- 



EIFEL. 



north-eactern oflmhoota of the Vosge* ; the Our or Ourtlie, the Anlenuc 

 hilU, and the Meuso on the wet ; and the great flat plain of the Lower 

 Rhine on the north. The name however U confined to the region 

 that stretches eastward from the source* of the Our and the Roer to 

 the Ithinc. At the head of these rivers lies an extensive highland 

 called Vtut, or fagti(fram the Celtic 'faneq' for bog) a dreary 

 wiwto covered with turf-bog*, monism, and reed*, and ruing between 

 1500 and 3000 feet hinh, with a length of about 16 miles every way, 

 which connect! the F.it'.-l with the Ardenue, and offsets of which 

 stretch nearly to the HeuM below Aix-la-Chapelle. 



The KiM i* a ragged, desert, and in parts swampy table-land, with 

 a general elevation of 1400 to 1600 feet above the Rhine. Its slopes 

 are scored in all directions by deep glens and valleys, which aro 

 traversed by tributaries of the three great rivers named above. The 

 flat surface of the table-land, with the exception of some rather exten- 

 sive forest-tract*, presents a wild moor covered with a thin barren 

 noil ; but here and there rise up abruptly naked crags and basaltic 

 cone* of various elevations, some of them richly wooded, with wide- 

 spread layers of ancient lava between. The general components of 

 the region are clay, flint, limestone, and slate; but the hills and rocks 

 that flank the valleys, ravines, and glens of the Kifel ore in many 

 instances composed of basalt or capped with it; indeed the Eifel 

 almost everywhere bears traces of violent convulsions and volcanic 

 eruptions at some long-distant period. Extinct volcanoes, cauldron- 

 shaped depressions, tarns of circular shape filling up ancient orators 

 and locally called 'Haare,' mineral-spring*, lava-streams, columnar 

 basalt, fossil zoophytes and shells, proving submergence under some 

 ancient waters, are among the natural curiosities of this interesting 

 region. 



Amongst the highest points in the Eifel the following may be men- 

 tioned : The Hohen-Acht, above Adeuati, 2434 feet above the sea ; 

 Niirberg, which is also near Adenau, and is crowned with the ruins 

 of an extensive feudal castle, 2251 feet ; Kelbcrg, near the source of 

 the Elz, 2098 feet; Micbaelsberg, near Munstereifel, 1860 feet; and 

 the Schucifcl, or Suow-Eifel, in the circle of Pruni, in the wildest part 

 of the region, 2100 feet. 



The Eifel bos a length from east to west, between the Rhine and 

 the Our, of about 50 miles. Along the left bank of the Rhine, north 

 of Andernach, it extends for about 20 miles ; but in the interior the 

 breadth is in some places more, in others less than this. Rivers flow 

 from it in all direction*. On the northern slope near Hiinstereifel (a 

 small town in the government of Cologne with about 1600 inhabit- 

 ants), rises the Etft, which flows with rapid course down into the low 

 country, and enters the Rhine at Grimlighausen, a short distance 

 above Diisseldorf. The Iloir, or Ruhr, also flows down the northern 

 slope, rising in the mountains between Malmedy and Hontjoie ; after 

 reaching the low country it runs north-north-west past Diiren and 

 J ulich. and, entering Belgian Limbourg, joins the Meuso on the right 

 bank at Ruremonde, after a course of above 80 miles. Both of these 

 rivers sweep down stones and gravel from the highlands ; they are 

 subject to frequent and sudden swells, and abound in fish. Their 

 water-power is turned to some advantage in driving machinery. 

 Before it leaven the Eifel the Roer receives on its right bank the 

 which rises near Blankenheim, and posses Gemilnd, a small town 

 in the government of Aachen with about 1000 inhabitant*, who manu- 

 facture woollen-cloth and leather. Not far from the source of the 

 Roer rises the Warge, which flows westward post Mahnedy, and 

 throws itself into the A mUere, a feeder of the Ourthe, in the Belgian 

 province of Lifege. The Ambleve itself rises a little south of the 

 Warge, which it joins a little below Malmedy. Malmedy, a town in 

 the government of Aachen, stand* on the Warge, and has about 4000 

 inhabitant*. It is a quaintly-built place : the houses and gardens are 

 all in the Dutch style. The town is famous for its manufacture of 

 sole-leather : there nrc above fifty tonyards. It has also mineral 

 springs; manufacture;) of woollen-cloth, lace, soap, potash, and glue. 

