Postcard Perekop, Aesbach valley, Luxembourg's Little Switzerland

Black-and-white postcard of the Perekop in the Aesbach valley in Luxembourg's Little Switzerland, published by Verlag J.R. Waeger, photographer in Echternach, as number 073 in his series. The composition shows the imposing sandstone giant frontally from the road between Berdorf and Echternach, with a winding path skirting the foot of the rock on the left. The layered sedimentary beds of Luxembourgish sandstone are visible across the full height of the massif, where vegetation clings to ledges and fissures. In the lower right a small figure gives scale to the colossus. The publisher's monogram JRW appears in the lower left, and the printed caption "Petite Suisse Luxembourgeoise - Perekop - Aesbachthal" runs along the bottom. The card is in good condition.

The Perekop is one of the most photographed rock formations in the Mullerthal and was so christened in 1891 by the Echternach pharmacist and professor Jos Namur, after the Russian isthmus in Crimea, as the "Goliath among Luxembourgish stone giants". The rock rises at the confluence of the Halsbach and the Aesbach and is cleaved by a narrow crevice where an iron ladder leads to the viewpoint. The promenade through the Aesbach valley on which this card is set was laid out as early as 1880 at the initiative of Paul Eyschen, then Minister of State, and since then drew a steady stream of domestic and foreign visitors to this valley. The region has belonged to the UNESCO Global Geopark Mëllerdall since 2015.