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Among the yellow leaves, a white boat is sailing through the park. In Eifel National Park photo by Liu Muyi –

Top 10 Facts about Eifel National Park

Eifel national park is part of the much larger High Fens – Eifel Nature Park, cross-border protection between Germany and Belgium established in 1960.

The Eifel National Park is the 14th national park in Germany and the First in the North Rhone – Westphalia. The park was founded in 2004 and is classified as a “national park in development.”

The landscape of Eifel national park is dramatic, to say the least. This untamed stretch of wilderness has been shaped by volcanic activity over the centuries.

The park promises dense forests, rolling hills, crystal clear lakes, endless hiking trails and a picturesque historic town. It has everything a wanderer’s dreams are made of. Here are the top 10 facts about Eifel national park.

1. Eifel National Park’s main Visitors Centre was built by Nazis

Members of the Hitler Youth (German: Hitlerjugend) in 1944, wearing their paramilitary winter uniform with swastika armband, as students together with a tutor/teacher at the Ordensburg Vogelsang in North Rhine-Westphalia Nazi school run by the SS, in Eifel National Park, Germany photo by tormentor4555 –

The main visitors centre is located at Vogel sang, a castle built by the Nazis as a leadership training centre. The Vogel sang training area was established in 1946 and handed back at the end of 2005.

It consisted of the grounds of the former Nazi leadership training centre in the fort of Vogel sang on the Eprenscheid hill plus additional terrain including the so-called Dreiborn plateau.

2. It extends over an area of approx. 110 square kilometres

view over the Rur river and the Eifel national park from the Kermeter mountain, Heimbach, Germany photo by Daniel Tibi –

The Eifel National Park extends over an area of approx. 110 square kilometres in the middle of the Hohes Venn Eifel nature parks. The large protected area offers almost entirely undisturbed living space for wild cats and black storks, among other animals.

The southern area of the park is home to several types of orchids, such as the moorland spotted orchid. The Eifel not only contains surprises but is also varied, with forests, stream valleys, high plateaus and forest pastures.

In the early summer, the yellow broom flowers turn the Eifel national park golden

3. Eifel park has four national park gates with different themes

To receive visitors and provide tourist information, the Eifel national park management has established four gates for the park. The gates are open daily and entry is free. Each information centre offers a different theme in addition to the basic information being offered.

At Gemünd visitors experience the history of the forest at the Kurgarten Gate. At the Ruberg Gate on the Eiserbachdamm, their motto is “life veins of nature” and water is the central theme of the permanent exhibition. In Heimbach, in an old station building, “forest secrets” are the main theme.

Narcissus meadows are a focal point at the H?fen Gate. The largest occurrence of yellow mild narcissus in Germany begins at the edge of the ‘federal gold village’. In Nideggen, it focuses on the logistics of nature, it’s about man and nature itself.

4. The Eifel national park has a unique 5-kilometre path

As part of a commitment to making the park “barrier-free” for all, the Eifel national park has established the unique wild Ker meter trail; a 5-kilometre path and guided system leading to the spectacular Hirschley viewpoint. It’s all specially constructed so that people with hearing, sight or mobility limitations can make their way alone.

There’s a tactile bronze model of the national park for the blind to understand the layout. The information boards are in braille, with buttons to press to hear the information. There are resting points every 250 meters and hearing aids available on the range tour.

5. Eifel national park targets to reach 75% park area protection

Fall in German National Park Eifel, Nettersheim photo by HS.ACI –

The target of the national park is to reach protection and preservation without the intervention of 75% of the area of the national park within 30 years of its creation of the national park, that is by 2034.

18 years after the founding of the national park, 58% of the park is already realized. Forest development activities are still active in the spruce-dominated south.

6. It is designated as Germany’s first dark sky park

The air in the Eifel national park is so clear and unclouded that you can observe the stars very well. The dark sky park incorporates a 15 kilometres strip around the national park’s borders. The astronomy workshop dubbed “stars without borders” organizes regular events at the Vogel sang observatory.

The observatory is located in the international platz square in Vogel sang-near road 266 between Schleiden – Gemünd and Simmerath- Einruhr. Visitors can park at the Walberhof car park, which lies next to the roundabout.

7. The Eifel national park is home to charming landscapes

Photo by Joel Holland on

The Eifel national park is an 11,000 hectares protected area located in the west part of Germany, close to the Belgian border. The wood-covered Ker meter mountain range gives the area its charming scenery, but the park doesn’t just consist of woods.

The Dreiborner plateau and its meadows and gorges are some of the reasons the park is so special. Through its valley flow many watercourses. On the banks of the river, you can take pictures of wagtails and white-throated dippers.

8. It is a special habitat for flora, fauna and fungi

Photo by Andreas Dress on

A range of biotopes provides safe havens for plants and animals. The Eifel national park offers special habitats for many plants, animals and fungi. These habitats are characterized by natural deciduous forests, species-rich meadows, jagged rocks, small streams and large lakes.

Researchers have already identified over 10,000 different plant and animal species there and have added them to the digital list of species. Over 2000 of the species are endangered or threatened with extinction.

9. The park is mostly covered by spruce

Tree in the Eifel national park, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. photo by luizdkmoes –

The exploitation of the forest especially for charcoal production resulted in the clearing of trees over much of Eifel in the 19th century. It was the Prussians in the 19th century who planted large parts of the Eifel with spruce.

The planting of this type of tree was further encouraged after the second world war. Spruce trees grow faster than many species of deciduous trees and enable more rapid reforestation.

10. It is subject to minefield danger

Several parts of the national park will not be open to the public for a very long time. Anti-personal minefields, sown with Glosmine 43 mines dating from the second world war period, still exist near the dam of the Urft Reservoir. These types of mines cannot be easily cleared because there is still no device with the capability to detect them.

Even explosive-sniffing dogs cannot be used here because traces of explosives have been spread through the soil as a result of the fighting. The area of the park that was sown with glass mines is fenced off and marked with warning tape, entering them is strictly forbidden.