The new season begins at the Lahn-Marmor-Museum in Villmar. Situated on the banks of the Lahn, the museum not only offers many exciting facts about the formation, history and use of the beautiful and famous Lahn marble, but is also a geoinformation centre. This year's special exhibition therefore looks far beyond the Lahn region to the other German geoparks. The exhibition will open on Sunday, 24 March 2024 with a presentation by the National GEOPARK Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus.
In hardly any other country in Europe is the stony underground as diverse as in Germany: primeval mountains, deserts, seas, volcanoes and meteorite craters. Geoparks make geological history visible and offer an exciting journey into the formation and constant change of our living environment, our cultural history and our industrial culture. Currently, 19 geopark regions in Germany bear the National Geopark seal of approval, and eight of these geopark regions have also been recognised as UNESCO Global Geoparks.
"Rugged rock formations meet flowering mountain meadows, rushing waters meet gentle valleys, barren scree slopes meet dense forests and deep gorges meet species-rich floodplains. In between, castles and palaces perched on mountains, ornate church portals, natural stone houses and slate roofs bear witness to the thousands of years of culture and utilisation of the stone treasures of the earth's history. Caves, mines and quarries reveal the world beneath our feet." - This is how the brochure "Seeing, experiencing and understanding geological history - National and UNESCO Global Geoparks in Germany" published by the German Geoparks Association describes the beauty of the award-winning regions.
The Lahn-Marmor-Museum presents all the geoparks, with posters that whet the appetite for a visit, free information material and exhibits. A large overview map shows the location in Germany. It is likely that many people travelling through Germany have already been to some of the geoparks - perhaps without realising it.
The exhibition is complemented by monthly talks, each Sunday at 2::00 pm, to which people are invited who are passionate about their regions and present their geoparks.
The first of these eight events will take place on 24 March 2024 at 2:00 p.m. and is dedicated to our local GEOPARK Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus. This will also mark the official opening of the special exhibition.
Jan Bosch, Irmgard Rado, 05.03.2024