A Wintery Walk To The Wartenberg Ruins

With spring upon us, the cold days feel so far away. Yet here I am, finally sharing some photos from my wintery walk to the Wartenberg ruins in Muttenz. Better late than never, right?

It could have been the perfect morning: Getting up early, leaving the village behind and enjoying the crisp air, the gorgeous light and the sounds of nature. Equipped with my camera, I braved the cold and climbed the steep hills. I was the first one up there that day, judging by the footprint-less snowy ground.

Let’s talk about the camera I had with me. I took the plunge and got my dream camera at the end of last year - the Nikon Zf. A perfect full frame body for the digital photographer who’s also in love with film cameras. Honestly, it’s so gorgeous and a pleasure to shoot with. I can’t wait to use it more this year.

Back to the adventure. When I arrived at the top, I was pretty out of breath, but it was so worth it for the view and the sunrise. It’s even more impressive from the top of the “Mittlere Ruine”, so the middle one of the ruins. The hill itself cast a big shadow onto Muttenz which made for an interesting subject. I enjoyed the view for a bit and took a few photos, but it was freezing, so I decided to head back eventually.

However, this didn’t go to plan. It was already quite precarious on the way up, because the ground was frozen. Honestly, I shouldn’t have done this “hike” in the first place, but I wanted to prove to myself that I can get up early on weekends and do fun stuff - it was one of my resolutions for 2026 to have more adventures. So, on the way down I slipped and fell on my butt twice with my arms streched out, which would be funny if I didn’t hurt myself badly. Unfortunately, I fractured the radius head in my arm (first time breaking a bone!) and I’m still recovering from that almost four months later. Is this what they call “suffering for your art”?