Paragliding

Wasserkuppe, Germany

It gives me great pleasure to post this page on paragliding on the Wasserkuppe mountain in the Rhone mountains in Germany. The Wasserkuppe is the mountain where gliding made its original start when Otto Lilienthal, of Berlin, and many others met at the Wasserkuppe every summer, starting in about 1895, to try and fly down the slopes of the mountain. Early flights were timed in seconds, later in minutes and seconds. Even today, one of the premier sailplane factories in the world, Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co, is still located in the village of Poppenhausen, just below the peak of the Wasserkuppe. I learned gliding in powered gliders in nearby Fulda, flying the famous ASK14 there, and then learned on the winch and behind a towplane on the Wasserkuppe, with famed glider instructor Helmut von Keits. The Wasserkuppe is truely the birthplace of gliding and soaring.


Paragliding in winter 2005. Germany - Wasserkuppe



Kiting & Soaring at the famous "Sudhang"

Notice in the first few seconds of this clip the top of the U S Air Force radome, which watched for many many years the air traffic across the Berlin corridor.



Just a short drive south of the Wasserkuppe is Kloster Kreuzberg, where the monks have served beer, bread, butter and cheese to the tourist every weekend for probably centuries. Also very good skiing on the slopes here. Life is good in Germany