donkey gang by the banks of the weinfelder maar.
when you think of germany you rarely think of volcanos, am i right? well, i'll let you in on a secret: germany has a volcanic history and it is said that the activities of our volcanos isn't yet completed. we still have the occassional earthquake that's not caused by mining activity but has to do with volcanic activities ( & of course the fact that we are sitting on a big tectonic plate, the eurasian tectonic plate ).
one of those volcanic areas here in germany is the region of the vulkaneifel in rhineland-palatinate. the first activities began 50 million years ago and the last ones were about 11.000 years ago and scientist agree that the volcanos are currently in a dormant state and are expected to get active again in the distant future. they probably need another few thousand years, though. for the time being we are left with evidences of prior activities, such as several maar lakes & craters, streams of cold lava, volcano cones and mineral water springs.
when i learned of the volcanic eifel nature reserve i got hooked immediately and always had it at the back of my mind for possible day trips. the region is of course far too big to see in one day, i think it would make more sense if you took a week off and explored it unhurriedly. anyway, when my parents were on visit at the end of may last year we finally took the plunge and decided to visit the region around daun, which offers three maar lakes and seemed to us as the perfect starting point for a first exploration. i actually had intented to visit the volcano museum in daun first, but since the weather was so nice we decided to forgo it and drive to one of the maar lakes and do a hike around it. which turned out to be a good decision, because the weather would change in the afternoon and would bring a lovely dramatic thunderstorm with it at the end of our roundtrip - which was perfect timing i guess?
i can for sure say that this part of germany is absolutely stunning and beautiful as it is interesting and i will definitely return for more exploration. we haven't even seen a third of the park! the part we stumbled around in is the western volcanic eifel, there is also the eastern part and the high eifel. so you see, there's still much to discover.
we began our hike at this tiny chapel near the weinfelder maar - the first maar we encountered. the chapel is a 14th century remnant of a former village that was located around here - weinfeld - which gave the name to the lake, but was abandoned during the great plague in the 16th century. the lake is also called totenmaar ( maar of the dead ) which is due to a legend that's told to have happened here: apparently a count had his castle placed in the middle of the ( yet ) non-existent lake and after he had returned after being away from a hunting party he found his castle gone and all its inhabitants drowned in a lake that had suddenly emerged. except for his little child that surfaced in a cradle very miraculously and drifted to him to the shore. because he was so thankful that at least his child had survived, it is said that he built the chapel in commemoration of the incident. and apparently, since so many people died during that swallow-up it was called the maar of the dead. i suspect that it's also called this name because of the chapel's tiny cemetery and its history with the plague - a place full of dead people. we later took shelter inside this chapel, as the storm finally started to roll in. it was seriously one of the best shelter experiences of my life. it was so gloomy and dark inside and people were really quiet and listened to the storm outside - almost fearfully and in awe. i found it very atmospheric and eerie!
one of the old gravestones.
the weinfelder maar. a maar is actually a low-relief crater of a volcano which fills up with water after its eruption when there was groundwater involved.
i found curiously bent trees on our path!
the dronketurm is a viewing point high above the weinfelder & gemündener maar on the mäuseberg hill. you have a very good view over the western volcanic eifel from here.
from the tower you could also have a look down onto the gemündener maar - which intrigues with a lovely turquoise colouration of its waters. you can rent boats or swim in this lake ( unlike the weinfelder maar, which is a protected nature area where water activities are not allowed. ) everything in the far distance and surrounding this area is part of the volcanic eifel and informs its landscapes. i think the whole region of the volcanic eifel covers about 2000 square kilometers - which is hhhhuuuuuge.
we decided to climb down to the gemündener maar and circle it.
from the same level the water didn't look as turquoise as from above but it still had a very distinct green tint.
i always love to find overground roots, such as these from beech trees. it feels kind of magical, as if the tree tried to free itself from its position and tried starting to walk away. like the ents in tolkien's lord of the ring books.
the greens got more enticing the longer you immersed yourself in it.
and nature also turned into a tiny green wonderland, a small jungle of sorts.
my mom enjoying the view over the lake. i really loved this part at the maar, it was so green & lush and full of flowering plants. it was almost paradisiac.
also needed to include this portrait of my parents. love themmmm 💗
a really nice scenery, isn't it? my heart is actually craving to go back there immediately. it's truly a heart space.
lots of wild garlic was blossoming and decorating the maar ridges.
the greens were surely in abundance that day.
we left the gemündener maar to hike back to the maar of the dead and passed by the liesertal, a valley that is adjoined next to the gemündener maar. the view down to that valley was lovely and in addition to the first storm clouds were also exuding a really dramatic & fore-boding atmosphere. the hills are used as sheep & goat runs and it felt a bit like how hiking in the alps might feel with its mountain pastures.
those meadows were so juicy and sappy! if i were a goat or a sheep or a cow even, this would be my idea of heaven.
as the storm drew nearer and nearer it felt only appropriate to discover this tree demon. doesn't it look like it is conjuring up the storm in a wild dance?
oh trees against dark skies - it's such a satisfying motive.
we finally reached the maar of the dead again!
view over to the little chapel. the wind started to accelerate by now, and we knew we had to go a bit faster if we wanted to reach the car without getting wet. but...
the group of donkeys from earlier encountered our path and it would've been rude not to stop and awe at them and how they were passing us by so closely and unaffected by our presence. this was my favourite part of our little volcano walking adventure. it felt a bit surreal?! i love such surreal encounters way too much. animals are true blessings, don't you agree? here's also a tiny video i made of this meeting.
there was still some distance left towards the chapel and our parking lot. and we needed to hurry up. which we didn't. the atmosphere was kind of electric and mesmerizing and we felt no real hurry to reach our car. only after the first rain drops fell from the sky we started to walk a bit faster and by the end were seeking shelter inside the chapel.
shortly before the downpour began.
i guess i don't need to mention that i love the thrill of impending doom, especially with a thunderstorm coming up. there's just something in the air, something electrifying that lets you pause and stand still for a while and look at the rolling clouds moving really fast, passing you by in a hectic hurry. until the sky opens up and releases the heavy charge within the clouds and basically turns over a leverage in your head that tells you: okay, now you need to MOVE. it's such an exciting feeling.
and to know that this all happens in a region full of volcanos, it makes you realize that nature is a powerful entity you sometimes forget to honour properly. i realized again, at that moment, that i don't need a god, that nature is what i should worship and nature is the religion we should believe in. it is the overwhelming power we are put under and have to adjust to, not a make-believe dude up in the sky.
yes, realizations like this do make a simple visit to a volcanic region of germany that much more memorable, if not even unforgettable.
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