Weltnaturerbe | Fotoeins Fotografie

Posts tagged ‘Weltnaturerbe’

24T27 King’s Chair, chalk cliffs, beech trees

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My visit to Rügen island is set mostly on the chalk cliffs as visual inspiration for building art and the ancient beech-tree forest as natural cathedrals for building community.

Königsstuhl (King’s Chair)

The name of one of the most well-known chalk cliffs is the starting point for the visitor centre, the Nationalpark Zentrum Königsstuhl, which provides descriptions of the geography, geology, and biology of this protected area.

Kreidefelsen (chalk cliffs)

A classic case for erosion by water and wind, the tall chalk cliffs have provided inspiration to many, including the 19th-century German Romanticism art movement made famous by local artist Caspar David Friedrich. Perhaps, it’s as simple as recognizing the colour context of the blue sea waters, white chalk cliffs, and the green canopy of beech trees.

Buchenwald (beech forest)

Nationalpark Jasmund: established 1990, Germany’s smallest national park at about 3100 hectares (7600 acres). In about one-sixth of the area (about 500 ha), there are untouched beech trees, which is why Jasmund is included in the pan-European inscription for “old beech forests” as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.

*View next to Königsstuhl visitor centre.*

*Königsstuhl (King’s Chair) national park centre, in a world heritage site.*

*View north near Wissower Ufer. The chalk cliffs themselves are not part of the world heritage inscription …*

… *But the forest through which a shoreline path can be hiked. The symbol for the Hochuferweg path appears regularly on beech trees; note the relatively smooth tree bark.*

*Beech trees as “heilige Hallen” or “hallowed halls” (0.5x). Medieval cathedral design in what became the German nation has a lot to do with these trees.*

*Welterbeforum (World Heritage Forum) with a small display of the world heritage inscription, and a café for visitors and hikers.*

Hugging the eastern coast of Rügen island, the high-cliff hiking path, Hochuferweg, weaves its way among beech trees in Jasmund National Park. Locations for the Königsstuhl centre and Welterbeforum are marked in orange.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 3 Jun 2024. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

24T04 Darmstadt: fossil site Messel pit

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Located near the town of Messel outside of Darmstadt, about 20-minutes south from Frankfurt by train, the Grube Messel (Messel pit fossil site) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed since 1995. With perfect hindsight, it’s hard to believe people once wanted to use the pit as a garbage dump. Most fossils found thus far are dated to an age of about 48 million years (48 Ma, middle Eocene).

*Near-complete fossil of equine-predecessor “propalaeotherium voigti” (c. 48 Ma). The size is comparable to a small present-day dog.*

*Fossil of possibly world’s earliest python: “messelopython freyi” (c. 48 Ma). The fossil itself is comparable to an adult human hand.*

*About 60 metres (200 feet) deep and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide, the pit area remains an active archaeological site.*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 11 May 2024. I received neither sponsor nor support from any organization. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

Koblenz: 1st and 2nd Deutsches Eck (German Corner)

Above: West view to Deutsches Eck from Ehrenbreitstein. 2015 photo by Taxiarchos228 (Wladyslaw Sojka). I’ve added the following labels: (1) Seilbahn/Gondola, (2) St. Kastor Basilica, (3) Deutschherrenhaus, (4) first Deutsches Eck, (5) Memorial to German Unity (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial), (6) reclamation in the late 19th-century, (7) second Deutsches Eck.

Many will know, have seen, or have read about the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) in the German city of Koblenz. The river city has plenty to provide: visitors wander into the vineyards to sip on crisp white wine from local grapes, vacation on long cabin-boats to enjoy the river scenery, or explore the surrounding Upper Rhine River Valley.

But Koblenz is also well known by virtue of its name after the junction where the rivers Moselle and Rhine meet. By the first-century AD/CE, the Romans had built for strategic protection a fort¹ called “Castellum apud Confluentes“, Latin for “the castle at the confluence”. What most commonly acknowledge as the Deutsches Eck (German corner) is not the original location. Half concealed among the trees some 200 metres back near the Deutschherrenhaus is the first location of the Deutsches Eck.

What follows:

a map to the area and my photos from the present-day,
a short history of the “Deutsches Eck,” and
archival images from the mid-16th century to early 20th century.

( Click here for images and more )

My Germany: 47 (of 55) UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Above: Cologne at dusk: that Dom (cathedral) again, at left; Colonius telecommunications tower at centre, and the Hohenzollern rail and pedestrian bridge at right. Photo, 26 May 2016 (6D1).

Every year UNESCO-Welterbetag (UNESCO World Heritage Day) in Germany is celebrated on the first Sunday in June. Highlighted below are my visits to 47 of 55 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) in Germany for 85% completion.

( Click here for images and more )