The best traffic-free bike rides around Gillenfeld

Very interesting and worth seeing place.

Weinfelder Maar - Impressive Evidence of Explosive Geological History The Weinfelder Maar – also known as Totenmaar – is one of the three so-called Daun Maars. It is located about 2 kilometers from our district town of Daun, near the municipality of Schalkenmehren, between the Gemünden and Schalkenmehren Maars. It has a diameter of approximately 525 meters and a depth of 51 meters, making it the deepest of the three Daun Maars. It is the youngest and, at 487 meters above sea level, the highest of the three closely adjacent maars, which formed between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago. Text / Source: Natur- und Geopark Vulkaneifel GmbH, Mainzer Str. 25, Daun https://www.geopark-vulkaneifel.de/eifel/landschaft/maare-und-kraterseen/weinfelder-maar.html

Weinfelder Maar The Weinfelder Maar, formed by volcanic activity around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, is the highest of the three Daun Maars at 487 meters above sea level. The lake is 51 meters deep and has a diameter of 396 to 429 meters. An almost melancholic atmosphere surrounds the maar. Many legends surround the tranquil Eifel eye. A castle is said to have once stood on the site of the crater, where a count lived with his wife and only child. After returning home from a hunt, the castle had sunk as punishment for the woman's nastiness, and he found only a lake where a cradle miraculously floated his child safely to the shore. If you look at the dark surface of the water long enough, it is said that you can make out the outline of the castle. The German landscape painter Fritz von Wille was so fascinated by the Weinfelder Maar that he repeatedly immortalized it in his paintings. Among his favorite motifs was the small chapel on the north bank, dedicated to Saint Martin. It was once the parish church of the village of Weinfeld, which was ravaged by the plague in the 16th century. Anyone who rings the bells inside by pulling the ropes can make a wish. To this day, the associated cemetery is maintained and used by the local community of Schalkenmehren. This is also where its second name, Totenmaar, comes from. Donkeys and goats have been introduced to the Weinfelder Maar to regulate vegetation. The maar's unique flora and fauna are protected. Swimming and other water sports are prohibited in the Weinfelder Maar, but a nearly two-kilometer-long path makes it a wonderful place to explore on foot. Parking: Guests can park along the L64 either in the parking lot at the Weinfelder Maar or on the Maarsattel between the Weinfelder Maar and the Schalkenmehrener Maar. Text / Source: GesundLand Vulkaneifel GmbH, Leopoldstr. 9 A, 54550 Daun https://www.eifel.info/a-weinfelder-maar

The Daun Maars - 10,000-Year-Old Volcanic Lakes The Daun Maars were formed around 10,000 years ago from volcanic steam explosions. Hot lava rises from the Earth's interior and encounters water, which suddenly evaporates. This blasts away entire mountain peaks. What remains is a deep crater that fills with water over the years and a wall of boulders surrounding the lake. The Daun Maars include the Gemünden Maar, the Weinfelder Maar, and the Schalkenmehrener Doppelmaar. One crater of the Schalkenmehrener Maar has silted up over the millennia. The area is a nature reserve and a refuge for waterfowl and rare dragonfly species. Text / Source: deutschland-outdoor.der https://deutschland-outdoor.de/eifel/dauner-maare

Weinfelder Maar The Weinfelder Maar, formed by volcanic activity around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, is the highest of the three Dauner Maars at 487 meters above sea level. The lake is 51 meters deep and has a diameter of 396 to 429 meters. An almost melancholic atmosphere surrounds the maar. Many legends surround the quiet Eifel eye. A castle is said to have once stood on the site of the crater, where a count lived with his wife and only child. After returning home from a hunt, the castle had sunk as punishment for the woman's nastiness, and he found only a lake where a cradle miraculously floated his child safely to the shore. If you look at the dark surface of the water long enough, it is said that you can make out the outline of the castle. The German landscape painter Fritz von Wille was so fascinated by the Weinfelder Maar that he repeatedly immortalized it in his paintings. Among his favorite motifs was the small chapel on the north bank, dedicated to Saint Martin. It was once the parish church of the village of Weinfeld, which was struck by the plague in the 16th century. Anyone who makes the bells inside ring by pulling the ropes can make a wish. To this day, the associated cemetery is maintained and used by the local community of Schalkenmehren. This is where its second name, Totenmaar, comes from. Donkeys and goats have been introduced to the Weinfelder Maar to regulate vegetation. The maar's unique flora and fauna are protected. Swimming and other water sports are prohibited in the Weinfelder Maar, but a nearly two-kilometer-long path makes it a wonderful place to explore on foot. Parking: Visitors can park along the L64 either in the parking lot at the Weinfelder Maar or on the Maarsattel between the Weinfelder Maar and the Schalkenmehrener Maar. Text / Source: GesundLand Vulkaneifel GmbH, Leopoldstr. 9 A, 54550 Daun https://www.eifel.info/a-weinfelder-maar

The Holzmaar got its name because it used to serve as a water source for the nearby Gillenfelder Holzmühle.

Here you can take a break with a wonderful view of Strohn.

To us, a mill pond like the one presented to the biker here may seem very ordinary, but in the fantasy world of someone like Otfried Preußler (1923 to 2013), who became famous with the children's books he wrote, things look very different: It is also the habitat of a water sprite family, and his book "The Little Water Sprite", which is still popular today, tells of the adventures that the family's offspring experience in the mill pond. The "Stiftung Lesen" reviews it: "The water sprite invited twenty-seven relatives - and twenty-six came. Twelve water sprites with their wives, a well man and the bridge woman from St. Nepomuk's Bridge! And they all accepted the invitation because they want to see the little water sprite that the water sprite dad is so proud of. And he can be - because the cheeky little shirt-faced boy can already swim, barely having been born. And he learns everything else faster than his worried parents would like. His friend, the cautious carp Cyprinus, can sometimes only wiggle his fins... The children's book classic from 1956 has already enchanted generations of readers, who can then pass on their own childhood memories as well as the fantastic adventures of the little water sprite when reading aloud to children aged around 5 and above." (Text source: Stiftung Lesen)