The Swabian-Franconian Forest (, also ''Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald'') is a mainly forested, deeply incised upland region, 1,187 km² in area and up to , in the northeast of

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 ...

. It forms

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

major unit number 108 within the Swabian Keuper-Lias Land (major unit group 10 or D58). Its name is derived from the fact that, in medieval times, the border between the duchies of

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

and

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

ran through this forested region. In addition, the Swabian dialect in the south transitions to the East Franconian dialect in the north here.

Hill ranges and hills

The Swabian-Franconian Forest is divided clockwise (beginning roughly in the north) into the Waldenburg Hills, Mainhardt Forest, Limpurg and Ellwangen Hills, Virngrund, Murrhardt Forest, Löwenstein Hills, Heilbronn Hills and Sulm Plateau; in addition the valley of Weinsberger Tal, which lies between the last two uplands, is part of the region The highest point of the Swabian-Franconian Forest is the Hohe Brach (586.4 m). Other high hills include the Hagberg (585.2 m), Hornberg (580.0 m), Hohenstein (572 m), Hohenberg (568.9 m), Hohentannen (565.4 m), Altenberg (564.7 m), Stocksberg (538.9 m), Flinsberg (534.8 m), Juxkopf (533.1 m) and Steinknickle (524.9 m).

Protections

Naturpark Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald, or Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park in English, is a nature park and protected area within the Swabian-Franconian Forest. The nature park covers an area of 1,270 km², including most of the Swabian-Franconian Forest, but also large areas of adjacent

cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the c ...

s and historical monuments.

Gallery

File:Beilstein-Billensbach - Wiesen und Wald am Weg nach Stocksberg.jpg, Rural cultural landscape File:Blick aufwärts ins Rottal vor Wielandsweiler.jpg, Meinhardt Forest File:Burg Lichtenberg, Oberstenfeld, Naturpark Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald.jpg File:Loewenstein 20120825.jpg, Towns and agriculture (Löwenstein) File:Sulmtal-breitenauer-see-2012b.jpg, Large parts of the original forest has been swapped for agriculture ;Naturpark Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald File:Altenbergturm gesamt.jpg, Altenbergturm, a lookout tower File:Der Hörschbach.jpg, Forest stream File:Beilstein - Billensbach - Waldweg nach Stocksberg - Blick über Schmidbachtal bei Sonnenuntergang.jpg File:Hägelesklinge.jpg, Autumn scene File:Beilstein - Kaisersbach - Waldweg nach Billensbach - Herbstsonne strahlt in den Wald.jpg, Autumn in the nature park

Literature

* * LUBW Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg (publ.)
''Naturführer Schwäbischer Wald.''
(Reihe ''Naturschutz-Spectrum. Gebiete'', Vol. 29). ''verlag regionalkultur'', Ubstadt-Weiher, 2007, .

References

External links

*
Landscape fact file for the Swabian-Franconian Forest
by the Bundesamt für Naturschutz, at bfn.de
Detailed LUBW natural regional map
at Basis by google.maps (Open "Natur und Landschaft")
Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park
(official homepage) {{Authority control Regions of Baden-Württemberg !