Mannfels Rock Formation

The Mannfels

The legend about the creation of the Mannfels "Once upon a time there was a son of a Celtic prince who was in love with a daughter of another Celtic prince. The young couple wanted to get married. But the two families were unfortunately enemies. In order to prevent the forbidden love and the wedding The two were transformed into two huge rocks by one of the Celtic princes. The two rocks stand in the same valley, but on opposite sides. So they can always see each other, but they will never be able to reach each other. From this location you can see the man's rock, the petrified son. The tall trees block the view of the petrified daughter." touren.saarland/mobile/de/punkt/geschichte-staette/mannfelsen/6031440

Mannfels - Geology

In terms of geological history, the Hunsrück consists of Devonian layers (approx. 408-360 million years ago). At that time, large parts of what is now Central Europe lay in a sea basin, the so-called geosyclinal sea, which represented an extension of today's Mediterranean Sea to the north. In the middle of this Devonian basin lies the so-called Central European Island. On their northern coasts, which also include parts of today's Hunsrück, coastal sarids of a very pure nature are deposited. In subsequent geological epochs, these previously loosely deposited sands are increasingly changed. Taunus quartzite is ultimately formed through pressure and temperature increases as a result of the increasingly thick overlays of younger layers and through tectonic events such as fold formation (in the Lower Carboniferous, approx. 350-325 million years) and shifts within the rock deposits. Circulating water left iron particles on the strata and fissures, which gave the originally white Taunus quartzite its current, typical reddish-brown color. In addition to the Taunus, the Taunus quartzites can also be found in the Hunsrük area. In the Tertiary period (approx. 60 million years ago), further uplifts took place, giving rise to the basic features of today's landscape relief of mountains and valleys. During the Quaternary geological period (1.5 million years to date), the Würme Ice Age formed on the plateaus of the Hunsrück above 330m above sea level. - so-called rocks or block seas. Through erosion or weathering processes such as erosion, frost; - Blast or temperature weathering often causes blocks of rock to detach from the Taunus quartzite rock layer in warm and humid climates and are deposited in a sea-like manner on the slopes. These immeasurable block deposits also provided one of the main requirements for the construction of such a powerful fortification as the “Hunnenring”: the building material. It was located directly at the construction site and only needed to be collected and therefore no longer had to be specially broken in quarries. The stone blocks collected from the surface were transported to the construction site using cattle trucks and processed there. Furthermore, the local topography with its natural terrain in the form of a flat hilltop and steep slopes offered a strategic defensive advantage. The attackers required a great deal of effort just to climb the mountain. Source: Text information board

Towering quartz rib. Can be easily climbed from the back, but caution is advised as there is a risk of falling and the quartzite is extremely slippery when wet and with light moss and lichen growth.
From here you have a great view of the Nonnweiler dam when the visibility is good.