The Swabian-Franconian Forest (german: Schwäbisch-Fränkischen Waldberge, also ''Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald'') is a mainly forested, deeply incised upland region, 1,187 km² in area and up to , in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg. It forms natural region major unit number 108 within the

Swabian Keuper-Lias Land The Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains (german: Schwäbisches Keuper-Lias-Land) is a major natural region in southwest Germany and includes the southwesternmost part of the Keuper Uplands, which is bordered immediately to the north by the Swabian Jura. N ...

(major unit group 10 or D58). Its name is derived from the fact that, in medieval times, the border between the duchies of Franconia and

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

ran through this forested region. In addition, the

Swabian dialect Swabian (german: Schwäbisch ) is one of the dialect groups of Alemannic German that belong to the High German dialect continuum. It is mainly spoken in Swabia, which is located in central and southeastern Baden-Württemberg (including its capita ...

in the south transitions to the

East Franconian dialect East Franconian (german: Ostfränkisch) or Mainfränkisch, usually referred to as Franconian (') in German, is a dialect which is spoken in Franconia, the northern part of the federal state of Bavaria and other areas in Germany around Nuremberg, ...

in the north here.

Hill ranges and hills

The Swabian-Franconian Forest is divided clockwise (beginning roughly in the north) into the Waldenburg Hills, Mainhardt Forest, Limpurg and Ellwangen Hills,

Virngrund The Virngrund (also called the Firngrund) is a historical landscape in the counties of Ostalbkreis and Schwäbisch Hall in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. it is forested in many places and up to . Geography Location Historic landsc ...

, Murrhardt Forest, Löwenstein Hills, Heilbronn Hills and

Sulm Plateau Sulm or Sülm may refer to: * Sulm (Germany), a river in Germany * Sulm (Austria), a river in Austria * Sülm, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Sulm (Greyhawk) Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional worl ...

; in addition the valley of Weinsberger Tal, which lies between the last two uplands, is part of the region The highest point of the Swabian-Franconian Forest is the Hohe Brach (586.4 m). Other high hills include the Hagberg (585.2 m), Hornberg (580.0 m), Hohenstein (572 m), Hohenberg (568.9 m), Hohentannen (565.4 m), Altenberg (564.7 m), Stocksberg (538.9 m),

Flinsberg Flinsberg is a suburb of Heilbad Heiligenstadt, district of Eichsfeld The Eichsfeld ( or ; English: ''Oak-field'') is a historical region in the southeast of the state of Lower Saxony (which is called "Untereichsfeld" = lower Eichsfeld) and north ...

(534.8 m),

Juxkopf Juxkopf is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, 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 membe ...

(533.1 m) and

Steinknickle Steinknickle is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, 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 m ...

(524.9 m).

Protections

Naturpark Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald, or Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park in English, is a nature park and protected area within the Swabian-Franconian Forest. The nature park covers an area of 1,270 km², including most of the Swabian-Franconian Forest, but also large areas of adjacent

cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the co ...

s and historical monuments.

Gallery

File:Beilstein-Billensbach - Wiesen und Wald am Weg nach Stocksberg.jpg, Rural cultural landscape File:Blick aufwärts ins Rottal vor Wielandsweiler.jpg, Meinhardt Forest File:Burg Lichtenberg, Oberstenfeld, Naturpark Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald.jpg File:Loewenstein 20120825.jpg, Towns and agriculture (Löwenstein) File:Sulmtal-breitenauer-see-2012b.jpg, Large parts of the original forest has been swapped for agriculture ;Naturpark Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald File:Altenbergturm gesamt.jpg, Altenbergturm, a lookout tower File:Der Hörschbach.jpg, Forest stream File:Beilstein - Billensbach - Waldweg nach Stocksberg - Blick über Schmidbachtal bei Sonnenuntergang.jpg File:Hägelesklinge.jpg, Autumn scene File:Beilstein - Kaisersbach - Waldweg nach Billensbach - Herbstsonne strahlt in den Wald.jpg, Autumn in the nature park

Literature

* * LUBW Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg (publ.)
''Naturführer Schwäbischer Wald.''
(Reihe ''Naturschutz-Spectrum. Gebiete'', Vol. 29). ''verlag regionalkultur'', Ubstadt-Weiher, 2007, .

References

External links

*
Landscape fact file for the Swabian-Franconian Forest
by the Bundesamt für Naturschutz, at bfn.de
Detailed LUBW natural regional map
at Basis by google.maps (Open "Natur und Landschaft")
Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park
(official homepage) {{Authority control Regions of Baden-Württemberg !