 Monljoie stands in a marshy country between two high hills on the 

 left bank of the Roer, and has a population of 3000, who manufacture 

 woollen-stun*, leather, and iron. A large, strong, and gloomy castle 

 above the town 5s said to occupy the site of a hunting-seat 

 rected here by Charlemagne : it is a fine specimen of a feudal 

 fortress. 



On the southern slope flow* the Our, which passes Rculand and 

 form* below this .mall town the boundary between Rhenish Prussia 

 and the Dutch province of Luxemburg to it* mouth in tin. Sure, a 

 fel-r of the Moselle. The Sure receives also from the Eifel the I'ru m . 

 raw in the wildest part of the district Just above its junc- 

 .v.U, the Sure the Priim U joined by the A'im. The town of 

 Prtm U in the government of Troves. It is iluated to the *outh of 

 the Sohneifcl at the foot of a beautiful wooded hill, and ha* 2100 

 inhabitant*. IU name I* taken by corruption from that of the Bene- 

 dictine Abbey of Ad Pro/urn, founded here in the 8th century and 

 in which Pepin, natural *on of ( -harletnagne, and the emperor Lot'lmi re 

 wow monk* : the latter died here A.D. 8C8. The abtey buildings 

 wwe destroy*! by fire in 1789, with the exception of a small portion 

 which u now a nchool ; the church near it, which i* built in tlic 

 Italian rtyle, replace* the magnificent church of the abbey, of which 

 no vwtig* remain*. The road from Aix-la-Chapelle to Troves panes 

 through Prttm, and coincide* at tome point* with the old Homanroad 



rove* to Cologne, of which there are many trace* south of 

 I'nini. Near Bitburg, the ancient Btedw Vicus, a town of about 

 inhabitant*, midway between Priim and Troves, a Roman villa, in 

 excellent preservation, and two Roman milestone*, set up in the reign 

 of Hadrian, have been disinterred. 



Southwards also, and from near the source of the Roer, flow* the 

 Kill directly into the Moselle a little below Treve*. At Oferobfem, a 

 picturesque little town of 600 inhabitant*, on its left bank, the 

 river runs between cliffs of limestone and dolomite. Near the town 

 are an old castle, a dry crater, the surface of which is cultivated, 

 several old lava streams, cavern*, basaltic rock*, and mineral spring*. 

 Fossil shells and corals are found strewed over the fields at Auberg, 

 in the neighbourhood of GeroUtein. Olivine and glassy felspar are 

 found about the dry crater of Dreiser Weiher, about 6 miles east of 

 Gerolstein. 



Further east, but still on the Moselle slope of the Eifel, flow tin- 

 Lieaer, the ties, and the Kit The Litter passes Daun and \\ 

 (2600 inhabitants), and enters the Moselle at the town of Lieser, which 

 has a population of about 1000. At the village of Dtiun, which ha* 

 an old castle (the family residence and birth-place of Marshal i 

 who led the Austrian armies in the Seven Years War), there are three 

 maare, or crater hikes, separated from each other by a narrow partiti> >n 

 of slaty rock. To the southward of Daun and on the left bank of 

 the river, is the village of Manderacheid, famous for its old castle 

 and for the beautiful maare iu its neighbourhood. On the hill of 

 Mosenberg near it are four volcanic cones of slag, from one of which 

 a lava stream descends to the valley of the Lieser. The MecrfeMiT 

 maare i* about 100 fathoms deep, and the Pulver maare, one of the 

 largest and most beautiful of the crater hikes iu the Eifel, is 330 feet 

 deep in the centre. The village of Strotzbu.sch is built in a dry 

 crater. 



