Travel Tips

The Rhoen (pronounced "rurn") is a hilly area located in the geographic middle of Germany. The Germans, themselves, tend to think of them as mountains, because the highest peaks are almost 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) in elevation. But since you do not need a helicopter or mountain climbing gear to get to the summits, they can be considered hills. The Rhoen is an area that is shared by three German states. The Anterior Rhoen is in Thuringia; the Hilltop Rhoen is in Hessen; and the High Rhoen is in Bavaria.

Geologically, the mountain range is a chain of volcanoes that formed about 500,000 years ago. It?s estimated that the last eruption was about 50,000 years ago. Although the volcanoes are considered extinct (dormant), the area is still geologically active, and provides the area with a number of spring drinking water wells, hot springs and spa towns.

As a national park area, it is one of the least populated areas in Germany. Travelers will enjoy the charming forest and agricultural countryside. As mentioned above, the Rhoen has the third largest forest area in Germany. Unlike the Bavarian and Black Forests, the Rhoen is rapidly becoming a deciduous forest area, or a forest that mostly has leaf trees instead of pine trees. It's one of the few areas in Germany where you can still find wild apples, pears, plums and cherries.

Forests are not the only attraction of the Rhoen. The Rhoen also has an unusual moor landscape. The most unusual phenomena about moor landscapes is that they are almost treeless. This has lead many travelers have been lead to believe that the natives created this landscape by chopping all of the trees down. Strange but true, this landscape is a fluke of nature. Because some of the mountain ridges are long, flat, and they have relatively high elevations, many glaciers were trapped on top of these ridges in the last ice age. As they slowly melted, the weight of the ice and water caused depressions in the land and the lakes became poorly draining rivers. Normally these would have turned into swampland, but the higher elevation slowed the rate of decay down. The result was a high moor landscape. For hundreds of years the moors delivered the local inhabitants with a natural fuel source, known as peat. Peat harvesting was practiced until the 20th century, that was until the government stepped in and prevented it before the moors became a thing of the past. The moors enjoy government protection today, and harbor a number of rare and endangered plants and animals. Although they look like they are void of life at a distance, when you look close up you will discover a number of plants and animals you won?t find anywhere else in Europe. This is why the Rhoen was admitted to the UNESCO's list for Biological Reservations. There are three major moors in the Rhoen: The Black Moor, the Red Moor and the High Moor.

The Rhoen also has a large farming community, which specialize in organically raised livestock - particularly cattle and sheep. Large herds of sheep are still driven over the hills in the Rhoen, and cattle graze on grass instead of industrial feed pellets. Travelers can purchase organically grown vegetables directly from the farmers in any of the smaller towns or villages, or ecologically sound meat from local butchers. Some of the farms not only sell their products directly to people who knock on their doors; a number of farms have specialized in farm stays, which is especially popular with families with young children.

Wide open spaces, fresh air and wonderful natural scenery is all the invitation Germans need to attract them to the Rhoen. This area is well-known for its outdoor recreation activities. The most prominent organization for hiking activities is the Rhoen Club, which can offer you all the information you need to plan a hiking, Nordic walking, mountain biking or cross-country skiing holiday/vacation.

These are, of course, only some of the outdoor activities you can participate in as a traveler. At the bottom of this traveloge, I will include more links for farm stays, horse back riding, glider sailing, parachuting, canoeing, and spa recreation. Or you can click on one of the town links for specific activities in one of the Rhoen villages.