On Saturday, May 25, 2024, the scholarship holders of the DAAD- Freundeskreis of Saarland walked 6000 steps and more along the Kirkeler Felsenpfad.

Students from Algeria, Georgia, Peru and Uzbekistan, who are studying at Saarland University and TU Kaiserslautern with the help of a DAAD scholarship, explored unknown sandstone formations over 200 million years old together with their mentors from the DAAD-Freundeskreis. The formation and composition of different types of rock, such as limestone, porphyry and, of course, red sandstone, could be read about on boards set up along the way.

Encounters with other hikers invited to varied conversations. Legendary places such as the rock fountain, the frog’s mouth, the unlucky rock, the water rock or the Holler pulpit suddenly inspired some to remember the Japanese method of shinrin yoku, forest bathing, and to embrace trees in order to open themselves up to the world of legends in this way.

At the end of the day, the group gathered in the garden of the Naturfreundehauses at the foot of the rocky path for a picnic with home-made international delicacies and inspiring conversations about the cultural diversity experienced in this circle.