Fritz-Claus-Denkmal

Monument in honor of Fritz Claus, the "singer of the Palatinate Forest", on a large, triangular rock slab. Actually, the man's name was Johannes Martin Jäger. Fritz Claus was just his poet's name, a kind of pseudonym, so to speak. Martin Jäger saw the light of day on August 5th, 1853 in Martinshöhe. His father, Johann Jäger, came from Münchweiler an der Rodalb. Fritz Claus inaugurated his monument himself on May 20, 1907 in the Schamborner Valley, not far from the Gräfenstein community of Leimen/Pfalz. His extensive poetic oeuvre has set him an eternal monument in the Palatinate literature. He studied theology in Munich and was parish priest of Zweibrücken from 1893 to 1909. In 1910 he was transferred to Edenkoben as dean, where he died on February 6, 1923 as a clergyman. As early as 1884, Johannes Martin Jäger published the first volume of his booklet "Fröhlich Pfalz, Gott erhalt’s" - Poems and Legends. He published many other books. In 1902 he was one of the initiators for founding the Palatinate Forest Association. The construction of the Luitpold tower on the Weißenberg near the Hermersberger Hof is thanks to his efforts.

The Fritz Claus monument is located at the end of the Schamborner Valley south of Leimen/Pfalz and is just a few minutes' walk from the parking lot in the curve on the L496 (there is an oversized bench with the label Leimen and the municipality's coat of arms) to reach.