What is "parkstein"

Parkstein is a district in the municipality of Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria in Germany. In 2006, it counted approximately 2500 citizens within its district. The origins of its castle, built atop a conical shaped mountain, also called the Parkstein, date back to around the year 1000. A first written account of its existence can be traced back to the year 1053 in the documentations of the monks of Niederalteich of the Reichstag in Merseburg. Parkstein was chartered in 1435.

Most likely in November of 1796, Alexander von Humboldt called the 24-million-year-old basalt formation the most beautiful he had encountered in Europe. According to the Bavarian State Geology Office, during the Cenozoic, from Paleocene to the Pliocene epochs, a number of active volcanoes produced liquid magma in Northern Bavaria, mostly due to the continental collision of Europe and Africa. As a result, not only the Alps but a number of fissures and cracks began to form throughout central Europe where magma could rise. Most of the Parkstein's magma cooled below the surface, leading to the crystalline column formation that is now exposed as a result of erosion.

The Parkstein, also called the Hoher Parkstein and Basaltkegel Hoher Parkstein is a well-known local hill and tourist destination in the Steinwald Mountains of central Germany. It lies northwest of Weiden in der Oberpfalz in the district of Neustadt a.d.Waldnaab and is one of the most popular walking and daytripper destinations in North Upper Palatinate. Around the volcanically-formed hill, which is above sea level (N.N.), is the village of the same name, Parkstein. At one time a castle (Parkstein Castle) stood on the summit. The Parkstein is famous for its impressive basalt outcrop. This basalt formation consists of pentagonal and hexagonal columns, up to one metre high, whose shafts extend into the earth to a depth of up to 30 metres. It is part of an old stream of lava that has been exposed at the surface after the softer rock above it had been weathered away over the course of millions of years. The wall of basalt measures 38 metres.

Alexander von Humboldt viewed the Parkstein as the "most beautiful basalt cone in Europe".

In 2004 it was entered by the Free State of Bavaria as No. 20 on the list of the 100 "most beautiful geotopes in Bavaria".