Central Europe is typically not on most people's radar when it comes to assessing volcanic risk. However, as recently as 11,000 years ago, volcanoes erupted in the Eifel Mountains of western Germany.

The Hessian town of Amöneburg is situated on a 365-meter-high basalt cone left by an extinct volcano. It is located in a region that holds a European superlative in this regard. Traces from this era, ...