Col de Saales
| Col de Saales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Compass direction | west | east | |
| Pass height | 554 m | ||
| Department | Vosges | Bas-Rhin | |
| Watershed | Fave | Breaks | |
| expansion | asphalt road, railway line | ||
| Mountains | Vosges | ||
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| Coordinates | 48 ° 20 '35 " N , 7 ° 6' 28" E | ||
The Col de Saales is a 554 m high pass in the Vosges .
location
The Col de Saales connects the valley of the Bruche in the northeast with that of the Fave in the southwest. On the northeast side is the village of Saales , which gave the pass its name, immediately below the top of the pass.
Due to its relatively low height, which almost gives it the character of a valley watershed (it is the lowest crossing over the main ridge of the Vosges south of the Zaberner Steige ), the Col de Saales is a much-used traffic route. The D420 runs over it from Strasbourg via Molsheim and Schirmeck to Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, as does the railway line on the same connection .
The Col de Saales is also considered the border where the Vosges ridge passes from the Northern Vosges to the Central Vosges.
The Col de Saales was the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1918 (as long as Alsace was part of Germany) and then the border between the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine , until they were united to form the Grand Est region in 2016 .