The Geiersberg viewpoint
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Geiersberg is the name given to the hilltop overlooking the village of Dauendorf. Situated on the road between Dauendorf and Pfaffenhoffen (route départementale 110), the Geiersberg, at an altitude of 261 metres, offers an unrivalled view of northern Alsace: the Hanau region, the Northern Vosges, the Haguenau forest and the Outre forêt. On a clear day, you can also see the Black Forest massif in Germany, 50 kilometers away.
A Vosges sandstone bench, known as the "Banc Napoléonien", was erected in 1854 by the Monuments Historiques and has been protected as such since 1988.
These benches, which appeared around 1850, pay homage to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III and considered one of the most beautiful women of her time. The sandstone bench sits between two venerable lime trees, probably the same age as the bench, i.e. just over 150 years old, in front of which stands an orientation table inaugurated in 1995. A very old pear tree of the same age, sitting alongside the lime trees and still regularly bearing fruit, was felled in 2012.
