Gräfenstein Land (german: Gräfensteiner Land) is a landscape region in the Palatinate, part of the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. It is almost coincident with the collective municipality of

Rodalben Rodalben () is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate forest, approx. 5 km northeast of Pirmasens. Rodalben is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective munic ...

Location and adjacent areas

The "''Land''" lies in the southwest of the Palatine Forest, northeast of the city of

Pirmasens Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...

, and is a component of the

Palatinate Forest Nature Park The Palatinate Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Pfälzerwald) lies in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and borders on France. The nature park covers an area of and some 76% of its area is under the woods of the Palatinate Fore ...

, with a maximum elevation above sea level of 550 metres. The region is bounded in the west by the link road from Pirmasens,

and the River Schwarzach to

Waldfischbach-Burgalben Waldfischbach-Burgalben ( pfl, Waldfischbach-Bojalwe) is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the western edge of the Palatinate forest, approx. 10 km northeast of Pirmasens. Waldf ...

. In the east there is a natural boundary in the

Wieslauter The Lauter (in its upper course also: ''Wieslauter'') is a river in Germany and France. The Lauter is a left tributary of the Rhine. Its length is , of which 39 km is in France and on the France–Germany border. It is formed by the confluence of ...

stream. To the south, Gräfenstein Land is bounded by the B 10 federal highway.

Tourism

Tourism in Gräfenstein Land is dominated by

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

. There is a well constructed network of trails leading to striking

bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

rocks and many sights such as

Gräfenstein Castle Gräfenstein Castle (german: Burg Gräfenstein) is a ruined rock castle about east of the village of Merzalben in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is in the county of Südwestpfalz within the Palatine Forest and is often called ''Mer ...

near

Merzalben Merzalben is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, deriving its name from the Merzalbe, also known as the Merzalb, that flows through the village. Along with 5 other '' Ortsgemeinden'' ("local municipa ...

and the

Luitpold Tower The Luitpold Tower (german: Luitpoldturm or ''Luitpoldsturm'') was erected in 1909 on the summit of one of the highest hills in the Palatine Forest, the 610-metre-high Weißenberg as an observation tower. It is made of bunter sandstone. History ...

External links

Tourist information by the town of Rodalben
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafenstein Land Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Natural regions of the Palatinate Forest