Dahner Felsenland
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The Dahner Felsenland, also referred to as the Dahn Rockland, is a landscape in the county of
Südwestpfalz Südwestpfalz (, ) is a district (''Kreis'' or more precise ''Landkreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Saarpfalz, the district-free city Zweibrücken, the districts Kaiserslautern a ...
in the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
federal state of
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) 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 sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
. It is located in the middle section of the
Wasgau The Wasgau (, ) is a France, Franco-Germany, German Mountain range, hill range in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the French departments of France, departments of Bas-Rhin and Moselle (department), Moselle. It is formed from the south ...
, which in turn forms the southern part of the
Palatine Forest The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The forest is a designated nature park () covering 1,771&n ...
and the northern part of the
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...
in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The Dahner Felsenland has numerous rock formations within the South Palatinate Climbing Area (''Klettergebiet Südpfalz'').


Geographic location

The landscape covers almost the same area as the
collective municipality ''Gemeindeverband'' () is a union of at least two municipalities () in Germany to form a (statutory corporation) with the purpose to exercise the powers of self-government at a larger scale, while maintaining autonomy of its members. The word ...
of the same name, which incorporates the town of
Dahn Dahn () is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate Forest, approximately 15 km southeast of Pirmasens, and 25 km west of Landau. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemei ...
and 14 villages. The Dahner Felsenland is part of the
Palatine Forest Nature Park The Palatinate Forest Nature Park () 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 Forest, the largest contiguous fore ...
. It lies between 200 m (valleys) and 400 m (hilltops) high and is drained by the Lauter, which here in its upper reaches is called the ''Wieslauter'', into the
River Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Const ...
.


Tourism

The region has been opened up by a large number of waymarked walking routes. In Dahn itself is the Felsenland Youth Hostel which is part of the
German Youth Hostel Association The German Youth Hostel Association () or DJH is a non-profit registered organization (''eingetragener Verein''). It was founded in 1919 to provide affordable and safe accommodation for travellers, especially schools, youth groups and individua ...
.Dahn Youth Hostel
portrait at diejugendherbergen.de


Sights

In the Dahner Felsenland there are 16
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...
or castle
ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
as well as numerous rock formations made of
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 ...
, that are used by
sport climber Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...
s. Old legends surround rocks like the
Jungfernsprung The Jungfernsprung, is a precipitous rock formation in the small German town of Dahn in the county of Südwestpfalz. The rocks tower above the town by around 70 metres and are crowned by a type of summit cross at a height of . The rocks is t ...
or the Devil's Table (''Teufelstisch'') (see the Legend of the Jungfernsprung and Legend of the Devil’s Table). Amongst the castles, the Dahn castles, the Berwartstein and the Drachenfels are the best known.


Transport

The Dahner Felsenland may be reached via the A8 motorway (from the west) and A 65 motorway (from the east), in each case using the B 10 federal highway that links the two
autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...
s. The B 427 (from Hinterweidenthal to
Bad Bergzabern Bad Bergzabern () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, on the German Wine Route in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the south-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, approximately s ...
) runs right through the Dahn Valley (''Dahner Tal''), the originally planned section of the A 8 motorway from
Pirmasens Pirmasens (; (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 ''Landkreis Pirmasens ...
to
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
, running past Dahn, was never realised. Running parallel to the B 427 in places is a branch of the
Queich Valley Railway The Queich is a tributary of the Rhine, which rises in the southern part of the Palatinate Forest, and flows through the Upper Rhine valley to its confluence with the Rhine in Germersheim. It is long and is one of the four major drainage systems ...
(Pirmasens–
Landau Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...
), the Wieslauter Railway that links the villages of Hinterweidenthal in the north and
Bundenthal Bundenthal is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Notable people * Ludwig Kneiss Ludwig Kneiss (born Bundenthal, 11 November 1830 in – died Munich, 25 April 1900) was a German bass, bariton ...
in the south of the Dahner Felsenland. The route was re-opened in 1997 for excursions on Sundays and holidays, after regular passenger services had been terminated in 1966.


References


External links

{{Commons
Dahner Felsenland
Regions of Rhineland-Palatinate Südwestpfalz South Palatinate Natural regions of the Palatinate Forest Geography of the Palatinate (region) Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate