メルゼニッチの天然記念物・トップ20

The tower bears a weather vane inscribed with "Monte Sophia" and, together with the Roman Tower, is one of the prominent viewpoints on the reclaimed Sophienhöhe, which was once used as a spoil heap for the Hambach open-cast mine. The HöllerHorn reaches approximately 291.5 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest points on the Sophienhöhe, but it lies just below the summit level of the Roman Tower (301.8 meters above sea level).

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.

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.

It's beautiful, but seemed a bit overrated to me. There are also a lot of hikers, so it's better to explore on foot.

The sound of the water has a calming effect

The Hambach opencast mine is one of three remaining active opencast mines in the Rhenish lignite mining area. It is the largest lignite mine in Europe and is located in the middle of the lignite mining area between the municipality of Niederzier and the town of Elsdorf. The Hambach opencast mine was started in 1978 near the Niederzier district of Hambach and is over 350 meters deep. 1.35 billion tons of brown coal are stored beneath its 85 square kilometer mining field. Around 40 million tons of coal are mined every year.

When driving through the ford next to the weir, your feet can get wet

Large parts of this sandy area still lie fallow today. A wooden tower with a weather vane is set up here, which is modeled on a late medieval winding tower of an ore mine.