The Potzberg, known as "King of the Westrich" (''König des Westrich''), is a wooded hill, (), in the

North Palatine Uplands The North Palatine Uplands (, ), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (''Pfälzer Bergland''), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palatinate region. It is part of ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Geography & history

The Potzberg is one of the "Palatine Domes" (''Pfälzer Kuppeln'') and is located in the western part of the Northern Palatine Uplands in the county of Kusel. Not only its relative height, but also its massive appearance make the hill a conspicuous high point in

West Palatinate Western Palatinate or West Palatinate (, ) is a sub-region in the west of the Palatinate (region), Palatinate, a German cultural and historic region in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It includes the western part of the Palatine Forest, the cent ...

. Although the Stolzberg () and

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

() are somewhat higher, the Potzberg has been given the epithet of "King of the Westrich", the name of the local region. In 1964/65, the road was extended up to top of the Potzberg. Its summit belongs to the municipality of

Föckelberg Föckelberg is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhi ...

and is home to the

Potzberg Wildlife Park The Potzberg, known as "King of the Westrich" (''König des Westrich''), is a wooded hill, (), in the North Palatine Uplands in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Geography & history The Potzberg is one of the "Palatine Domes" (''Pf� ...

Potzberg Tower The Potzberg Tower () is a 53.5-metre-high lookout and transmitting tower on the Potzberg at Föckelberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was built between 13 October 1951 and 2 December 1951 and consists of a 35-metre-high bricked tower with a f ...

, a

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

military tower and a hotel. Potzberg was a mining centre in the Palatinate in the 18th and 19th centuries. From the first decades of the 18th century until 1866,

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

for the mercury

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

cinnabar Cinnabar (; ), or cinnabarite (), also known as ''mercurblende'' is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and is t ...

was evidently carried out at Potzberg. The mining district in this second Palatine mining period mainly covered the municipalities of Gimsbach, Rutsweiler, Mühlbach and Föckelberg. The government of the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a Imperial State, constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy ...

promised itself new sources of income with the production of mercury. This began on the southern Potzberg ("Alter Potzberg"), but from 1771 the focus shifted to the much richer northern Potzberg. Its zenith was probably in the 1780s. An old mining map by Electoral Palatine master miner (''Bergmeister''), Adolph E. Ludolph, dates to this time The names of the mine bear witness to the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

of the miners. Numerous test pits,

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. ...

tunnels and other prospecting marks indicate this period of the mining boom. Unfortunately, however, many projects were unsuccessful and closed down after a short period. Very few mines were able to survive for any length of time and operate more or less profitably. After its expectant beginning and years of hope, mining gradually declined on the Potzberg. In 1795, there were only five mines still in operation; in 1850 only three mines were left, and, in 1866, mining ended at the ''Dreikönigszug'' ("Epiphany Shaft"). The ''Dreikönigszug'', which had been in operation for almost nine decades, was one of the most profitable mercury mines in the Palatinate and Germany. Even today, numerous surface remnants in the Potzberg forest such as portals (''Mundlöcher''), collapsed tunnels (''

pinge A ''Pinge'' ( �pɪŋə plural: ''Pingen'') or ''Binge'' ("binger") is the name given in German-speaking Europe to a wedge-, ditch- or funnel-shaped depression in the terrain caused by mining activity. This depression or sink-hole is frequently c ...

n''),

spoil tip A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. Spoil tips are not formed of slag, but in some areas, such as England and Wales, ...

s, the

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: * Gallery (surname), a surname Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery ** Online art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ' ...

spring (''Stollen Quelle'', "Yellow Water") as well as the former mining administrator's house in the miners' settlement of Dreikönigszug and the housing estate of Kellerhäuschen are still reminiscent of the history of mining on the Potzberg.

Sights

Potzberg Tower

The present

, which has several predecessors, was built in only 39 working days. The foundation stone was laid on 13 October 1951, on 2 December 1951 the last stone on the 35-metre-high structure was cemented into placed. After the construction of 165 wooden steps and a pedestal to the platform of the tower, it was opened on 13 July 1952 with about 3,000 guests present. Originally an 18.5-metre-high broadcasting aerial was erected on the platform. From here, Südwestfunk broadcast its radio programmes until 30 November 1993 and the then private radio station RPR1 until 24 March 1993. Due to the dilapidation of the tower, however, the transmission antenna was dismantled. Its successor is the telecommunication tower on the Bornberg (520 m) at Schneeweiderhof near

Eßweiler Eßweiler (, with a short E; also ''Essweiler'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel ...

; it is used today by

Südwestrundfunk (; ), shortened to SWR (), is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany, specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices in three cities: Stuttg ...

. File:Potzberg_Turm-2.JPG, Potzberg Tower File:Potzberg Schloß 1-2-2.JPG, ''Burg'' hotel (north view) File:Potzberg Burg 2.JPG, ''Burg'' (south view)

Sport

The Potzberg Run (''Potzberglauf'') is 8,210 metres long and climbs through 342 metres in height. It takes place annually in November and is one of the

Palatine Mountain Running Cup A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

series. Until 1997 there was an annual mountain race for

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

from Mühlbach to the top of the Potzberg. It was 3.34 kilometres long.

References

Literature

External links

{{Commons category, Potzberg
The Potzberg, King of the Westrich
website by Sigmund Niebergall Mountains and hills of Rhineland-Palatinate Kusel (district)