A Ritterstein ("Ritter Stone") is the German name given to markers made of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

erected at sites of

historic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...

interest in the Palatine Forest, a range of low mountains in 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 ...

. In some cases,

glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...

s were used, in others, rocks or walls at the site were used on which to carve the information. The stones are typically inscribed with their name, a suitable symbol, the date they were erected, their height above sea level and the initials PWV for the ''Pfälzerwald-Verein'' or

Palatine Forest Club The Palatine Forest Club (german: Pfälzerwald-Verein) is a hiking club in the former Bavarian Palatinate, i.e. the southern part of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland county of Saarpfalz-Kreis. In 2011 it had 221 local ...

, who set up and look after the stones. They are named after chief forester, Karl Albrecht von Ritter (died 1917), the founding chairman of the PWV, who initiated the system in the early 20th century.

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