On August 4th & 5th, 2017; I drove to the Germany/Czechoslovakia border to visit Elbsandsteingebirge.

     The strange, craggy sandstone formations of the Elbsandsteingebirge stand tall over the eastern German state of Saxony and the Western Czech state of Bohemia.

     Pictured above, these are some of the most unusual and remarkable-looking geological formations in central Europe.

     These are some of the most unusual and remarkable-looking geological formations in central Europe. The name Elbsandsteingebirge translates as the “Elbe sandstone mountains,” but these are more like bizarre hilltops shaped by millennia of wind and water erosion eating away at the soft yellow-green sandstone.

       Elbe Sandstone includes all sandstone types that occur in the region of the Elbe Valley and were formed during the Cretaceous period. It consists mainly of quartz grains that are cemented by silica. The ratios and constituents of its accessory minerals are variable.

     The Elbe-Sandstone form a series of bizarre promontories jutting up from the verdant forests that straddle the magnificent River Elbe.