The Altkönig is the third highest mountain of the

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

range in

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, reaching a height of . Its summit is lies within the borough of

Kronberg im Taunus Kronberg im Taunus (, ) is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy w ...

not far from the village of

Königstein im Taunus Königstein im Taunus (, ) is a health spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Owing to its advantageous location ...

which is part of Falkenstein in the Hessian county of Hochtaunuskreis. With an isolation of 2,450 metres and a

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

of over 136 metres above saddle at the Fuchstanz () leading to the Kleiner Feldberg (), the Altkönig is one of the most striking peaks in the Taunus. Together with the Großer Feldberg () and Kleiner Feldberg it forms the crown of the High Taunus ( Feldberg-Taunus ridge); unlike the Feldberg, however, it does not lie on the main ridge itself but rises to the south and parallel with it. On the Altkönig are the Altkönig Circular Rampart and on its spurs the Lips and Victoria Temples, the White Wall and the Hünerberg Circular Rampart. In the local region are Altkönig School in Kronberg, the local Altkönig Foundation and Altkönig Hall in Steinbach as well as many roads that are named after the mountain.

Name

Various names for the mountain are documented. In 1496 it was referred to as ''ald kune'', 1511 as ''alten kune'', 1586 as ''altkünn'' and ''alt kin'', and in 1780 as ''Altkün'' and ''Altküng''. Helmut Bode derives the name from the Celtic ''alkin'' ("height"). Erasmus Alberus used the term ''Altköng'' in his poem in 1534 and called it the seat of the German king. Hermin Herr: ''Lexikon vom Hohen Taunus.'' 1993, ISBN 3-7829-0437-0, S. 8–9. Erasmus Alberus
''Von eim alten Ziegochssen, und eim jungen Mestochssen, oder Weydochssen.''
In: ''Die Fabeln des Erasmus Alberus.'' Zeilen 118–123. Since 2004 in

Oberursel Oberursel (Taunus) (, , in contrast to " Lower Ursel") is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt, in the Hochtaunuskreis county. It is the 13th largest town in Hesse. In ...

there has been a sculpture, the '' Der Altkönig'' by Inga Dilcher-Hassenstein (born 1908 in Usingen), in the former Camp King. The sculpture portrays stylistically a legendary old king.

Geography

Location

The Altkönig rises in the Taunus Nature Park and belongs to the borough of

. Its summit is about 2.3 km north of Falkenstein, a northeastern district of

, and 7 km west-northwest of the main town of

. On the northeast spur() of the wooded mountain lies the White Wall, its southeast spur is called Hünerberg (), the south-south-east spur is the Bürgel () and the south spur is the Döngesberg ().

Natural regions

The Altkönig belongs to the major unit group of the

(No. 30), the major unit of the High Taunus (301) and the subunit of the Feldberg-Taunus Crest (301.3). Its terrain falls to the south and southeast into the natural areas of the ''Königsteiner Taunusfuß'' (300.20) and ''Kronberger Taunusfuß'' (300.21), which are part of major unit of the

Anterior Taunus The Anterior Taunus ( or ''Vortaunus'') is a natural region within the Hesse, Hessian Central Upland range of the Taunus (major unit group 30) in Germany that lies south of the High Taunus (301). The region lies below the main ridge of the Taunus. ...

(''Vortaunus'') (300) and sub-unit ''Altkönig Vorstufe'' (300.2). Brigitte Schwenzer: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme: Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 139 Frankfurt a. M.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg 1967. →&nbs
Online-Karte
(PDF; 4,9 MB)

Watercourses

The Maßborn (''Massborn'') rises on the lower part of the mountain's northern flank and then flows east of the mountain. It is one of several source brooks of the Urselbach that flows north past the Altkönig. The ''Treisbornbach'' rises on the western flank and is a tributary of the Reichenbach, which runs southwards.

Protected areas

On the Altkönig lies the ''Altkönig''

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

( CDDA - No. 81275; designated 1944; 2.0555 km²) and on its summit region the ''Altkönig'' Fauna-Flora Habitat (FFH no. 5716 -305; 75.11 ha).

Hill forts and temples

DSC06266 Lipstempel Blick auf Burghain Falkenstein

Altkönig Hillfort

In the

La Tène period LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

, around 400 BC,

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

settled on the Altkönig. The two

circular rampart A circular rampart () is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering. The period during which ...

s (''Ringwälle'') and subsidiary embankments (''Annexwälle'') of the Altkönig Hillfort on the summit plateau date from that time.''Ringwälle auf dem Altkönig''
auf taunus.info. They are around 980 m and 1390 m long and still visible today. So far, there is no reliable information about the time and reason for abandoning the mountain settlement. Around 1900 the summit plateau was still free of trees, because contemporary sources report that with good visibility the white circular ramparts on the Altkönig could be seen with the naked eye from 18 km southeast of

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Hünerberg Hillfort

In addition, on the Altkönig spur of Hünerberg lies the Hünerberg Hillfort, probably an

early mediaeval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

settlement.

Viewing points

On the southwest spur of the Altkönig spur of Döngesberg stands the refuge hut of ''Lips Temple'' (''Lips-Tempel'', ) from where there are views of the Altkönig, the village of Falkenstein and 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 ...

, the ruins of Falkenstein Castle and the Großer Feldberg. On the southern slope of the Bürgel spur is the viewpoint of Victoria Temple (''Viktoriatempel'') with a view of the Upper Rhine Plain and the

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the Germany, German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße Route, Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried' ...

Forest.

Summit plateau

There is a

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The station is usually set up by a map ...

on the lightly wooded summit plateau of the Altkönig. In good visibility, there are views between the trees of the

and

. Furthermore, tables and benches are provided for visitors. A small wooden shelter built in 2014 was dismantled in 2015 due to a lack of building and nature conservation authority.

Plane crash

In the plane crash on the Altkönig on 22 January 1971, six people were killed. They had previously been visiting the construction site of a tramway in Frankfurt. The light plane crashed about 150 metres below and about 820 metres south-southeast of the mountain summit. There is a memorial stone at the crash site on the 300-metre path to the east of the Döngesberg.

Access and hiking

There are no roads leading to the Altkönig, thus it is much less frequented than the Großer Feldberg. There are hiking trails to the summit from all directions, the shortest distance to a main road, the

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'' ) are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are road ...

3004 ( Schmitten - Sandplacken -

), being about 1.5 km as the crow flies. About the same distance away is the residential district of Falkenstein to the south. The E1 European long distance path runs over the mountain. To the west, not far on its flank, is the mountain pass of Fuchstanz with its two restaurants for day trippers.

Gallery

Oberursel, Skulptur Der Altkönig.JPG, Sculpture ''Der Altkönig'' in

() 20150324-TP-Altkoenig-Taunus-Hessen-Deutschland.jpg,

Trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The station is usually set up by a map ...

on the summit plateau 20150324-Gipfelbuch-Altkoenig-Taunus-Hessen-Deutschland.jpg, Altkönig: summit book Altkönig, Gedenkstein Flugunfall vom 22. Januar 1971.jpg, Memorial stone for the air accident

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Altkonig Mountains under 1000 metres Mountains of Hesse Mountains and hills of the Taunus High Taunus