Bizarrely shaped rocks, various amazing geotopes, picturesque valleys and lakes, waterfalls, grottoes, wastelands – in the German lands there are a lot of natural attractions that tell about the history of the formation of these landscapes, fanned by legends or simply very beautiful.
Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Elbe Sandstone Mountains. This natural attraction is located in the Saxon Switzerland National Park on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic. Especially popular here are the Bastei rocky massif, from the observation deck of which offers a stunning view of the Elbe, as well as the Königstein fortress.
Partnahklamm
Mountain gorge Partnachklamm in Bavaria. It is located near the ski resort Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The height of the local rocky walls in some places exceeds 80 meters. The Partnach River flowing through the gorge is fed by waters from the plateau of the Zugspitze mountain system – the highest mountain in Germany.
Felsburg
“Rock castle” – Felsburg (Felsburg) in the village of Tyukhersfeld. This place is considered a kind of gateway to Franconian Switzerland – a picturesque mountainous area in Bavaria.
Königssee
“Royal Lake” – Königssee (Königssee) in the Bavarian national park Berchtesgaden. In this photo – the pilgrimage church of St. Bartholomew, the patron saint of shepherds and mowers.
Wadden Sea in Schleswig-Holstein
The UNESCO World Heritage Site Wadden Sea (Wattenmeer) in Schleswig-Holstein. Other parts of the Wadden Sea are located in the territories of Lower Saxony, as well as Germany’s neighbors – the Netherlands and Denmark. There is no less beautiful.
Rötbachfal
The highest waterfall in Germany is the Bavarian Röthbachfall in the Berchtesgadener Land region. The height of the waterfall is 380 meters.
Kimze
The “Bavarian Sea” is popularly called this picturesque lake – Chiemsee, located 60 km from Munich. In 1878, King Ludwig II ordered the laying of his luxurious country palace, Herrenchiemsee, also known as the “Bavarian Versailles”, on one of the local islands.
Triberg waterfalls
The Triberger Waterfalls (Triberger Wasserfälle) on the Gutach River are among the ten largest waterfalls in Germany. This picturesque cascade is located in the Black Forest region in Baden-Württemberg. The total height difference exceeds 160 meters.
Bode River Valley
The valley of the river Bode (Bodetal), or rather – two small rivers: Varma (“Warm”) Bode and Kalte (“Cold”) Bode, is located in the Harz region in Saxony-Anhalt. On the 10-kilometer section of the valley between the air resort of Treseburg and the city of Thale, the river flows through a picturesque gorge, the depth of which is from 140 to 280 meters. This is what these places look like in winter.
Teufelsmauer
Our next natural wonder is also in the Harz region: the “Devil’s Wall” – Teufelsmauer. This unusual sandstone rock formation near the village of Veddersleben was first taken under protection by the local authorities in the first half of the 19th century. In 2006, it was included in the list of the most important National Geotopes of Germany (Nationaler Geotop).
Bruchhausen stones
The Bruchhausen stones (Bruchhauser Steine) also have the status of a National Geotope. This rock formation is located in North Rhine-Westphalia in the medium-altitude Rothargebirge mountains. Around the sixth century BC, a fortification was erected between these rocks – one of the oldest in the Sauerland region.
Exer stones
The age of the Externsteine rocks, they are also the Exer stones, in the Teutoburg Forest is estimated at 70 million years. It is possible that the Celts or the ancient Germans gathered at these rocks for their cult ceremonies. The local bas-relief with the scene of the removal of Christ from the crucifixion dates from about 1150 and is one of the most important sculptural images of the Romanesque era in Germany.
Devil’s table
Devil’s table – Teufelstisch (Teufelstisch) is visible from afar and looks like a huge mushroom. This 14-meter red sandstone rock is located on a 300-meter mountain range near Hinterweidenthal in Rhineland-Palatinate. The weight of the stone tabletop exceeds 280 tons, the height of the supporting column is 11 meters. According to legend, this table was laid for himself by the devil himself, who stopped in these places for the night.
crater lakes
Such crater lakes (Maare) can be seen in the Eifel National Park, a volcanic region in western Germany. The park is located in Rhineland-Pfwlz between the rivers Moselle and Rhine.
Chalk rocks
Chalk cliffs (Kreidefelsen) – coastal landscape of the Baltic island of Rügen in the land of Mecklenburg – Vorpommern. In 2011, these rocks, along with an old beech forest in the national park on the Jasmund peninsula, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Fairy Grottoes
The Fey Grottoes (Feengrotten) is a former mine near the Thuringian city of Saalfeld, opened to the public in 1913. For several centuries, various minerals were mined here, then the mine was abandoned, and such stalactite formations gradually appeared underground. In 1993, they were included in the Guinness Book of Records as “The most colorful grottoes in the world” that you can visit.
Muritz
Lake Müritz (Müritzsee) is the largest lake on the Mecklenburg lake plateau and the largest lake in Germany, located entirely inland. Note that the largest lake in Germany is Lake Constance on the border of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The area of the German part is 173 square kilometers. Müritz area – 117 square kilometers.
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide) in Lower Saxony is a large moorland stretching between Hamburg, Hanover and Wolfsburg. The most beautiful time here is during the flowering of heather in August-September.
Loop Sarah
The Saar loop or Saarschleife is a picturesque bend of the Saar River in the commune of Mettlach. This place was admired by the French writer Victor Hugo in the middle of the 19th century during one of his travels in Europe. This view of the loop opens from the observation deck on the Cloef rock from a 180-meter height.
“Long Anna”
The “Lange Anna” rock is a well-recognized symbol of the island of Helgoland (Schleswig-Holstein) in the North Sea – the only German island outside German territorial waters.