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美しい Strecke

A sign at the site explains that the Celts considered trees important living beings and attributed special properties to them. The Tree of Life Circle takes up this concept and presents different tree species, each symbolically assigned to a specific time of year, similar to a Celtic tree calendar.

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A beautifully landscaped lake at Sophienhöhe. It's a great place to observe waterfowl.

Of course, this is not a historical original, but merely a replica. However, given that there was a westward connection from the Roman town of Acca (today: Cologne), the Via Belgica, it is quite conceivable that there would have been comparable towers in the vicinity of today's Sophienhöhe.

During a period of reclamation, this point on the artificial mountain "Sophienhöhe" (a spoil heap from an open-cast mine) was the highest point, and a summit cross was erected here in 1981. The cross still exists, but since the mountain has continued to grow due to further lignite mining and the corresponding landfills, it is no longer the highest point on the site. Now follows a text in memory of Pope Francis, who died today (Easter Monday 2024). In the meditation on the Stations of the Cross with the Holy Father – on Good Friday 2024 in the Roman Colosseum – Pope Francis invited us to allow ourselves to be gazed upon by Jesus on the cross: "We walk our usual paths, and you come to us. Your eyes look into our hearts. (...) Jesus is your name, and truly, "God saves" through you. The God of Abraham who calls, the God of Isaac who cares, the God of Jacob who blesses, the God of Israel who liberates: in your gaze, Lord, ... lies a whole revelation. In your steps as we leave the city, we see our departure to a new land. You came to change the world: for us, that means changing direction, seeing the good you left behind, and letting the memory of your gaze continue in our hearts. (Pope Francis)

This recently reclaimed section of the Sophienhöhe, an artificially created hill on the edge of the open-cast lignite mine, reaches far back into the history of the European continent and the formerly Celtic-influenced civilization. Those interested in the topic can learn a great deal here about the various tree symbols of Celtic culture.

The "Stone Compass" brings some variety to the large wooded area of the artificial mountain in a clearing on Sophienhöhe.