The Merkur or Großer Staufenberg is a mountain, , in the

Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest () 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 by a line from Karlsruh ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

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 ...

. It is the ''

Hausberg {{italic title ''Hausberg'' (lit.: "house mountain", plural: ''Hausberge'') is German for a prominent mountain or hill in the immediate vicinity of a village, town or city, usually located on its municipal territory, but outside the built up are ...

'' of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

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 histo ...

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 Merkur Funicular Railway () is a metre gauge funicular railway in the town of Baden-Baden in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The line ascends the town's ''Hausberg'', the Merkur (668.3 m), atop which is the Merkur Tower. The line opened in ...

(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 A top station or upper stationFor example, se''Chairlift Blausee (upper station)''at www.outdooractive.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019. is usually the highest station of an aerial lift, a funicular, a T-bar lift or a rack railway. The lowest station is ...

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 A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. A safari 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 (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

fallow deer Fallow deer is the common name for species of deer in the genus ''Dama'' of subfamily Cervinae. There are two living species, the European fallow deer (''Dama dama''), native to Europe and Anatolia, and the Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamic ...

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

and the Murg valley with the towns of

Gaggenau Gaggenau () is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located some 8 km northeast of Baden-Baden. History Gaggenau was first mentioned in local records in 1243 under the name "Gaggenaw". The present distr ...

and

, 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 ...

, the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium 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 single geomorphological unit and ...

, the

Haardt The Haardt () is a range of wooded, sandstone hills in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in southwestern Germany. The range is some long and lies within the Palatinate Forest (''Pfälzerwald''). Its highest point is the Kalmit, near Maikammer ...

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' ...

. 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 Margraviate of Baden, Baden for almost 400 years. The castle was built ...

, 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 are ...

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 German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. 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 Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched Glider (aircraft), glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a :wikt:harness, harness or in ...

File:Merkurturm-IMGP8430.JPG, The

observation tower An observation tower is a tower 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, and woo ...

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 novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...

, first published in the

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

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