The mysteries of the volcanoes

What was created by powerful natural forces thousands of years ago cannot be surpassed in beauty today. Twelve maars that are filled with water make the Volcanic Eifel a unique and colourful natural setting. The crystal-clear water sparkles in the sunlight, the clouds are reflected on its surface. You discover these magical places on a walk along the shore – and in some of the volcanic craters you can also bathe and swim.

Seemingly still well-water stirs and starts to seethe. All of a sudden a jet of hot water shoots skywards, fizzes up for six minutes, then just as suddenly is gone again. The "Brubbel", as the natives affectionately call this phenomenon, quietens down. At the bottom of this natural event is a carbonic spring. The Wallenborners wanted to exploit it on an industrial scale at the beginning of the 1930s and began drilling. However, during this attempt lumps of earth and water exploded around them. They had broken into a chamber in which rising CO₂ was collecting and together with water was forcing its way to the surface. Just as in a bottle of fizzy water that is shaken, the pressure in underground chambers like this one rises. At some time or other this pressure exceeds that of the water column above it. In Wallenborn that happens every 35 minutes. The Wallender Born is a dramatic event that you simply must not miss at any price!

During blasting at the Wartgesberg in 1969 a massive boulder broke out of the quarry wall at a height of about 15 metres – an impressive chance find that still gives delight today. With its enormous diameter of five metres the almost perfectly round rock astonished both the blasting team and the geologists who had also been called to help. These scientists investigated the formation history of this lump of lava: when 12,000 years ago the Wartgesberg volcano erupted, a piece of the crater wall slid back into the fiery gulf. Several times the boulder was flung out, each time taking with it new boiling hot bits of lava. It grew to the massive size it is now and, cooling and settling down, embedded itself in the crater wall. In 1980, proud of this unique find, the Strohners effortfully transported the so-called lava bomb to its present site.

Numerous springs, so-called “dreeses”, bubble through the Volcanic Eifel. Emerging fresh from age-old volcanic rock, the waters are enriched with numerous minerals.