2012 Pfälzerwald 029 Ritterstein Kohlplatz

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 branches with around 27,000 members.Mitgliederzeitschrift „Pfälzerwald“, 2 The first branch was founded on 27 November 1902 in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

. Its first chairman was the industrialist, Anton Fasig. After other branches had formed the following year, the umbrella organization was founded in 1903. One of the founding members of the Palatine Forest Club, formed at the initiative of Ludwigshafen railway official, Otto Link, was the Palatine artist, Heinrich Strieffler. Karl Albrecht von Ritter was elected by the founding members as the managing director (Regierungsdirektor). Since 1908 the club has commemorated places of historical or natural significance by erecting and maintained a total of 306 so-called Ritter Stones (''

Ritterstein A Ritterstein ("Ritter Stone") is the German name given to markers made of sandstone erected at sites of historic or natural interest in the Palatine Forest, a range of low mountains in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In some cases, gl ...

e'') - sandstone boulders with engraved inscriptions. The head office of the Palatine Forest Club is in the town of

Neustadt an der Weinstraße Neustadt an der Weinstraße (, formerly known as ; lb, Neustadt op der Wäistrooss ; pfl, Naischdadt) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants , it is the largest town called ''Neustadt''. Geography Location T ...

. its chairman since 2005 has been Klaus Weichel from Kaiserslautern, and its CEO since 1992 has been Bernd Wallner from Großfischlingen. The club has a 25-man board and 10 districts, maintaining a foundation that supports nature and monument conservation and is a member of the

German Ramblers Association German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. The membership publication of the club since 1902 has been the quarterly magazine, ''Pfälzerwald''. Its youth organisation is called the ''Deutsche Wanderjugend (DWJ)''. The club maintains around 100 walking huts in the Palatinate and the Saarpfalz regions. Some are only managed at weekends, 17 are hostels with overnight accommodation for walking groups. One of the main tasks of the club, which is a recognized federal nature conservation organisation in Rhineland-Palatinate, is the signing of 12,000 km of

walking routes in the Palatine Forest Walking routes in the Palatine Forest fall into two categories. The first are longer walking routes, most of which are maintained by the Palatine Forest Club (german: Pfälzerwald-Verein), or ''PWV'', and which are linked to the national and inter ...

as well as organizing 10,000 annual walking and leisure events.

References

External links

Homepage of the PWV

{{Authority control Hiking organisations in Germany Neustadt an der Weinstraße ! Organisations based in Rhineland-Palatinate 1902 establishments in Germany Sports organizations established in 1902