Genovevahöhle

Useful Information

Location:	Below the summit of the Hochstein volcano near Bell. L82 from Bell to Ettring. Hikers’ car park 250 m from the road. Footpath 250 m slightly uphill. (50.3726475, 7.2174888)
Open:	no restrictions. [2025]
Fee:	free. [2025]
Classification:	Rock Mine Genoveva Caves
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Willi Bömerich, Fritz Mangartz (1993): Der Hochstein – Führer zu einem Vulkan der Osteifel Mendig 1993.
Address:	Nordeifel Tourismus GmbH, Bahnhofstraße 13, 53925 Kall, Tel: +49-2441-99457-0. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1790	first written mention.

Description

The Genovevahöhle (Genoveva Cave) near Bell is a millstone quarry, near the summit of the Hochstein volcano. It is therefore a medieval quarry and cannot have been the place of the legend about Genoveva. At the time of the legend, this cavity did not even exist. Nevertheless, the legend persists. The underground quarry was originally called Hochsteinhöhle and was renamed only in the 19th century.

In the quarry the basalts of the volcano were mined in the form of millstones. Remains of broken millstones can still be found here today. But the quality of the rock was poor and so the mining was soon stopped.

The Hochstein (563 m asl) is also called Kalberg, a shortening of Kahler Berg (Bald Mountain). An older name is Forstberg. There are deposits of various volcanic rocks around the mountain, which have been quarried over the course of time. There are numerous abandoned quarries, which are barely recognisable as quarries today and look more like natural rock formations. Today, the mountain is a nature reserve with unique flora and fauna. It is also a geotope of the Vulkanpark (volcano park).

It is possible to visit the cave individually, from the car park on the road it is an easy 250 m climb, less than 10 minutes on foot. The viewing rock on the summit offers a unique view of the surrounding countryside. Various other rock formations can be hiked either on foot or on the 13-kilometre-long Four Mountains Tour. Particularly worth seeing is the Marxe-Lay, Lay is the regional dialect term for quarry. The area has real gorges and small caves to offer. It is located around 1.5 km to the north-west and can be reached on foot around 900 m from the Schweinsgraben car park. There is also the Rauhbuur crag, a quarry face of an abandoned tuff quarry. The stone was particularly popular for building ovens. This place can be reached from the same hiking car park or from the Erlenmühle mill at the western end of Mendig. Both paths are about the same length, just over a kilometre. And a final highlight are the Ettringer Höhlen, also known as the Sandkaul Höhlen. They are located at the foot of an approximately 10 metre high quarry face of the two small quarries Sandkaul 1 and 2. They are also a result of the extraction of volcanic rock. Because of the dark brown, almost black rock, which looks like sandstone, the caves are also called Aschehöhlen (ash caves).