スタインボーンの天然記念物・トップ20

"In the beginning the world was as big as a thought" reads the inscription on the sculpture

The enchanting Meerfelder Maar lies in the middle of the largest Maar funnel in the Eifel. This maar is at least 30,000 years old and takes up about half the space of the maar funnel. The idyllic village of Meerfeld nestles against the steep southern slopes of the other half.

Well done, everyone can find out a lot about the Eifel and volcanism here in a simple and clear way. But you have to take some time for this.

You just have to go up to this summit cross, it's a pity that there is no summit book.

The sculpture "Big Bang" is the end or starting point of the Kosmosradweg. It leads from Daun to Meerfeld or vice versa.

Meerfeld - and the Meerfeld Maar ... ... and the question of all questions about the Big Bang - Did it all start with a big bang? This question is solved here... or not? 🤓

"... For geologists, the Vulkanererlebnispark Moseberg is really an experience. Mining on the Moseberg uncovered chimneys, lava layers of different grain sizes and slag - this is how the large cross-section through the volcanic cone became visible. Geological outcrops are windows into the history of the earth, they tell us exciting stories about the formation and development of rocks. Even from afar, the densely wooded Moseberg massif looks like a world of its own enthroned above the landscape. It is part of a three-kilometre-long volcanic ensemble between Bettenfeld, Meerfeld and Manderscheid, which, with maars, bizarre basalt column walls and gorges, is one of the eighty best geotopes in Germany. The Moseberg near Bettenfeld is not a single volcano, but a whole group of five cinder cones. One of them is the Windsborn, the only real crater lake north of the Alps. The small lake is only up to 1.50 meters deep and gradually silts up. Rare plants, insects and waterfowl have settled in the shore zones of the still waters - a strictly protected biotope. It is surrounded by a protective ring wall made of sweat slag, up to thirty meters high and equipped with a summit cross. This is joined by the Hinkelsmaar and the Meerfelder Maar, forming the unique Moseberg volcanic system. ..." https://www.geopark-vulkaneifel.de/eifel/landschaft/ausfluege-in-die-erdgeschichte/vulkanerlebnispark-mosenberg.html

The sculpture is right on the hiking trail and at the entrance to the parking lot. It marks the end of the Kosmos cycle path, which begins in Daun.