Eifel scenery

View of the Laacher See, one of the lakes in the Vulkaneifel

The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

The Eifel is part of the Rhenish Massif; within its northern portions lies the Eifel National Park.

Geography[link]

Location of the Eifel in Germany

The Eifel is bordered by the river Moselle in the south and the Rhine in the east. In the north it is limited by the hills of the High Fens (Hohes Venn), in the west by the Ardennes of Belgium and Luxembourg.

There are several distinct chains within the Eifel.

• The northernmost parts are called Ahr Hills^[1] (German: Ahrgebirge) and rise north of the Ahr river in the district of Ahrweiler.
• South of the Ahr is the High Eifel^[1] (Hohe Eifel), with the Hohe Acht (747 m) being the highest mountain of the Eifel.
• In the west, on the Belgian border, the hills are known as Schneifel (originally Schnee-Eifel or "Snowy Eifel"), rising up to 698 m. Also in the west, by the Belgian and Luxembourg border, the region is known as Islek (Aquilania).
• The southern half of the Eifel is lower. It is cut by several rivers running north-south towards the Moselle. The largest of these is the Kyll, and the hills on either side of this river are called the Kyllwald.
• In the south the Eifel is concluded by the Voreifel above the Moselle.

Since 2004 about 110 km² of the Eifel within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have been protected as the Eifel National Park nature reserve.

Geology[link]

The Eifel and its western continuation into Belgium, the Ardennes, are a part of the Variscan mountain belt and belong to the Rhenish Massif (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge).

The Eifel consists mainly of Devonian slates, sandstones and limestones, laid down in an ocean south of the Old Red Continent^[2] and folded and overthrust in the Variscan orogeny. The Eifel geological structures like main folds and overthrusts can be traced in a SW-NE direction far beyond the Rhine valley.

In the Tertiary and Quaternary geological era, the Eifel was a site of extensive volcanic activity. Some of the hills are volcanic vents. The peculiar circle-shaped lakes (maar) of the volcanic regions formed in volcanic craters. The last volcanic eruptions in the Laacher See volcanic site took place around 10,000 years ago and generated a huge volume of volcanic ash, now found in thin ash layers in contemporaneous sediments throughout Europe. The volcanism of the Eifel is thought to be partly caused by the Eifel hotspot, a place where hot material from deep in the mantle rises to the surface, and partly by melt-ascent at deep fractures in the Earth's crust.^[3] Research has shown that the volcanism is still active; the Eifel region is rising by 1–2 mm per year. Historically, the Eifel volcanoes had inactive phases of 10,000 to 20,000 years between active phases, suggesting there is a possibility of future eruptions.^{[citation needed]}

Castles[link]

Lissingen Castle

Eltz Castle

Manderscheid castles

Well preserved[link]

• Eltz Castle
• Lissingen Castle
• Satzvey Castle
• Dudeldorf Castle
• Eicks House

19th and 20th century rebuilds[link]

• Bollendorf Castle
• Genovevaburg
• Vlatten Castle

Ruins[link]

• Gerolstein Castle
• Gödersheim Castle
• Löwenburg and Philippsburg
• Manderscheid castles
• Monschau Castle
• Nideggen Castle
• Schönecken Castle
• Ulmen castles
• Nürburg Castle

Mountains and hills[link]

In winter the Eifel is often covered with snow

The mountains and hills of the Eifel include the following (in order of height in metres above sea level):

Points of interest[link]

• The Nürburgring, one of the world's most famous motor racing courses, is located in the Eifel. The northern loop (Nordschleife) of the course is also known as the Green Hell (Grüne Hölle), because of its long, difficult and dangerous path through the local forest.
• An interesting archeological feature of the region is the Eifel Aqueduct, one of the longest aqueducts of the Roman empire, providing the city of Cologne with water.

See also[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Eifel.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eifel

• Historical Background: The Eifel District
• Pictures from Hinterhausen near Gerolstein

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Elkins, T.H. (1972). Germany (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. ASIN B0011Z9KJA.
2. ^ Meyer,W. 1986. Geologie der Eifel, p.4. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart. ISBN 3-510-65127-8
3. ^ Meyer 1986, p.275

v t e Central Uplands of Germany Arnsberg Forest Bavarian Forest Black Forest Bohemian Forest Ebbegebirge Eggegebirge Eifel Elbe Sandstone Mountains Elstergebirge Fichtelgebirge Franconian Jura Franconian Forest Gladenbach Uplands Habichtswald Harz Hoher Meißner Hunsrück Kaiserstuhl Kellerwald Kaufungen Forest Knüll Kyffhäuser Lusatian Mountains Lennegebirge Lippe Uplands North Palatine Uplands Odenwald Ore Mountains Palatine Forest Rhön Rothaargebirge Saalhausen Hills Swabian Jura Siebengebirge Solling Spessart Taunus Teutoburg Forest Thuringian Highland Thuringian Forest Upper Palatine Forest Vogelsberg Weser Uplands Wesergebirge Westerwald Wiehen Hills Zittau Hills

