Germany - The Eifel - Home Of Wind And Water (96/151)

Germany - The Eifel - Home Of Wind And Water (96/151)

Before the Eifel with its unspoiled nature was discovered as a tourist recreation area, it was regarded for a long time as a remote, inhospitable area on the western fringe of Germany with a damp climate and a rugged landscape. Even now, among the volcanic lakes and the windswept hills, visitors feel more tolerated than welcomed. The Eifel seems, above all, to be the home of wind and water. Even though this low mountain range is located in the heart of Europe, it was often cut off from the pulse of modern times. This has moulded the landscape and its inhabitants. Yet the Eifel is by no means a provincial backwater: the cloister church of Maria Laach is an imposing example of magnificent architecture. At the beginning of this century the largest hydroelectric power plant in Europe was to be found in the Eifel. In Effelsberg one of the largest radio telescopes peers into the universe. The Nürburg Ring is a regular venue of the international motor racing scene. And the people of the Eifel know how to make the most of the unspoiled landscape: tourists visit the half-timbered idyll of Monschau and Eltz castle. Red wines produced in the Ahr Valley have won international awards, while Jacques Berndorf, who has made the Eifel his adopted home, uses the landscape and the people as a backdrop for his famous Eifel thrillers.