Gebaberg

Gebaberg
	View from the Rhön to the northeast to the Geba in the center of the picture. In the background the Thuringian Forest
height	750.7 m above sea level NHN
location	near Geba , district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen , Thuringia , Germany
Mountains	Rhön Front Rhön
Dominance	12.5 km → Elbow
Coordinates	50 ° 35 '25 " N , 10 ° 16' 11" E Coordinates: 50 ° 35 '25 " N , 10 ° 16' 11" E
Normal way	Arriving by car

The Gebaberg (or Hohe Geba or also called Die Geba ) near Geba in the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen is 750.7 m above sea level. NHN has the highest elevation of the Vorderen Rhön and is located in southern Thuringia in Germany .

location

The mountain is located about 11 km west of the district town of Meiningen .

In the south of the wide summit plateau lies the village of Geba, in the northern part is the highest point of the mountain with a hiking hut and restaurant. At the southern foot of the mountain range, in the valley of the Herpf river, lie the districts of Wohlmuthausen , Helmershausen and Bettenhausen , which, like the southeastern village of Seeba, are part of the Rhönblick community . On the eastern slope of the Geba is the village of Träbes with the Träbeser Loch sinkhole and in the valley are the villages of Stepfershausen and Herpf , all three villages are districts of Meiningen. To the north of the Geba is the Katzgrund with the villages of Unterkatz and Oberkatz . In the northwest behind the Diesburg lies the village of Aschenhausen .

description

The Neidhardskopf (721 m) in the south also belong to the extensive mountain range ; as well as the Hohe Löhr (638 m) and the Diesburg (713 m) in the west.

On the wooded summit plateau on the edge there is a viewing hill with a panoramic view of the Bavarian, Hessian and Thuringian Rhön , the Thuringian Forest , the Haßberge and the Hohe Meißner .

history

The Meininger Hut

In 1867, the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen initiated the first surveying work on the Geba, with the first log cabin being built as weather protection. On June 2, 1897, in the presence of Duke Georg II, the first Meininger Hütte was inaugurated, which was later expanded several times. In the decades that followed, the Geba developed into a popular destination for hikers and holidaymakers who were looking for peace and quiet to relax because of its good views.

From 1945 to 1962, the buildings of the Free German Youth (FDJ) served as a youth hostel. Then the Soviet Army moved to the highest point on the summit plateau and set up a radar station here. The site became a restricted area and from then on was no longer accessible to the locals and their guests.

At the end of the 1960s, barracks were built for the Soviet Army by a German company. House I (today Gebatreff ) contained an armory, a political room for training, a dormitory for 120 soldiers, a kitchen, a clothing store, dining rooms and simple sanitary rooms. On April 22, 1991 the Soviet soldiers withdrew and house 1 was gutted by ABM forces.

In 1998, the Meininger Hütte was reopened at its historical location by the Meininger branch of the Rhön Club . There is a lounge with a fireplace and a bed dormitory. In addition, a three-hectare Rhön cultural garden with a reproduced Celtic village was built on the summit in 1999. From the end of the 1990s, the barracks were gradually rebuilt and today the Bergstübchen restaurant , an event hall, a club room , a training room, the Russian museum Дружба (friendship) and an information center of the Geba eV tourist association are located there

On August 28, 2005, a metal plaque with 40 directions for the Rhön, Werra Valley and Thuringian Forest was inaugurated on the viewing hill of the Rhön Club.

At the beginning of 2014, the district office in Meiningen announced that they wanted to build a 70 m high leaning observation tower with a 23.5 ° incline on the summit. In September 2014, the construction was rejected in a referendum that took place in the entire district. All neighboring communities of the Gebaberges voted against the leaning tower.