Coordinates: 50°23′24″N 6°52′12″E / 50.39°N 6.87°E / 50.39; 6.87

Walter Röhrl

Röhrl in 2003.
Personal information
Nationality	German
Born	(1947-03-07) 7 March 1947 (age 65) Regensburg
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1973–1987
Teams	Porsche, Fiat, Opel, Lancia, Audi
Rallies	75
Championships	2 (1980, 1982)
Rally wins	14
Podiums	31
Stage wins	420
Total points	494
First rally	1973 Monte Carlo Rally
First win	1975 Acropolis Rally
Last win	1985 San Remo Rally
Last rally	1987 Acropolis Rally

Walter Röhrl (born 7 March 1947 in Regensburg) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW.

Career[link]

At the age of 16, Röhrl began working for the commercial director of a company that legally represented the Bishop of Regensburg along with 6 further Bishops in Bavaria, and skiied in his spare time. In time he became a qualified ski instructor and a keen driver, and became the chauffer to the commercial director, covering up to 120,000 kilometres annually. Some unqualified reports have stated he was once the Bishop's own driver, but this has been acknowledged as untrue. Having also now been active in sports like skiing, Röhrl was invited to drive his first rally in 1968.

Röhrl was a World Rally Championship favorite throughout the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times with four different marques. His co-driver for many years was Christian Geistdörfer. His Fiat 131 Abarth carried him to the 1980 title, clinched with his victory in that year's San Remo rally, but it was arguably his equivalent success in 1982 that impressed most of all, with Röhrl fending off audacious four-wheel drive opposition, led by Audi's resurgent Michèle Mouton, to take the title, by virtue of consistency, in his increasingly outmoded rear-drive Opel Ascona 400. It was also during this time that he won the African Rally Championship, in 1982.^[1]

Röhrl driving a Quattro in 2005.

In 1983, he joined Lancia to pilot the new, rear-wheel drive Lancia 037, before finally changing his machinery, in 1984, to the four-wheel drive Audi Quattro, an automobile actually incidentally produced in his home state of Bavaria.

Despite being selective in his choice of top-level events, albeit during a time when this was a less unusual occurrence for top-line drivers in the championship, he still scored 14 WRC victories in his career.

Röhrl was also successful in road racing events, and called "Genius on Wheels" by Niki Lauda. In the 1992 24 Hours Nürburgring race which saw fog and heavy rain in the night, he hardly slowed down, anticipating the corners by timing. The race was nevertheless interrupted for hours.

In Italy, he was elected "Rallye driver of the century". In France he was elected "Rallye driver of the millennium" in November 2000. A jury out of 100 worldwide motorsports experts elected him "Best Rallye driver ever" in Italy.

In recent years, he has been retained as the senior test driver for Porsche road cars, famously setting quick laptimes for them testing round the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, for example with the Porsche Carrera GT.

Röhrl was expected to make his competitive return to the Nürburgring 24 hour race in 2010 at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. However, he was forced to withdraw from the event due to a back injury.^[2] It was to be his first 24 hour race in 17 years, since his last start in 1993. In 2011, Röhrl was inducted into the Rally Hall of Fame along with Hannu Mikkola.^[3]

WRC victories[link]

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	22nd Acropolis Rally	1975	Jochen Berger	Opel Ascona
2	25th Acropolis Rally	1978	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
3	Critérium du Québec	1978	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
4	48th Rally Monte Carlo	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
5	14th Rally Portugal	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
6	1st Rally Argentina	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
7	22nd Rally Sanremo	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
8	50th Rally Monte Carlo	1982	Christian Geistdörfer	Opel Ascona 400
9	14th Rallye Côte d'Ivoire	1982	Christian Geistdörfer	Opel Ascona 400
10	51st Rally Monte Carlo	1983	Christian Geistdörfer	Lancia Rally 037
11	30th Acropolis Rally	1983	Christian Geistdörfer	Lancia Rally 037
12	13th Rally New Zealand	1983	Christian Geistdörfer	Lancia Rally 037
13	52nd Rally Monte Carlo	1984	Christian Geistdörfer	Audi Quattro A2
14	27th Rally Sanremo	1985	Christian Geistdörfer	Audi Quattro Sport S1

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walter Röhrl

• Webpage from Walter Röhrl
• Walter Röhrl at rallybase.nl