Vulkaneifel () is a district (''Kreis'') in the northwest of the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the least densely populated district in the state and the fourth most sparsely populated district in Germany. The administrative centre of the district is in Daun. Neighboring districts are Euskirchen ( North Rhine-Westphalia),

Ahrweiler Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler () is a spa town in the German Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate that serves as the capital of the Ahrweiler district. The A61 motorway connects the town with cities like Cologne and Mainz. Formed by the merging of the ...

, Mayen-Koblenz, Cochem-Zell,

Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich (German: ''Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich'') is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld, Trier-Saarbur ...

, and Bitburg-Prüm.

Location

The county of Vulkaneifel lies in the western part of the eponymous region which lies at heights between 150 and 700 metres above sea level. As a result of former volcanism numerous

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...

s (''Sauerbrunnen'') have formed. The

Kyll The Kyll (), noted by the Roman poet Ausonius as ''Celbis'',Ausonius, ''Mosella'', v. 359 is a river in western Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate), left tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Eifel mountains, near the b ...

flows through the county from north to south. The

German Wildlife Route The German Wildlife Route (german: Deutsche Wildstraße) runs through the Eifel mountains. It was opened on 26 July 1970. Following a 180-kilometre-long circular route from the red deer park in the town of Daun, it runs past various other wildlife ...

and the German Volcano Route also cross the county as does the

Eifelsteig The Eifelsteig is a long-distance hiking trail in the Eifel, Germany. It leads in 15 stages of from the Aachen district Kornelimünster to Trier and is maintained by the Eifel Club. File:Eifelsteig Kornelimünster.JPG, Kornelimünster mon ...

hiking trail.

History

The district was created in 1815 when the Eifel became part of Prussia. As most of the local industries had their traditional markets in France, the district fell into a severe economic crisis. The construction of a railroad in the second half of the 19th century helped it to recover. The construction of the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

in 1927 was also an

infrastructural Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

project that helped the local economy. The district was enlarged significantly in 1970–1971, when the districts Mayen and

Prüm Prüm () is a town in the Westeifel (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany. Formerly a district capital, today it is the administrative seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Prüm. Geography Prüm lies on the river Prüm (a tri ...

were dissolved and parts were added to the Daun district. On January 1, 2007, the district Daun was renamed ''Vulkaneifel'', the name of the landscape.

Geography

The district is located in the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

mountains, containing volcanic lakes called

maar A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...

s. The largest river in the district is the

. The Vulkaneifel consists of three regions: Vulkanische Osteifel ( municipalities of Brohltal, Vordereifel, Mendig, Pellenz), Vulkanische Hocheifel (municipalities of Kelberg, Ulmen, and the village of Nohn), and Vulkanische Westeifel (remainder of the municipality of Hillesheim, and municipalities Obere Kyll, Gerolstein, Manderscheid, Daun).

Tourism

Places of interest in the Vulkaneifel include the

lakes around Daun, and Manderscheid, as well as the

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

lake of Laacher See at the abbey of

Maria Laach Maria Laach Abbey (in German: ''Abtei Maria Laach'', in Latin: ''Abbatia Maria Lacensis'' or ''Abbatia Maria ad Lacum'') is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See (Lake Laach), near Andernach, in the Eifel ...

, which is the largest, and the youngest within the region. Hiking and cycling trails dot the region. Museums in the Vulkaneifel include the Lava-Dome (the German volcanic museum) in Mendig, the Vulkanhaus in

Strohn Strohn is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Daun, whose seat i ...

, and the Eifel-Vulkanmuseum in Daun. The Vulkaneifel contains three geological parks (2004,45 km²), the Vulkanpark Brohltal/ Laacher See, the Vulkanpark Osteifel, and the Vulkaneifel European Geopark. BurgLissingenRi1

The Castle of Eltz and the

Castle of Lissingen Lissingen Castle (german: Burg Lissingen) is a well-preserved former moated castle dating to the 13th century. It is located on the River Kyll in Gerolstein in the administrative district of Vulkaneifel in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. From the o ...

are well preserved castles in the Vulkaneifel.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms show the symbols of three territories which historically made up the district. In the left is the cross of Trier, the lion in the right represents the

Counts of Blankenheim-Gerolstein Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New Yor ...

. The

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

in the middle show the arms of the

Counts of Daun Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

* (German)
Michael W. Förster, Frank Sirocko: Volcanic activity in the Eifel during the last 500,000 years: The ELSA-Tephra-Stack .Global and Planetary Change (2016)
(PDF) {{Authority control Districts of Rhineland-Palatinate History of the Eifel Districts of Prussia