The I'a or hi, which bos an old Celtic name, rise* near Kelbcrg, 

 and enters the Moselle at the pretty village of Alf. It flows with 

 many windings and contortions down a valley distinguished for its 

 varied scenery, for the umbrageous foliage of its woods, for its i 

 hills, and basaltic cliflX The junction of the clayslate and lava i 

 distinctly seen at several parts of the valley. In the vole of the 

 Issbach, as the Germans call this small river, are iron-works aud the 

 mineral baths of Bertrich. 



The Elz rises not far from the source of the Uc, aud Hows south- 

 east down a wooded gorge, in which it makes innumerable windings, 

 bounding from side to side against the cliffs that screen it on cither 

 hand, and enters the Moselle at the little village of Mosel-Ki-ni. Tliu 

 lilz forms some pretty cascades, aud passes the castles of Pyruumt 

 and Elz. The Klz-schloss is one of the most picturesque an 

 preserved old feudal fortresses in Europe; it begins to yield to decay 

 but is still inhabited. On the opposite rock stands the rival castle of 

 Trutz-Elz, erected by the Bishop of Trcves, against the lords of El/. 

 The castle of Pyrmout was burnt by the Swedes iu 1641. 1' 

 the mouths of the Ues and the Elz, on the left bank of the SI 

 stands the town of Kocltcm, prettily situated on a hill, with two old 

 castles f rowniii',' from the adjacent heights. Although a pretty object 

 from the Moselle it is a very dirty place : population about 2500. 



On the eastern slope flow the Nette and the Ahr. The Kette rises 

 to the east of Adeuau, and runs first to the south-east and then east- 

 ward into the Rhine a little above Andernach, which town has been 

 already noticed. [A.NUKKXACIL] The Ahr (Aar) rises near Blanken- 

 heim and running eastward through a valley abounding with wild 

 aud most picturesque scenery, past Altcnahr and Ahrweiler, cuter* 

 the Rhine between Remagen aud Siuzig. In the upper part of its 

 course the Ahr in joined on the left bank by the Adcnau n ;n- ilic 

 small village of Dumpelfeld. On the basalt capped hill of Landskronu 

 iu the Ahrthal, are ruins of a castle built by the emperor 1'hilip of 

 Hohenstaufen iu A.I). 1 205. The Abr is celebrated for its minnows, 

 trout, and craw-fish. A fine road runs up the valley and in parts is 

 carried by tunnels through the rocks. Adenau, is, a small t..\vn of 

 1200 inhabitants, at the foot of the Hope-Acht. Ahraeiler, is a pretty 

 walled town entered by four gates, and has about 2500 inhabitants, 

 who are chiefly engaged in the growth of the vine. It is the centre 

 of the wine trade of the valley, and has a beautiful gothic church 

 erected in the 13th century. 



The Broldbach, a small feeder of the Rhine, enters that river at 

 Brohl, a small village, midway between the mouths of the Nctte and 

 the Ahr. The stream at Brohl drives a p:ip> T mill and several trass- 

 mills, in which the volcanic tufa, quarried iu the neighbourhood, is 

 ground for export to Holland; the tufa, reduced to dust, is used l.y 

 the Dutch for subaqueous cement (tras or trass), as it hardens under 

 water. In the tufa quarries in the valley of the Brohl, laud shells 

 and trunks of trees reduced to the condition of charcoal, are found 

 imbedded. Mineral waters, resembling Seltzer, are got from springs 

 in the valley of the Brohl. A little north of Brohl is the castle of 

 Rbcincck, reccutly purchased and repaired by Professor licthmaiin 

 Hollwcg, of ' 'j is a small ill-built walled town of about 



1600 inhabitants, with an interesting gothic church, erected in the 

 beginning of the 13th century ; an adjoining chapel contains a natural 

 mummy, which was carried away to Paris when the French extended 

 thru frontier to t. liut was restored at the peace. : 



occnpie* the lite of the ancient Stntiacmii, near which the cross with 



