Top 20 Caves around Alf

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.

View of Zell from the Collis Tower

The success of the film "Tatort Falkenlay" inspired the idea of building a concrete replica of the main character, the old Lippi, for the film crew, the community, and guests. Apparently, it's located in the cave of events, and so the idea was born! What should it look like? He prefers to indulge in his favorite pastime: relaxing around the campfire! A friendly neighbor lent his face and hands to create lifelike casts. They constructed the upper body skeleton from strong wire. The legs were made from plumbing pipes and attached to the body. Now the hard work began. Everything had to be filled with scrap paper, wrapped several times, and then rewired. After dressing Lippi in old pants, they could begin the concrete work. Now the fine details of the body were modeled. The head, face, hands, and feet, which had been pre-cast, were placed in their designated places. The masterpiece was complete! With the kind support of the Kennfus volunteer fire department, Lippi then moved to his cave beneath the Falkenlay!

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.

I was scared at first 😀

A nice little climbing spot, but it can easily be bypassed by a small path.

There is so much to discover on this section

Officially 'steep path' and that describes it much better. Even if there are elements that are familiar from via ferratas, the overall experience is more of a demanding, partly exposed and quite steep hiking trail in passages with clamps/ladders. Hardly anyone will have equipment here (except perhaps for children) and anyone who has a little experience of via ferrata can walk through here comfortably.