Merkur (Baden-Baden)
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The Merkur or Großer Staufenberg is a mountain, , in the
Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region. Geography The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north ...
,
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. It is the '' Hausberg'' of
Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...
and located between the spa town and the town of
Gernsbach Gernsbach () is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Murg, east of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest. Twin towns are Baccarat in France and Pergola, Marche in Italy. The town is the hist ...
.


Name

The mountain is named after the Ancient Roman god of trade and commerce, Mercury, to whom a Roman votive stone on the summit is dedicated. The ''Merkurstein'' has been recorded since the 16th century. Today, there is a cast of the original votive stone on the summit plateau; its prototype is in the Baden-Baden Municipal Museum collection. The original name of the free-standing conical mountain was the ''Großer Staufenberg'', a reference to the shape of a turned drinking mug known as a '' Stauf''.


Funicular

The summit of the Merkur is only accessible on foot, by bicycle or on the Merkur Funicular Railway (the ''Merkurbergbahn'') from Baden-Baden. The funicular was built in , closed in for technical reasons, and re-opened in . It is long, one of the longest railways of its type in Germany, and climbs gradients of up to 54%. There are good views of Baden-Baden during the ascent.


Attractions

At the top station is a restaurant. Other attractions at the summit include a sunbathing lawn, a barbecue area and a play park with giant slide. Aimed at spa guests, but usable by anyone, are the so-called "terrain spa walks" (''Terrainkurwege'') of different lengths and gradients. One of these paths leads to the wildlife park at the foot of the mountain where there are
red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...
,
fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...
and mounflon. About half-way up the Merkur on the Baden-Baden side is the premium footpath, the Panorama Way (''Panoramaweg''). The summit of the Merkur is a waystop on two other premium footpaths: the '' Gernsbacher Runde'' and '' Murgleiter''.


Observation tower

An observation and radio tower stands on the highest point of the Merkur at . It was built in 1837 and was raised in height when the funicular was built. Since the 1950s it has also acted as a radio broadcast transmitter. A more recent reinforced concrete annex supports an antenna mast made of steel, reaching a total height of .


Panorama

The mountain has an all-round view, not just over the bowl of Baden-Baden, the highest peaks of the
Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region. Geography The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north ...
and the Murg valley with the towns of Gaggenau and
Gernsbach Gernsbach () is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Murg, east of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest. Twin towns are Baccarat in France and Pergola, Marche in Italy. The town is the hist ...
, but also of the
Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...
, the
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...
, the
Haardt The Haardt () is a range of wooded, sandstone hills in the state of Rhineland Palatinate in southwestern Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous c ...
and the
Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
. In the field of view are the ruins of
Hohenbaden Castle Hohenbaden Castle (at the time of its establishment ''Schloss Hohenbaden'', now ''Old castle'' or ''Altes Schloss'') in German Baden-Baden was the residence of the margraves of Baden for almost 400 years. The castle was built around 1100 by Herman ...
, the
Battert The Battert is a hill, , on the western edge of the Northern Black Forest north of Baden-Baden in Germany. On its western slopes are the ruins of Hohenbaden Castle (the ''Altes Schloss'' or "Old Castle"), on the southern side is the climbing area ...
rocks, the ruins of
Alt Eberstein The ruins of Alt-Eberstein are the remains of the former Schloss Eberstein (Eberstein Castle), located on a hill near the town of Ebersteinburg and directly upstream of the modern city of Baden-Baden, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ...
, the
Fremersberg The Fremersberg is a hill, , on the western edge of the northern Black Forest in south Germany on the territory of the town of Baden-Baden and the municipality of Sinzheim. On the summit plateau, which is made of bunter sandstone there is the resi ...
, the Yburg, the Badener Höhe and the
Hornisgrinde The Hornisgrinde, 1,164 m (3,820 ft), is the highest mountain in the Northern Black Forest of Germany. The Hornisgrinde lies in northern Ortenaukreis district. Origin of the name The name is probably derived from Latin, and essenti ...
as well as the cities of
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
and
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
. File:Merkurbergbahn-20200930.jpg, A car of the funicular railway File:Votivstein_Merkurs.JPG, The ancient Roman votive relief of Mercury is on display on top of the mountain File:Paragleiter.JPG, The Merkur is a popular launch site for paragliders File:Merkurturm-IMGP8430.JPG, The
observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...


In literature

The mountain is the setting for the short story ''Mercury'' by
D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
, first published in the
Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
in 1927.D. H. Lawrence, The Princess and Other Stories, Penguin Books, 1971 (reprinted many times)


References

{{Reflist Mountains and hills of Baden-Württemberg Baden-Baden Tourist attractions in Baden-Württemberg Mountains and hills of the Black Forest