List of geoparks in Germany
The geoparks in Germany are listed on this page .
National geoparks
As of October 2019, 16 geoparks in Germany are recognized as National Geopark (NGP). The GeoUnion Alfred Wegener Foundation , the amalgamation of geoscientific research institutions and associations in Germany, is in charge of awarding this title. Six of these Geoparks are also members of the European Geoparks Network (EGN) and, as recognized UNESCO Global Geoparks, also in the Global Geoparks Network (GGN). The geoparks, which were included in the then existing Global Network of National Geoparks (GNNG) before 2015, were awarded the newly created title UNESCO Global Geoparks in 2015, and they were included in the also newly established Global Geoparks Network.
- The years in the corresponding columns indicate the year of recognition or admission to the corresponding network, the signs + and - only indicate the existence of the corresponding recognition or membership.
- The link refers to the page of the respective geopark on the website "National Geopark" of the GeoUnion Alfred Wegener Foundation.
| image | designation | location | founding | NGP | EGN | GGN | surface | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_db.jpg) Luisenburg rock labyrinth (further pictures) |
Bavaria-Bohemia ( Link ) |
Bavaria Czech Republic ( geographic coordinates ) |
2010 | - | - | 5,500 km² | In Germany, the cross-border Geopark includes Franconian Switzerland , the Fichtel Mountains , the Western Ore Mountains and the Upper Palatinate Forest . | |
 Felsenmeer in Lautertal (further pictures) |
Bergstrasse-Odenwald ( Link ) |
Baden-Württemberg Bavaria Hesse ( geographic coordinates ) |
2003 | + | 2004 (2015) |
3,500 km² | Geopark in the area between the rivers Rhine , Main and Neckar | |
 Werbellinsee (further pictures) |
Ice age land on the edge of the Oder ( Link ) |
Brandenburg ( geographic coordinates ) |
2006 | - | - | 3,487 km² | Like no other area in Germany, the Geopark exemplifies the sequence of all elements of a glacial series : ground moraine , terminal moraine , sand and glacial valley | |
 Bruchhauser stones (further pictures) |
Frontier Worlds ( Link ) |
Hesse North Rhine-Westphalia ( geographic coordinates ) |
2006 | 2009 | - | - | 3710 km² | The Geopark is located in a border area at the transition from the Rhenish Slate Mountains in the west via the Kellerwald , the Burgwald and the Waldecker Tafel down to the valleys and basins of the Hessian Depression in the east. |
 Roßtrappe (further pictures) |
Harz - Braunschweiger Land - Ostfalen ( Link ) |
Lower Saxony Saxony-Anhalt Thuringia ( geographic coordinates ) |
2001 | 2003 | 2004 | 2004 (2015) |
11,500 km² | The Geopark includes the Harz , the Braunschweiger Land and Ostfalen in a transition area from the Geest lowlands along the Aller to the Eastern Brunswick hill country to the Harz low mountain range. |
 Großer Inselsberg (further pictures) |
Inselsberg - Three Equals ( Link ) |
Thuringia ( geographic coordinates ) |
2008 | - | - | 600 km² | The Geopark covers the western part of the Thuringian Forest with its northern foreland as a transition area from the low mountain range to the flat, undulating arable plains of the Thuringian Basin . | |
 Kyffhäuser (further pictures) |
Kyffhäuser ( Link ) |
Saxony-Anhalt Thuringia ( geographic coordinates ) |
2009 | - | - | 833 km² | In addition to the Kyffhäuser mountains, the Geopark also includes the Hainleite , Windleite , Schmücke and Hohe Schrecke ridges . | |
 Laacher See (further pictures) |
Laacher See ( Link ) |
Rhineland-Palatinate ( geographic coordinates ) |
2005 (2016) |
- | - | 741 km² | The Geopark encompasses the volcanic area around the Laacher See , the only water-filled caldera in Central Europe.
