Daffodil meadows - Olefdal - Hollerather Knie - Hollerath - Hellenthal - East of Belgium

This walk through the Eifel daffodil meadows starts in Hellenthal on Hollerather's knee. It starts at the hiking parking lot with the memorial for those killed by the Battle of the Bulge, the Olef Valley with the daffodil meadows and along the tank obstacles of the west wall - Siegfried line.

"Remote stream valleys have been used for haymaking for centuries, since the 12th century. In early spring, they were fertilized with a special irrigation system, called Flüxgräben, with stream water containing suspended solids. Thus, over the centuries, these meadows have appeared, which in spring turn into a sea of flowers and are a habitat for many plants and animals. The meadows were mowed only in July, which is good for daffodils, as they bloom from March to May. By the 1950s, however, haymaking was no longer profitable for Eifel farmers, many valley meadows were wooded with spruce and deprived small daffodils of their light, some meadows were more heavily fertilized and used intensively.

Thanks to an initiative of the NRW Foundation, the area was finally placed under nature protection in 1976 to protect the grasslands with their beautiful floral splendour. Farmers now use the area a lot - it is not allowed to fertilize and it is mowed only once late in the year, and the spruce trees were removed: there was still room for wild daffodils, mugwort, flowering marsh and marsh meadows and lawns rich in arnica. Biodiversity has been restored and butterflies, beetles and birds feel at home again. Source: www.eifel.info.nl

Van Luxemburger Straße, 53940 Hellenthal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
In Luxemburger Straße, 53940 Hellenthal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Routing Walk - the most beautiful