Goethe's Route
In the footsteps of a literary genius
A pair of geological localities is located near the road leading from Aš to Cheb. This route was taken by J. W. Goethe during his travels to Bohemia, which is fittingly commemorated by a remarkable monument in Aš – Goethe, the poet, privy councillor and geognost, is portrayed admiring a quartz druse. The first locality is Goethe´s Cliff – a group of bizarre rock formations on the Hazlov quartz lode. After a brief search, a stone block with a plaque commemorating Geothe´s numerous visits to this area can also be found near the busy road.
The second locality, called U Cihelny, is a site of mineralogical interest located near Hazlov less than two kilometres away. Here, dark brown columnar and radial aggregates of the mineral vesuvianite, once considered a unique mineral and named egeran after the German name for Cheb, occur in contact-metamorphic erlan rock. Goethe was so captivated by the egeran from Hazlov, that he even wrote a poem about it.
