Rodderberg

View from the Drachenfels on the Rodderberg

The Rodderberg is an extinct volcano in the east of the municipality Wachtberglifte and north of the city of Remagen (local district Rolandswerth ) near the Bonn district Mehlem. The rock has an age of about 800,000 years, the last eruption is dated to 250-300,000 years. The 50 -meter-deep circular Blasts judge with a diameter of about 800 meters is visible as a depression today. In a former Tuffgrube can be considered a transition from the basalt similar leucite nephelinite.

Location

The Rodderberg is located directly above the northern end of the Middle Rhine Valley. Together with the almost directly opposite Drachenfels it narrows the Rhine Valley. This constriction forms the southern boundary of the Bay of Cologne, while south of this narrow connecting the small Talverbreiterung of Upper Winter ( left bank ) and Bad Honnef and Rheinbreitbach ( right bank ). Below the Rodderbergs, on whose slopes the Rolandsbogen is, a romantic village ruin the rest of the former hill fort Rolandseck, there are two islands in the Rhine: Nonnenwerth and Grafenwerth.

Accessible is the mountain on Bonn- Mehlem. On the way there is the " Heinrich look " one of the best and most famous viewpoints of the Seven Mountains.

Nature reserve

The Rodderberg was in 1927 declared a nature reserve.

The area includes the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Rodderberg east of the village Niederbachem on the territory of the municipality Wachtberglifte in the Rhein- Sieg district and south of the district Mehlem on the territory of the Federal City of Bonn. The south-eastern area of ​​the Rodderberg is located on the territory of the State of Rhineland -Palatinate in the district belonging to Remagen Rolandswerth and there is also designated as a nature reserve.

Geology

In the landlocked crater were deposited over millennia sediments and dusts, and filled it up.

In recent decades, drilling and geoscience investigations were carried out repeatedly. The earliest surviving drilling took place in 1833 and was 19 feet deep. It was a well excavation for the local Broichhof. In 2011, a new series of drilling began in the crater center by the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics ( LIAG ). The three research wells ranged in depths of 74, 102 and 164.4 meters.

The first well log has an approximately 70 meter thick filling made of loess, loess derivatives and organic lake deposits, followed by 45 meters of volcanic ash and slag. At a depth of 115 meters up to the final depth of 164.4 meters of massive basalt is detected. In March 2012, work was completed on the well site.

Broichhof and Equestrian

In the crater of Broichhof, who was formerly a moated castle in the marshy at this time crater floor lies. The former two-piece water castle was abandoned in the Middle Ages but rebuilt in 1635 by the Cologne convent of St. Gereon. The manor house of the first half of the 19th century was built from Rodderberg lava. Since 1811 the Broichhof is owned by the Schaefer family, which mainly operate agriculture there.

1965 leased Dirk Schneider, the equestrian center and founded the riding school Rodderberg. Founded in 1969 the Riding and Hunt Club Rodderberg eV promotes in particular the eventing. The riding school is since 1985 the country base of the Rhenish versatility cavalry, the club is aimed regularly since then bigger tournaments from. 1998 Rodderberg Park Tournament Sport GmbH was founded as a host of national and international tournaments to support the club as an organizer. 2001 CCIO *** in Germany was held for the first time in Rodderberg Park.