Time Travel Trail

The 100-m radio telescope of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy is located in a valley directly on the border of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. From the visitor parking lot between the Eifel villages of Effelsberg and Lethert, both part of the local municipality of Bad Münstereifel, it is a short walk to the visitor pavilion of the radio telescope with a direct view of the telescope itself.

The pavilion marks the start and the end of the "Time Travel Trail", inaugurated on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Effelsberg radio telescope in 2021. The Time Travel Trail runs on a total length of slightly more than 5 km around the 100-m radio telescope, covering the area of two federal states (North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate). It is built up as a cooperation of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy with the Freundeskreis Sahrbachtal as well as the Tourist-Information/Township Bad Münstereifel and the Bad Münstereifel group of the Eifelverein.

The Time Travel Trail is marked by a black telescope symbol on a yellow background.

The following information is also included on the 20 information panels of the Time Travel Trail.

The first 50 years in the history of the Effelsberg radio telescope (1971-2021) are shown on a circular path with a total length of a bit more than 5 km. One year corresponds to a distance of 100 m on the path.

The trail starts and ends at the visitor pavilion of the radio observatory and covers two federal states (North Rhine-Westphalia & Rhineland-Palatinate) on an extended course around the 100 m radio telescope.

The Time Travel Trail at the Effelsberg radio telescope includes a total of 20 stations. The opening of the trail took place at the 50th anniversary of the Effelsberg radio telescope in May 2021.

The course of the time travel trail around the 100-m radio telescope and the positions of all 20 information panels are shown on the following map. With a total length of 5.2 km, the hike should take not more than 90 minutes, including breaks at the stations.

The description of the individual stations follows on the next page.