Palatinate Forest

The Pfälzerwald covers about seventeen hundred square kilometres, the largest unbroken woodland in Germany, mostly pine and beech on red Buntsandstein. Erosion has left free-standing rock towers, and medieval builders used them: dozens of castles were built directly on or into the sandstone, with rooms and stairs cut into the rock itself, and their ruins stand across the range. Together with the Northern Vosges across the French border it forms a single transboundary UNESCO biosphere reserve, the first of its kind in the European Union; the German part was designated in 1992 and the joint reserve in 1998. Small forest inns called Hütten, run by hiking clubs, serve walkers at weekends.

History

The Celts and Romans saw the whole range west of the Rhine as one, named after the Celtic forest god Vosegus, and while the lower Palatinate was settled from the Neolithic, 5,500-4,500 BC, the mountains stayed practically uninhabited and densely forested until about 600 AD. Frankish conquests in the 7th to 10th centuries reached the edges of the forest, and abbeys and new settlements opened it up in the following centuries. The name Pfälzerwald was first used in 1843 by foresters at Johanniskreuz, when the Palatinate belonged to Bavaria, and it spread after the Palatinate Forest Club was founded in 1902 (Wikipedia, Palatinate Forest).

Highlights

• The rock castles - fortresses built into free-standing sandstone towers.
• The unbroken forest - Germany's largest continuous woodland.
• The transboundary reserve - a biosphere shared with the French Vosges.
• The forest huts - club-run inns serving walkers at weekends.

When to go

April to October; forest huts open mainly at weekends and many close on set days. Autumn colour is strong. Winter walking is possible but huts are limited.

Before you go

Forest huts have irregular opening and are cash-only in many cases. Castle ruins vary from substantial to a few walls. Public transport into the interior is thin.

Nearby

The Wine Route runs along the eastern edge; the Dahner Felsenland is south.

Key facts