Little Thuringian Forest
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The Little Thuringian Forest () is a region of mountains and hills that lies southwest of Suhl and northwest of
Schleusingen Schleusingen is a town in the Hildburghausen (district), district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Hildburghausen, and 12 km southeast of Suhl. Geography The town of Schleusingen in the Henneber ...
, and extends as far as an imaginary line from Schmeheim via Bischofrod and Gethles to Rappelsdorf. Its length is about , its width varies between and . Its name is not to be understood in an orographic or geographic sense, but is due to the marked similarity of its bedrock to that of the
Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German language, German ) is a mountain range in the southern parts of the Germany, German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorg ...
to the north of it.


Geography

The region extends northwest from
Schleusingen Schleusingen is a town in the Hildburghausen (district), district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Hildburghausen, and 12 km southeast of Suhl. Geography The town of Schleusingen in the Henneber ...
, beginning near Rappelsdorf, via Gethles, Ahlstädt, Bischofrod, Keulrod, Eichenberg to north of the ''Sandberg'' near Grub, in the northwest of Hildburghausen district, parallel to the Thuringian Forest range. The Little Thuringian Forest is surrounded on all sides by forested mountains formed of
Buntsandstein The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphy, allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface ...
and
Muschelkalk The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; ) is a sequence of sedimentary rock, sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 m ...
, some of which rise over 200 metres above it.


Geology

Geologically, the Little Thuringian Forest is a horst that consists of a band-like island of
paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...
materials similar to those in the bedrock of the
Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German language, German ) is a mountain range in the southern parts of the Germany, German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorg ...
that surfaces in the southwestern foothills of the latter mountains. Like the latter, it is part of the Variscan mountains, but the stratigraphic throws are lower and have occurred on a smaller scale. It is tectonically isolated from the Thuringian Forest and the Thuringian Highlands, and is situated outside their border fault. Its highest summit is Schneeberg near Bischofrod at 692 m a.s.l., rising from a ''Buntsandstein'' layer. While geologically a separate mountain range, it does not appear as such to the casual observer, but as a hilly area with an average height of 460 m a.s.l. embedded between eroded deposits of the
Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...
period. Towards the southwest it is limited by a marked border fault. Even the
Muschelkalk The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; ) is a sequence of sedimentary rock, sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 m ...
hills beyond the latter are to higher. Several valleys of the foothills of the Thuringian Forest transect the area, showing evidence of a weak folding process. The Little Thuringian Forest is surrounded by
Zechstein The Zechstein ( German either from ''mine stone'' or ''tough stone'') is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Late Permian ( Lopingian) age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of England to northern Poland. T ...
formations everywhere except along its border fault west of Gethles and Bischofrod. Its northern border is Gruber Berg with an outcrop of Zechstein rock.


Economy

The area is characterised by farmed fields, since the condition of the soils allows for agricultural productivity, in contrast to the forested Buntsandstein heights. The settlements in the region are thus traditionally farmers' villages. In particular, the Zechstein subsoil around Gethles, Ahlstädt, and Eichenberg yields a good, albeit heavy farming soil. Also, the stratified dolomitic rocks (''Plattendolomit'') underlie a good farming soil, as does the finely grained lower Buntsandstein with interspersed clay layers. Less suited for cultivation are the upper Buntsandstein soils, and the areas with nutrient-poor porphyric and granitic subsoils are the least cultivable ones.
Iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
,
baryte Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...
, and
fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...
were mined on Kuhberg hill near Gethles, on Steinberg near Ahlstädt, and between Bischofrod and Eichenberg. Mining, however, was not profitable in the long run due to difficult drainage. The conformation of large deposits of baryte of high quality in the late 1950s did not lead to a revival of mining activities.


Tourism

There is no protected landscape in the Little Thuringian Forest. An application in the early 1990s was never implemented. Maps and publications implying the contrary do not refer to the geological rock complex described above, but the wooded ridges that rise to the north and northwest of it, including peaks such as the ''Donnersberg'', ''Schleusinger Berg'', '' Schneeberg'', ''Kesselberg'', ''Galgenberg'', ''Eichenberg'' , ''Ehrenberg'' etc. that are part of the Buntsandstein formation. Hikers following these maps, for example, from Bischofrod or Eichenberg across ''Schneeberg'' to the northwest will actually leave the Little Thuringian Forest, as defined in the geological sense.


References

Translated by D. Hucke and M. Dworatzek


Maps

* Geologische Spezialkarte. Königlich Preußischen Geologische Landesanstalt. Scale 1:25000. Sheets ''Schleusingen'' (1898), ''Themar'' (1892), ''Hildburghausen'' (1892) * Maximilian Tornow (1907): Der Kleine Thüringer Wald. Scale 1:25000 * Shows the area as a band of Zechstein rocks. {{coord missing, Thuringia Central Uplands Mountain ranges of Thuringia Forests and woodlands of Thuringia Suhl Hildburghausen (district)