The Ahr HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . ( or ''Ahreifel'' ) are a range of low mountains and hills up to and long in the

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

region of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, which lie roughly southwest of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

on the border between the German states of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

and

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 ...

. The forested Ahr Hills have numerous tourist destinations (e. g. Aremberg Castle and the Effelsberg Radio Telescope) and the section of a

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

with its ancient

Eifel Aqueduct The Eifel Aqueduct was one of the longest aqueducts of the Roman Empire. The aqueduct, constructed in AD 80, carried water some from the hilly Eifel region of what is now Germany to the ancient city of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (presen ...

Geography

Location

The Ahr Hills are part of the

, the bulk of which lies to the south and southwest of it. It lies on the left, i.e. northwestern, bank of the river

Ahr Ahr () is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim. After it crosses f ...

, roughly 40 km southwest of

. Sometimes the ridge on the right, southeastern, bank of the Ahr in the area of Altenahr is also counted as part of the Ahr Hills. This small range is bordered by a square enclosed by the

Grafschaft A was originally the name given to the administrative area in the Holy Roman Empire over which a count, or , presided as judge. It is often, therefore, translated as 'county'. The term has survived as a placename in German-speaking countries, for ...

and

Remagen Remagen () is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West Germany, West German seat of government. It i ...

to the east, by

Altenahr Altenahr () is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative centre for the eponymous collective municipality, to which it belongs. Altenahr is a state-recognised tourist resort and is ra ...

to the southeast,

Antweiler Antweiler is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north a ...

to the south,

Blankenheim Blankenheim may refer to: Places * Blankenheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, a municipality in western Germany * Blankenheim, Saxony-Anhalt, a municipality in eastern Germany *Blankenheim Castle Blankenheim Castle () is a ''schloss'' above the village ...

to the west and

Bad Münstereifel Bad Münstereifel () is a historical spa town in the district of Euskirchen (district), Euskirchen, Germany, with about 17,000 inhabitants, situated in the far southwest of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The little town is one of on ...

and

Rheinbach Rheinbach () is a town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis district ( Landkreis), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It belongs to the administrative district (Regierungsbezirk) of Cologne. Geography Situated south-west of Bonn and south of Cologne, Rhein ...

to the north. To the north the terrain of the Ahr Hills descends into the Cologne Bay, to the east it drops down to the

Voreifel The Voreifel ("Fore-Eifel" or "Pre-Eifel") is the name of a settlement area in the southern part of the Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a term that grew out of the local speech. The region of the Voreifel includes the tow ...

and the valley of the

Middle Rhine Middle Rhine (, ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge (), a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift i ...

, to the south on the far side of the Ahr is the

proper (up to 747 m), to the west the

Zitter Forest The Zitter Forest () is located in the Eifel region in the German district of Euskirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and in the Belgian province of Liège (Wallonia). Its highest point is . The Zitter Forest lies in the North Eifel between Hellenth ...

and in the northwest the

North Eifel The North Eifel ({{langx, de, Nordeifel), the northern part of the Eifel, a low mountain range in Germany and East Belgium, comprises the following six sub-regions: * Venn Foreland, * Hohes Venn, * Rur Eifel, * Limestone Eifel, * Our Valley and * Hi ...

Hills

The summits of the Ahr Hills include the: * Aremberg (623.8 m), with Aremberg Castle - near Aremberg * Michelsberg (586.1 m) near

Mahlberg Mahlberg (; ) is a city in the Ortenaukreis, in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 8 km southwest of Lahr, near the Europa-Park Rust. It is about north of Freiburg im Breisgau and south of Strasbourg. It is in the Upper R ...

* Junkerberg (543.4 m) - near Reetz * Knippberg (537.3 m) – between Rodert and Scheuerheck * Hühnerberg (Lommersdorf) (533.5 m) – near Lommersdorf * Sommerberg (c. 527 m) – between Reetz and Rohr * Kalvarienberg (Alendorf) (522.8 m) – near Alendorf * Kopnück (514.4 m) – near Kop Nück *

Hochthürmerberg The Hochthürmerberg (variously also called the Hochthürmchen, Hochthürmen or Hochthürmer), is a hill, , in the Eifel region. It is situated in the county of Euskirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia near the state border with Rhineland-Palatinate i ...

(499.9 m) – near Lanzerath * Hühnerberg (Kirchsahr) (c. 398 m) – near

Kirchsahr Kirchsahr is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Kirchsahr consists of the districts Kirchsahr, Binzenbach, Burgsahr, Hürnig and Winnen. It lies near the state border of Rhineland-Palatinate ...

* Tomberg (308.5 m) and the ruins of the

Tomburg Castle The Tomburg is a castle ruin near Wormersdorf, a village in the municipality of Rheinbach near the German city of Bonn. It is located in a small nature reserve that contains a number of rare plant species, on the high Tomberg hill. The Tomberg i ...

- near Wormersdorf

Streams

The Ahr Hills is crossed by the following streams, some of which have their sources here: *

(source in

) *

Erft The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardina ...

(source on the western edge) * Liersbach, * Sahrbach, * Steinbach *

Swist The Swist is a stream, long, in the German Rhineland. It rises on the northern edge of the Eifel at 330 metres above sea level and empties from the right and southeast into the Rhine tributary, the Erft, between Weilerswist and (a district of ...

(source near Kalenborn). In July 2021 the area was hit by severe rainfall and subsequent heavy flooding.

Places

The following towns and villages border the Ahr Hills: *

(north) *

Meckenheim Meckenheim (; ) is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Geographical situation Meckenheim is situated approximately 15 km south-west of Bonn and separated from the German former capital (1949� ...

(northeast) *

(east) *

Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler () is a spa town in the German States of Germany, Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate that serves as the Capital (political), capital of the Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler district. The Bundesautobahn 61, A61 motorway conn ...

(south) *

(west) *

(northwest) Other places in the Ahr Hills include: *

* Ahrbrück * Aremberg * Effelsberg *

* Hilberath * Kalenborn *

* Mutscheid * Ohlenhard * Odesheim * Rupperath *

Wershofen Wershofen is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north a ...

Tourism

The ''Große Eifelroute'' ("Great Eifel Route"), a tourist route, runs through the Ahr Hills. There are also numerous footpaths for walkers. Amongst its places of interest are Aremberg Castle, on the eponymous hill above Aremberg, and the ruins of the 11th-century castle of Tomburg above Wormersdorf with views of Cologne. Near Effelsberg is the Effelsberg Radio Telescope, on the summit of the Michelsberg is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, dedicated to the

Archangel Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second ...

and regularly visited by

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s and walkers. Part of the Roman

, which runs through the northern part of the Ahr Hills, is a popular tourist destination. The

Ahr Valley The Ahr valley (, ) is named after the Ahr, a left tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It begins at the Ahr spring (''Ahrquelle'') in Blankenheim (Ahr), Blankenheim in the county of Kreis Euskirchen, Euskirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and runs gene ...

with its wine centres is also picturesque; the southeastern slopes of the Ahr Hills above the Ahr have

vineyards A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

through which one may walk on the

Red Wine Trail __NOTOC__ The Red Wine Trail (''Rotweinwanderweg''), opened in 1972, is a trail that runs high above the floor of the Ahr Valley linking the wine villages of the Ahr wine region in Germany along the River Ahr. The route runs from Altenahr via Mays ...

(''Rotweinwanderweg'').

References

{{Authority control Central Uplands Regions of the Eifel Regions of Rhineland-Palatinate Regions of North Rhine-Westphalia Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Mountain ranges of North Rhine-Westphalia Mountain ranges of Rhineland-Palatinate Ahr