Created in 2016 from the division of the Vulkanland Eifel Geopark established in 2005 . |
|
 Felixsee (further pictures) |
Muskauer fold arch ( Link ) |
Brandenburg Saxony Poland ( geographic coordinates ) |
2003 | 2006 | 2011 | 2011 (2015) |
578.8 km² | The cross-border Geopark extends in the region of a moraine the Elster cold period in Lausitzer boundary wall on both sides of a portion of the German-Polish border forming Neisse in the form of an open north horseshoe |
.jpg) Rochlitzer Berg (further pictures) |
Porphyry Land. Steinreich in Saxony ( Link ) |
Saxony ( geographic coordinates ) |
2014 | - | - | 1,200 km² | The Geopark includes areas of the North Saxon plateau and hill country , the Central Saxon loess hill country and the Mulde loess hill country . | |
 Nördlinger Ries (further pictures) |
Ries ( Link ) |
Bavaria ( geographic coordinates ) |
2006 | - | - | 1,800 km² | The Geopark includes the Nördlinger Ries impact crater created by the Ries event , the Ries margin and the areas with the ejecta that is still preserved today. | |
 Felsenmeer Hemer (further pictures) |
Ruhr area ( Link ) |
North Rhine-Westphalia ( geographic coordinates ) |
2006 | - | - | 4,500 km² | The Geopark is located in the Ruhr area in the border area between the Bergisches Land , the Münsterland Basin and the Lower Rhine . Its central topic is the history of mining . | |
 Randecker Maar (further pictures) |
Swabian Alb ( Link ) |
Baden-Württemberg ( geographic coordinates ) |
2003 | + | 2004 (2015) |
6,688 km² | The Geopark encompasses the entire Swabian Alb , a karst landscape rich in caves that has been created over millions of years with unique fossil deposits and volcanic craters, from the Upper Rhine to the Nördlinger Ries | |
 Wiehengebirge (further pictures) |
TERRA.vita ( Link ) |
Lower Saxony North Rhine-Westphalia ( geographic coordinates ) |
2008 | 2001 | 2004 (2015) |
1,500 km² | The Geopark comprises the low mountain ranges of the Teutoburg Forest and Wiehengebirge , the western edge of the Weser Mountains and the Osnabrücker Land. The core of the area is a typical low mountain range with geological fault lines. | |
 The Dauner Maare (further pictures) |
Vulkaneifel ( Link ) |
Rhineland-Palatinate ( geographic coordinates ) |
2005 (2016) |
+ | 2004 (2015) |
1068.24 km² | Geopark in the Vulkaneifel . The landscape is shaped by volcanism and is characterized by a multitude of maars, cinder cones, lava flows, lava domes, calderas and bubbling springs.
In 2005 included in the newly formed Geopark Vulkanland Eifel and outsourced again in 2016 |
|
 Druid Stone (further pictures) |
Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus ( Link ) |
Hesse Rhineland-Palatinate ( geographic coordinates ) |
2012 | - | - | 3,800 km² | Geopark in the Rhenish Slate Mountains , also known as the "Geopark of raw materials" due to the diversity of the natural resources. |
Former National Geoparks
The following Geoparks in Germany, which still exist today, once had the status of a “National Geopark”, but have lost it.
- The link refers to the website of the respective geopark.
| image | designation | location | founding | surface | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Krappmühlenstein (further pictures) |
Mecklenburg Ice Age Landscape ( Link ) |
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ( geographic coordinates ) |
2003 to 2011 National Geopark and 2004 to 2011 member of the EGN and GNNG |
More geoparks
The following geoparks in Germany do not have the status of a “national geopark”.
- The link refers to the website of the respective geopark.
| image | designation | location | founding | surface | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brodtener Steilufer (further pictures) |
Nordic Stone Kingdom ( Link ) |
Lower Saxony , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Schleswig-Holstein ( geographic coordinates ) |
2011 | ||
 Vogelsberg (further pictures) |
Vogelsberg volcanic region ( Link ) |
Hessen ( geographic coordinates ) |
2,500 km² | The Vogelsberg consists of many individual volcanoes that overlap. It forms the largest contiguous volcanic area in Central Europe and is made up of a multitude of layers of basalt, which slopes gently from its highest point, the Upper Forest , to its edges. | |
 Lehesten Slate Park (further pictures) |
Slate Land ( Link ) |
Bavaria , Thuringia ( geographic coordinates ) |
2009 | ||
 Neuchâtel Castle (more pictures) |
Saale-Unstrut-Triasland ( Link ) |
Saxony-Anhalt ( geographic coordinates ) |
|||
 Landberg (further pictures) |
Tharandt Forest ( Link ) |
Saxony ( geographic coordinates ) |
Disbanded geoparks
The following geoparks in Germany no longer exist:
| image | designation | location | Consist | surface | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ulmener Maar (further pictures) |
Vulkanland Eifel ( Link ) |
Rhineland-Palatinate ( geographic coordinates ) |
2005-2016 | 2,200 km² | 2005 formed as a national geopark from the volcano park in the district of Mayen-Koblenz , the volcano park Brohltal / Laacher See and the nature and geopark Vulkaneifel , 2016 divided into the geoparks Vulkaneifel and Laacher See . |
See also
Web links
- Germany's Geoparks on the "National Geopark" website of the GeoUnion Alfred Wegener Foundation
- Meet our Geoparks on the website of the European Geoparks Network
- Germany in the list of UNESCO Global Geoparks on the UNESCO website
- Germany & Poland in the list of UNESCO Global Geoparks on the UNESCO website
Individual evidence
- ↑ The National GeoParks in Germany , at nationale-geopark.de, accessed on September 24, 2019
Map with all coordinates: National and UNESCO Global Geoparks: Bergstrasse-Odenwald | Harz - Braunschweiger Land - Ostfalen | Muskauer fold arch | Swabian Alb | TERRA.vita | Vulkaneifel
Other national geoparks: Bavaria-Bohemia | Ice age land on the edge of the Oder | Frontier Worlds | Inselsberg - Three equals | Kyffhäuser | Laacher See | Porphyry Land | Ries | Ruhr area | Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus
Former National Geoparks: Mecklenburg Ice Age Landscape | Eifel volcanic land