The Calvary Mountain is located in the midst of the juniper conservation area "Lampertstal" in the municipality of Blankenheim. It is the largest contiguous juniper area in North Rhine-Westphalia. The juniper heaths are home to kitchen bells, 31 species of orchids, and gentians.
The view stretches far over the hills of the "Lampert Valley." From the highest point of the Calvary Mountain, visitors enjoy the best view of one of the most beautiful and largest juniper areas in North Rhine-Westphalia. The nature reserve extends over 650 hectares with the natural growth of slender, tall shrubs that suddenly give the region in the Northern Eifel a Mediterranean flair.
Hikers traverse the area on the Eifelsteig long-distance hiking trail or one of the local hiking paths. From the top of the Calvary Mountain, the bleating of the sheep can also be heard from afar, as they have long been employed as "landscape caretakers" in the Upper Ahr Valley. Large herds of up to 600 sheep ensure each year that the juniper thrives in the poor limestone grassland, where up to 31 species of orchids and gentians bloom in the summer. Thanks to the unique nature of the nutrient-poor soil, rare animals such as the hazel grouse, kites, and sparrow hawks feel at home in the juniper heaths near Blankenheim-Alendorf. And in the summer months, when the sun is shining over the Calvary Mountain, thousands of colorful butterflies, such as the "Forest Devil" and the "Emperor Butterfly," can be observed dancing in a wedding celebration.
The people of Northern Eifel also know how to take advantage of the beauty of their landscape and cherish their traditions. Thus, at the annual juniper festival in Alendorf on the second weekend in August, there is not only music from the Alphorn players of Alendorf but also the traditional juniper schnapps "Lampertstaler" and homemade gin. Guided tours of the juniper heaths are also offered.
A little earlier in the year, namely always in the Holy Week before Easter, the Calvary Mountain also serves as the site of the great procession with a tradition of more than 300 years. Hundreds of pilgrims from all over the Rhineland come to the small Eifel village until Good Friday to retrace the Passion of Jesus at the 14 stations of the Stations of the Cross at 517 meters elevation, leading to the crucifixion site of Golgotha (place of the skull). Finally, the Calvary Mountain (calvaria = skull) thus received its name. Upon reaching the summit cross, the participants of the procession are rewarded with a fascinating view over the Dollendorfer limestone basin up to the volcanic cones of Arenberg, Hohe Acht, and Nürburg – weather permitting.
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