Gräfenstein Land () is a landscape region in the Palatinate, part of the German 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 almost coincident with the collective municipality of

Rodalben Rodalben () is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate forest, approx. 5 km northeast of Pirmasens. Rodalben is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective munici ...

Location and adjacent areas

The "''Land''" lies in the southwest 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 ...

, northeast of the city of

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 ...

, and is a component of the

Palatinate 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 ...

, with a maximum elevation above sea level of 550 metres. The region is bounded in the west by the link road from Pirmasens,

and the River Schwarzach to Waldfischbach-Burgalben. In the east there is a natural boundary in the Wieslauter stream. To the south, Gräfenstein Land is bounded by the B 10 federal highway.

Tourism

Tourism in Gräfenstein Land is dominated by

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

. There is a well constructed network of trails leading to striking

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 ...

rocks and many sights such as

Gräfenstein Castle Gräfenstein Castle () is a ruined rock castle about east of the village of Merzalben in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is in the county of Südwestpfalz within the Palatine Forest and is often called ''Merzalber Schloss'' ("Merza ...

near

Merzalben Merzalben is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, deriving its name from the Merzalbe, also known as the Merzalb, that flows through the village. Along with 5 other ("local municipalities") Merzalben ...

and the Luitpold Tower.

External links

Tourist information by the town of Rodalben
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafenstein Land Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Natural regions of the Palatinate Forest