The Schurwald is a wooded mountain range in

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 ...

, southern

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 ...

, which at its highest point is 513.2 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It is one of the most important Recreation areas for the

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

area. Over the centuries, the vast forests of the mountain range supplied the surrounding towns and villages with wood for fuel and building material, and thus acquired the name "Schurwald", which comes from the German word, ''Schur'', which can mean a shearing or

clearcutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with Shelterwood cutting, shelterwood and Seed tree, seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters t ...

Geography

The Schurwald begins to the east of

and runs eastwards to the foothills of the

Swabian Alb The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

, passing through the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

of Esslingen,

Göppingen Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the Goeppingen (district), district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace ...

and Rems-Murr-Kreis. It is bordered to the south by valleys of the

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar ...

and Fils rivers, and to the north by the valley of the Rems. At the eastern end of the Schurwald, which is crossed by numerous streams, is the Herrenbach Reservoir.

Geology

Geologically, the Schurwald is a dissected

cuesta A cuesta () is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology, the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer, the whole being tilted somew ...

, formed by

headward erosion Headward erosion is erosion at the origin of a stream channel, which causes the origin to move back away from the direction of the stream flow, lengthening the stream channel.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak It can also refer t ...

. It contains

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

and

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch a ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. Lias alpha from the early

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

can also be found, but only on the plateau.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

no longer plays a major role in the economy of the Schurwald, and in the last few years a number of farms have been forced to close. Crops grown due to the elevation typically include various kinds of cereals, and root crops such as

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

and

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

. Due to the cool climate, growth of fruit in orchards is limited, however on the slopes facing south vineyards grow grapes for red and white wine. Most residents commute between their homes and the towns of Esslingen,

and

and the Rems Valley. Nassachtal, within the Schurwald, was once one of the poorest places in Württemberg. The forest was once used for the production of charcoal, and was an important source for late medieval glassmakers.

Peaks

The highest peaks of the Schurwald are: * Kernen (513.2 m) * Kappelberg (469 m, containing the Kappelberg Tunnel) *

Weißer Stein Weißer Stein is the name of a 548-metre (1,798 ft) high hill in Germany, located in the Odenwald, north of Heidelberg and east of Dossenheim. On Weißer Stein is a 20 m tall lookout tower. It was built in 1906 by the members of the Odenwal ...

(442 m; monument rather than a mountain) *

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

(411 m), site of the Württemberg Mausoleum

Settlements

The following settlements are found within the Schurwald: * Adelberg * Aichwald *

Baltmannsweiler ''Baltmannsweiler'' is a municipality in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg. It belongs to the Region Stuttgart. (until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the European Metropolitan Region Stuttgart. Geography Geographical locat ...

* Birenbach * Börtlingen *

Lichtenwald Lichtenwald is a municipality located in the Schurwald forest in the Esslingen (district), district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Situated on the state road L1151 between Reichenbach an der Fils (4 km) and Schorndorf (7 k ...

*Nassachtal * Rechberghausen * Wäschenbeuren * Wangen

Literature

* Schraitle, Egon, Bauer, Ernst Waldemar et al.: ''Schurwald – Esslingen – Filder''. Natur – Heimat – Wandern. Schwäbischer Albverein e. V., Stuttgart. 2., neubearbeitete Auflage. Theiss, Stuttgart 1998, . * Schmidt, Werner: ''Rundwanderungen Schwäbischer Wald und Schurwald. Berglen, Ellwanger Berge, Frickenhofer Höhe, Limpurger Berge, Löwensteiner Berge, Mainhardter Wald, Murrhardter Wald, Schurwald, Waldenburger Berge, Welzheimer Wald''. 5., aktualisierte Auflage. Schneider-Verlag Hohengehren, Baltmannsweiler 2002, . {{Coord, 48, 46, N, 9, 30, E, display=title, region:DE_type:forest_source:GNS-enwiki Forests and woodlands of Baden-Württemberg Hill ranges of Germany Regions of Baden-Württemberg Natural regions of the Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains