Top 12 Caves around Bernkastel-Kues

The ruins of Mont Royal fortress lie above Traben-Trarbach on a bend in the Moselle River and were built at the end of the 17th century by order of the French Sun King, Louis XIV. The complex covered an area of 50 hectares and offered space for up to 12,000 soldiers and 3,000 horses. It was intended to serve as a supply base for the French Rhine Army and to control the central Rhineland. Only eleven years after construction began, following the Peace of Rijswijk in 1697, the French destroyed the fortress themselves in 1698 to avoid surrendering it to their opponents. Today, only a few remains of the once mighty fortress are visible. These include sections of the walls, casemates, cellar vaults, and defensive ditches. A large part of the ruins is overgrown by forest.

At first glance, the spiral sandstone staircase appears to be enclosed by a gate. However, this only prevents ascent. The descent leads into darkness via the stairs, which are partially slippery due to rubble, followed by a tunnel leading to a loooong, equally slippery staircase that descends into the depths. This tunnel then leads into a long, equally slippery tunnel with loopholes on the sides, at the end of which you return to daylight. Sturdy footwear and sufficient lighting, or good accident insurance, are recommended!

All that remains of the barracks, i.e. the accommodation buildings, are numerous vaulted cellars, which have collapsed in many places, creating a huge crater field.

Small cave that you can tread carefully (clammy, slippery, there is sometimes water in it). The illumination with the mobile phone is completely sufficient, the light yield for a mobile phone photo without a flash was even sufficient.

Small cave, don't forget a flashlight!

Shortly before, I had hiked past the small cave in Ahringsbachtal, and I saw it in front of me - was that the bear 🐻 from the legend of the Leiermannspfad?! 😮 Luckily, the bear was easily soothed with a few biscuits and then showed himself to be very approachable. And when the biscuits were completely plastered, the little guy trolled back to his cave, growling, and let me go on my way unmolested! 👋😄

<< The hurdy-gurdy man from Ahringsbach >> "Two or three hundred years ago there were still no music bands in the Moselle villages that played at festivals and celebrations, for child baptisms, weddings or fairs. This was once done by the lyre, a kind of violin that was made to sound with a crank and at the same time been plucked from the sides. A hurdy-gurdy man also lived in Enkirch, who had returned home late one evening from a wedding in Starkenburg. He used the steep mountain path that is now called Leiermannspfad. Suddenly he heard a strange hum and grunt and stopped dead in his tracks. Then he saw a huge bear a short distance away. As quick as a squirrel, the hurdy-gurdy man climbed a tree, because the bear came running up with mighty leaps. With a constant growl, the mighty animal romped around the tree, nuzzled the bark and raised its paw with long, sharp claws menacingly up the trunk. But the dense branches prevented the monster from climbing the tree. For a while the hurdy-gurdy man sat stiff and stiff with fear in the branches and looked down at the humming monster. When he had finally recovered a little from his shock, he began to play the lyre. But all music was in vain; the bear didn't move from the spot, but sat on its broad rump and romped around the tree again and again, growling. So the hurdy-gurdy played all night long. On the one hand he encouraged himself in this way, on the other hand the lovely tones had a calming effect on the restless animal. Yes, Dickpelz only disappeared into the forest at dawn, because he was afraid of daylight. The hurdy-gurdy man quickly climbed down from his uncomfortable place to sleep and ran to Enkirch as fast as his legs would carry him." Source: Shortened from_ ghosts, counts and crooks "Sagas, legends, stories from the Moselland by Reinhold Wagner. Hetios Verlags- und Buchvertriebsgesellschaft, 52068 Aachen, telephone: 0241 - 555426, ISBN: 3-925087-50-8

It's dark in the cave