The Gleichberge, which mainly comprise the
Großer and
Kleiner Gleichberg, are a small,
inselberg
An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...
-like mountain range, up to , in the southwestern part of the German state of
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
. They rise just east of the little ancient town of
Römhild
Römhild () is a town in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 14 km west of Hildburghausen, and 21 km southeast of Meiningen. On 31 December 2012, it merged with the former municipalities Gleichamberg, ...
in the county of
Hildburghausen
Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen.
Geography
It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...
.
The Gleichberge are the most imposing witnesses to the
Tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
volcanic activity of the ''
Heldburger Gangschar'', which once ran from here to south of the
River Main
The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, Hesse. The cities of Mainz and Wiesb ...
.
Geography
The Gleichberge, which consist mostly of the volcanic
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
cones of the
Großer Gleichberg (679.0 m) in the south and the
Kleiner Gleichberg (641.3 m) in the north, are located in the county of
Hildburghausen
Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen.
Geography
It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...
between the Thuringian town of
Hildburghausen
Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen.
Geography
It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...
and the
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...
n town of
Bad Königshofen
Bad Königshofen im Grabfeld is a small spa town in the German state of Bavaria, located in the Rhön-Grabfeld district in northeast Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. According to the Bavarian State Office for Statistics and Data, Bad Königsh ...
. They lie southwest of the
Werra
The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the ...
valley, roughly east of the village of
Römhild
Römhild () is a town in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 14 km west of Hildburghausen, and 21 km southeast of Meiningen. On 31 December 2012, it merged with the former municipalities Gleichamberg, ...
, on the northeastern perimeter of the
Grabfeld country.
West and northwest of the Gleichberge are the
Rhön Mountains, to the northeast and east is the
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...
, to the southeast lie the hills of the
Lange Berge
The Lange Berge ("Long Hills") are a small range of the German Central Uplands, up to , which lie mainly in the Bavarian provinces of Upper Franconia with northwestern foothills in Thuringia.
Location
The Lange Berge lie on the border between B ...
, to the south are the
Haßberge Hills
The Haßberge are a hill range, up to , north of the river Main in Lower Franconia in the German state of Bavaria. The hills are in the county of Bamberg and divided by the Main valley from their sister hills, the Steigerwald. Both forested hil ...
and to the southwest is the region of
Grabfeld, to which the Gleichberge belong and of which they are its highest peaks. At the foot of the Großer Gleichberg is the village of
Gleichamberg
Gleichamberg is a former municipality in the district of Hildburghausen in Thuringia. Since 31 December 2012, it is part of the town Römhild
Römhild () is a town in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 14&nbs ...
.
The almost entirely wooded Gleichberge extend for eight kilometres from north to south and three kilometres from east to west. Their two peaks are just under three kilometres apart.
Waterbodies
The Kleiner Gleichberg lies on the
Rhine-Weser watershed between the
Vogelsberg
The is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda river valley.
Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg is Central Europe's largest ...
and
Rhön mountains (in the
East Hesse Highlands The East Hesse Highlands (german: Osthessisches Bergland) describes a heavily wooded range of hills lying mainly in the German state of Hesse, but also extending a little way into Lower Saxony to the north, Thuringia to the east and Bavaria to the s ...
) and the
Lange Berge
The Lange Berge ("Long Hills") are a small range of the German Central Uplands, up to , which lie mainly in the Bavarian provinces of Upper Franconia with northwestern foothills in Thuringia.
Location
The Lange Berge lie on the border between B ...
, where the
Thuringian Highland
The Thuringian Highland, Thuringian Highlands or Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate MountainsKohl, Horst; Marcinek, Joachim and Nitz, Bernhard (1986). ''Geography of the German Democratic Republic'', VEB Hermann Haack, Gotha, p. 7 ff. . (german: Thüring ...
adjoins and the watershed also ends not far from the source of the
Werra
The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the ...
. Whilst the water of the
Milz, which is fed by various headstreams on the eastern side of the
saddle
The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not k ...
between the two mountains, flows towards the southwest via the
Franconian Saale and
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
into the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
, the short streams that rise on the extreme northeastern side of the Kleiner Gleichberg and the hills north of it drain via the
Werra
The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the ...
into the
Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
.
In the countryside of the Gleichberge are several reservoirs: the ''Buchenhof'', ''Haina'', ''Römhild'', ''Roth I'' and ''Roth II''. In 2011, the ''Roth I'' reservoir
was drained due to safety concerns with the dam. The other basins are used as fishing lakes and provide irrigation for agriculture.
Mountains and hills
The closely spaced mountains, ''
kuppe
A ''Kuppe'' is the term used in German-speaking central Europe for a mountain or hill with a rounded summit that has no rock formation, such as a tor, on it. A range of such hills is called a ''Kuppengebirge''. In geology the term also refers to ...
n'' and hills of the Gleichberge and its outliers include the following – sorted by height in
metre
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...
s (m) above
Normalhöhennull
' ("standard elevation zero") or NHN is a vertical datum used in Germany.
In geographical terms, NHN is the reference plane for the normal height of a topographical eminence height above mean sea level used in the 1932 German Mean Height Refe ...
(NHN):
*
Großer Gleichberg (679.0 m), with a mobile phone mast
*
Kleiner Gleichberg (641.3 m), with a
Steinsburg (ruins of an
oppidum
An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
)
* Kuppe (528.9 m), north of the Kleiner Gleichberg
* Schwanberg (518.5 m), north-northeast of the Kleiner Gleichberg
* Schwabhäuser Berg (511.0 m), northeast of the Kleiner Gleichberg
* Rother Kopf (455.8 m), northeast of the Großer Gleichberg
* Altenburg (435.8 m), northeast of the Großer Gleichberg
* Hartenberg (404.0 m), northeast of the Großer Gleichberg; former site of the medieval
Hartenburg
* Eichelberg (381.6 m), west of the Kleiner Gleichberg; on its southwest slopes is the Römhild Reservoir
Gallery
Gleichberge vom Simmersberg aus.jpg, View from the Simmersberg ( m) in the Thuringian Highland
The Thuringian Highland, Thuringian Highlands or Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate MountainsKohl, Horst; Marcinek, Joachim and Nitz, Bernhard (1986). ''Geography of the German Democratic Republic'', VEB Hermann Haack, Gotha, p. 7 ff. . (german: Thüring ...
of the Gleichberge, 24 km away. Right rear: the Rhön and the Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it ha ...
( m), 67 km away. Centre, half right: the Ratscher Bergsee lake, 7 km away
Gleichberge8.jpg, View of the Gleichberge from Haina
Haina (Kloster) is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northwest Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Haina lies in Waldeck-Frankenberg south of Frankenberg and east of Burgwald at the southwest slope of the Kellerwald range. It lies on the ...
Thueringenblick 2 vom Grossen Gleichberg.jpg, View of Thuringia from the Großer Gleichberg
References
[Artike]
''Jetzt ist der Stausee völlig leer''
at insuedthueringen.de, retrieved 24 November 2014
Literature
*
External links
at naturparkreisen.de
Landesamts für Archäologie mit Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, at thueringen.de
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Thuringia
Central Uplands
Forests and woodlands of Thuringia
Natural regions of the South German Scarplands
Franconia