벤더스하임‬에서 가장 멋진 ‪20‬개의 천연기념물

In front of this small, sacred monument—with its special dedication as a PEACE CROSS—I would like to offer the viewer a short text by Christiane Völkel, who personally describes the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Philippi as "one of the beautiful passages that always touches my heart." Paul writes: "Do not be anxious about anything, but with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ." (Philippians 4:6-7) She comments as follows: "You really have to let these two sentences sink in word for word! They contain everything of 'Good News' (...) And another beautiful aspect that moves me in the second sentence: It says that prayer accomplishes something. Namely, finding peace within oneself and walking one's path in life from fellowship with Jesus."

View from the cross

The Aulheim Valley lies within the Flonheim district in Rheinhessen. Geologically, Rheinhessen largely corresponds to the Mainz Basin, the northeastern edge of the Upper Rhine Graben. When the Upper Rhine Graben collapsed millions of years ago during the folding of the Alps, a connection was created via the Rhone Valley to a subtropical sea in the south and via the Hessian Depression to what is now the North Sea. This led to two flooding phases in the Oligocene and Miocene. The Vorholz Peninsula was only briefly flooded. The floor of the Mainz Basin consists of rock formations from the Rotliegend or Permian periods (296–251 million years ago). There was volcanic activity here from fissure volcanoes that covered the surface with layers of lava. In the Aulheim Valley, the lava was fast-flowing, low-silica lava, which cooled quickly and solidified into porous sediment with numerous gas inclusions. This made andesite unsuitable as a building material. Water and minerals penetrated the inclusions, and after the water evaporated, agates and geodes slowly formed. On the path through the Aulheim Valley from the Geistermühle to the Aulheimer Mühle, you can still see the retaining walls of the slope on the side facing Flonheim. Boundary stones can still be found here, marking the old district boundary.

When the weather is clear, you can see the Germania near Rüdesheim. In front of it, near Bingen, lies the pilgrimage church of St. Rochus Chapel on a hill.

There used to be a coast here but that was a few days ago! 😉

Nature is taking back bit by bit!

Sandstone quarry near Flonheim

The Peace Cross is located on the “Ockenheimer Hörnchen”. After memorial fires were regularly lit there, a memorial and peace cross was erected in 1952 to commemorate the victims of the Second World War. Source: https://ockenheim.de/mahn-und-friedenskreuz/