idar-Oberstein, a small hut built under a massive fallen rock in 1702. I chose the Rolleiflex SL66 with the Zeiss Distagon 4/50 because of the narrowness at this place. And for film, the well-known ILFORD HP5 PLUS.
The fallen rock slid down in three parts 12,000 years ago after being washed away by the Nahe River. In 1702, a small house was built in/under the rock for the ferryman. The Nahe River had probably not yet been straightened and was certainly much wilder at that point; there were no bridges there yet either. But the people there wanted to get to the other side without getting their feet wet.
I don’t know why, but the city never marketed it as a special tourist destination. Yes, there are a few postcards of it, but they are also ancient. But maybe it’s better that way. And at least it is kept in good condition. Anyway, they have the well-known rock church, a church that was built into the rock, there is also a legend about it.
This little hut was our destination. Yes, it was a grey day, but no matter. Today, the road goes quite high past the house, you hardly notice it when driving past. Before, when I was little, the road was even lower and it was always something special for me when we drove past it.
Now, I could only take my pictures from the railing, unfortunately, I couldn’t get down to the house. I took all the shots after measuring the light, so I only measured once or twice, because in this dull weather the light conditions didn’t change quickly anyway.
I would love to see the inside of the house. Are the rear walls bare rock or were walls built? And how far do the rooms go into the rock? That’s what I’m interested in.
After development and scanning, HP5 PLUS did not disappoint me again. The grain is negligible in medium format, it’s just great. And I really like the greyscales, the contrasts and the depth of field. It’s slowly replacing the Delta 400 as my standard for 400 film, so definitely in medium format. And by the way, it’s also better to push.
~ Olaf
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2 responses to “5 Frames… Of Fuhr’s Huette: a hut built under a fallen rock on ILFORD HP5 PLUS (EI 400 / 120 Format / Rolleiflex SL66)”
Olaf, thanks for showing the interesting shots. I had never heared of the rock/house, I have to grap my RB67 and pay it a visit.
Hallo Rainer. Dankeschön! Das Haus ist am Ortsausgang von Oberstein, Richtung Bad Kreuznach. Von der neuen Strecke der B41 sieht man es nicht, man muss die alte Straße (Hauptstraße) nehmen, die um den gefallenen Felsen führt. Es ist im Auslauf der letzten Rechtskurve vor dem Felsen.
https://www.google.de/maps/@49.7052367,7.345212,102m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=de
Auch auf GoogleMaps sieht man es nicht, man kann es nur erahnen, wenn man weiss, wo es ist.
Gut Licht und gute Fahrt.
Gruß, Olaf.