The Hochstein, near the little southwest Palatine 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 ...

in southwest Germany, is a

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock (geology), rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock Geological formation, formation ...

that is very popular with sports climbers and walkers.

Structure and location

The Hochstein (345 m) belongs to the many

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 ...

rock formations that are typical 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 ...

, a region that covers 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 ...

. Because the region of Dahn is especially rich in such landforms, it is known as the Dahn Rock Country (''

Dahner Felsenland The Dahner Felsenland, also referred to as the Dahn Rockland, is a landscape in the county of Südwestpfalz in the Germany, German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is located in the middle section of the Wasgau, which in turn forms the ...

''). The Hochstein - like the other rock outcrops of the region - is made of a harder rock that has partly withstood

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

over the centuries. The entire massif runs for 1½ km east of Dahn across the Wieslauter stream and is heavily subdivided. Especially striking is the ''Hochsteinnadel'' ("Hochstein Needle") at the western tip of the massif, near St. Michael's Chapel. Next is the ''Gratturm'', followed by the main ''Hochsteingrat'' ridge itself. From here there are outlying spurs running northeast and south, of which the ''Haferfels'' stands out.

Flora

The remains of ancient

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

bushes are especially valuable, as are luminescent mosses in small corners of the ''Hochsteingrat''.

Features

In some places the

leachate A leachate is any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended solids, or any other component of the material through which it has passed. Leachate is a widely used term in the environmental sciences wh ...

has created especially delicate weathering patterns. Towards the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, families in Dahn sought refuge for a long time under overhanging rocks. Traces of their emergency shelter are still visible. At the foot of the Hochstein is Dahn Cemetery which, with its 2,400 graves, is one of the largest war cemeteries in Germany.

External links

{{Coord, 49.1454, 7.7915, type:landmark_region:DE-RP, display=title Natural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate Geography of the Palatinate (region) Climbing areas of Germany Dahn Rock formations of Rhineland-Palatinate