The Steigerkopf, also
colloquially
Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation am ...
called the Schänzel, near
Edenkoben
Edenkoben () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies approximately halfway between Landau and Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Edenkoben is one of the towns situated along the German Wine R ...
in the county of
Südliche Weinstraße
Südliche Weinstraße (; ; ) is a district (''Kreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Südwestpfalz, Bad Dürkheim, the district-free city Neustadt (Weinstraße), Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis ...
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 ...
, is a mountain, ,
in the
Palatine Forest
The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The forest is a designated nature park () covering 1,771&n ...
. At the summit, which lies on the territory of
Gommersheim, is the
Schänzel tower.
Location
The Steigerkopf lies in the eastern part of the Palatine Forest in the
eponymous nature park. Its summit rises about 7 kilometres west-northwest of the small town of
Edenkoben
Edenkoben () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies approximately halfway between Landau and Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Edenkoben is one of the towns situated along the German Wine R ...
on the western rim of a group of mountains that are all over 600 m; 4 kilometres to the northeast is the highest peak in the Palatine Forest, the
Kalmit
The Kalmit is the highest peak in the Palatinate Forest and the second highest (after the Donnersberg) in the Palatinate region of Germany. It is and located south of the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße.
The mountain attracts many tourists ...
(672.6 m). The summit and those parts of the mountain in the northeast belong to the forest parish of
Gommersheim,
which form an
exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
of this municipality around 17 km to the west of Gommersheim itself. Geologically the Steigerkopf is a northwestern outlier of the 661.8 m high
Kesselberg
Walchensee or Lake Walchen is one of the deepest and largest alpine lakes in Germany, with a maximum depth of and an area of . The lake is south of Munich in the middle of the Bavarian Alps. The entire lake, including the island of Sassau, ...
, whose top is 2 km (
as the crow flies
The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points.
Etymology
The meaning of the expression is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist'' (1838):
...
) away. The
Modenbach
The Modenbach is a stream, just under {{convert, 30, km long, and a right-hand tributary of the Speyerbach in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Course
The Modenbach rises in the Palatine Forest east of the Palatine Watershed at a heigh ...
, a right tributary of
Speyerbach
The Speyerbach is a left tributary of the Rhine in the Palatinate part of Rhineland-Palatinate. In Speyer, the river split into ''Gießhübelbach'' and ''Woogbach''. The Woogbach changes its name to ''Nonnenbach'', then flows into Gießhübe ...
, rises on the southwestern flank of the mountain on which the Gommersheim Forest lies.
History
Schänzel
Colloquially the Steigerkopf has also been referred to as the ''Schänzel'' ("little rampart") since about 4,500
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n soldiers built a
sconce there in summer 1794. The earthworks were built to delay the 7,000
French Revolutionary troops who had been dispatched to conquer the
German territories west of the Rhine. The French were victorious, however, following the decisive and bloody
Battle of Trippstadt
The Battle of Trippstadt was a relatively minor French military action in 1794 during the War of the First Coalition. The clash between the French Republican forces and the armies of Prussia and Habsburg Austria was fought over several da ...
on 12 and 13 Jul 1794, after a local hunter from the nearby village of
Dernbach had guided them into the rear of the Prussian position on the second day.
The Prussian commander, General (1727–1794), was taken prisoner after being severely wounded and died the same day.
Schänzel tower
In 1874, the
Schänzel Tower (''Schänzelturm'') was built at the summit of the Steigerkopf in memory of the defeated Prussians in recognition of German victory in the 1871
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
.
It is an octagonal
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 ...
, 13 metres high and made of hewn
bunter sandstone
The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...
. The viewing platform on top of the tower is protected by railings.
The observation tower was dedicated in 1894, a hundred years after the 1794 battle, by the Schänzelturm Society of Edenkoben as follows:
Gallery
File:Schaenzelturm.JPG, The ''Schänzelturm'' in November 2007
File:2012 Pfälzerwald 013 Ritterstein Zur Schanze III.jpg, Ritterstein
A Ritterstein ("Ritter Stone") is the German name given to markers made of sandstone erected at sites of history, historic or natural science, natural interest in the Palatine Forest, a range of low mountains in the German state of Rhineland-Palat ...
No. 64a: ''Zur Schanze III''
File:2012 Pfälzerwald 011 Gedenkstein Inf Reg v. Schladen 25 06 1794.jpg, Monument to the von Schladen Infantry Regiment, 25 June 1794
References
Further reading
* {{citation , author=Walter Eitelmann , title=Rittersteine im Pfälzerwald , edition=4th. revised and expanded, publisher=Pfälzerwald-Verein , location=Neustadt/Weinstr. , year=1998 , ISBN=3-00-003544-3 , ref=none
Mountains and hills of Rhineland-Palatinate
Mountains and hills of the Palatinate Forest
Mountains under 1000 metres
Südliche Weinstraße