Basanite Cooling Columns, Amöneburg East Wall

Amöneburg Castle stands in the middle of the remains of a former volcanic crater. The Basanite peak in the town of the same name rises 365 meters high and can be seen from afar over the valley of the Ohm River. Below the church, on the Amöneburg east wall, the flat-lying, densely packed cooling columns made of basanite with their angular structure can be clearly seen in the volcanic rock.
The columns in the Amöneburg east wall are in a so-called column position, i.e. they are arranged in a fan shape. This suggests that there was once a large crater full of lava, which then cooled in columns perpendicular to the cooling surface. The hard material of the volcanic complex was once surrounded by softer rock that was eroded over millions of years. This is how the interior of the crater rises today.
Source:
naturorte.de/amoeneburg-ostwand

"The town of Amöneburg is located on a former volcanic vent. [...]
On the eastern driveway to the upper town of Amöneburg there are flat cooling columns made of basanite (volcanic rock, poor in SiO2) that point towards the viewer. This is particularly impressive on the approximately 25 m high east wall. The shallow dip (orientation of the columns) can be noticed everywhere when walking around the upper town and can be interpreted as the creation of a mile. From this it can be deduced that there must have been a former volcanic vent here that filled with molten magma. When the molten rock cooled quietly and undisturbed, columns formed perpendicular to the cooling surface. "
Source and more: geopark-vogelsberg.de/vulkanwissen/was-ist-ein-geotop/listenuebersicht/amoeneburg.html (June 2, 2021)

It goes steeply up to the castle along the lying basalt columns.