Rhenish Hessian table and hill country

Rhenish Hessian table and hill country
Mid Pfrimm valley between Harxheim and Albisheim ; on the left the Saukopf / Gauberg (around 300  m m) with Immesheim on the slope, on the right the Hungerberg plateau (up to 303.2  m ; wind turbines); in the background Donnersberg ( 686.5  m , center) and Kuhkopf ( 430  m , right) in the North Palatinate Bergland
Alternative names	Alzeyer hill country
surface	1 246  km²
Systematics according to	Handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany
Greater region 2nd order	20–23 → Upper Rhine lowlands
Main unit group	22 → Northern Upper Rhine Lowland
Natural space	227 → Rhenish Hessian table and hill country
Natural area characteristics
Landscape type	Hill country
Geographical location
Coordinates	49 ° 45 '0 "  N , 8 ° 7' 12"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 45 '0 "  N , 8 ° 7' 12"  E
Relief map of Rheinhessen ; all non-flat parts of the country belong to the hill country, which extends a little further to the west and south-west
circle	Alzey-Worms , Mainz-Bingen
state	Rhineland-Palatinate

As Rhenish-Hessian Hills which is largely in will Rheinhessen and very Rheinland-Pfalz located hill country between the Rhine valley of Worms over Mainz to Bingen am Rhein (south-east to the north) and the North Palatine Uplands referred to in the West. A more common name for the landscape is Alzeyer Hügelland , which has been used in parallel since 1964 for a smaller sub-landscape, the Alzeyer Hügelland in the narrower sense immediately around Alzey and south of the city.

It is a tertiary , only in relatively recent times, from the rest of Mainz Basin raised cuesta landscape in which the plateau character over typical hills predominates. The altitudes usually reach 250  m to 320  m , at the seams to the higher neighboring landscapes up to a good 360  m above sea level. NHN . They tower over the sometimes wide valleys by 100 to 200 meters.

location

The Rheinhessen table and hill country takes up large parts of the districts of Alzey-Worms and Mainz-Bingen . In addition, there are not small but sparsely populated fringes of the independent cities of Mainz and Worms . In the northwest, the foothills of the landscape extend into the core urban area of the Rhenish town of Bad Kreuznach in the district of the same name , in the west to south the core cities of the Palatinate villages Kirchheimbolanden , Eisenberg (both Donnersbergkreis ) and Grünstadt ( district Bad Dürkheim ) are reached. The central place is Alzey , which is also the namesake for the entire landscape as well as for the Alzeyer hill country in the narrower sense in the center and south-west.

The central river is the Selz, which cuts the landscape from south to north . In the extreme south the Eisbach and Pfrimm flow parallel to the east towards the Rhine near Worms, in the extreme west the Appelbach and Wiesbach flow to the northwest parallel to the Nahe below Kreuznach.

Limits

In the north-west the valley of the Nahe below Bad Kreuznach forms a natural landscape boundary , in the north and east the plains of the Rhine upstream from Bingen am Rhein via Mainz to Worms and in the south the valley of the Eckbach upstream to Grünstadt.

In the extreme southwest, near Eisenberg, a clear elevation to the Palatinate Forest borders the landscape; between Kirchheimbolanden and Bad Kreuznach this is a similar altitude to the North Palatinate Uplands . Only at the junction of the two mountainous countries, between Göllheim (SSO) and Bolanden (NNW), does the height ratio reverse:
the Alzeyer Hügelland locks the gently undulating Kaiserstraßensenke from the east with the Pfrimm coming from the south-west, which is the south-eastern edge of the northern Palatinate mountainous region Area around the Donnersberg separates from the stump forest in the far north of the Palatinate Forest.

Natural structure

In the handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany , the Rheinhessisches Tafel- und Hügelland under the name Alzeyer Hügelland was declared to be one of many natural spatial units of the Upper Rhine Lowland and given the three-digit code number 227. In the refining sheet 150 Mainz the landscape was renamed and only a part of the landscape was occupied with the name Alzeyer Hügelland, but the entire hilly landscape is often declared on maps under the old name.

The landscape is structured as follows (location information and area information in brackets)

• (to 22 Northern Upper Rhine Lowland )
  • 227 Rheinhessisches Tafel- und Hügelland or Alzeyer Hügelland in the narrower sense
    • 227.0 Wöllsteiner Hügelland (lower course of the Appelbach from Wöllstein , middle and lower course of the Wiesbach from Wendelsheim ; 143.27 km²)
    • 227.1 Northern Tableland (276.50 km²) - divided into two parts by 227.20
      • 227.10 Rhenish Hessian edge step (southwest slope of 227.11; 54.37 km²)
      • 227.11 West plateau (from Wörrstadt in the SE to Appenheim in the NW; 92.98 km²)
      • 227.12 Wackernheimer Randstufe (northern slope of 227.130 near Wackernheim ; 5.52 km²)
      • 227.13 East plateau and Bretzenheimer Höhe (115.94 km²)
        • 227.130 east plateau (west of 227.131 and surrounding it from S; 69.02 km²)
        • 227.131 Bretzenheimer Höhe (immediately southwest of the core city of Mainz ; 46.91 km²)
      • 227.14 Laubenheimer Berg (eastern slope of 227.13; 7.71 km²)
    • 227.2 Selztal (169.82 km²)
      • 227.20 Lower Selztal (estuary, 227.11 and 227.130 separating; 56.08 km²)
      • 227.21 Middle Selzbecken (from Gau-Odernheim to Nieder-Olm ; 113.73 km²)
    • 227.3 Eastern rim heights (131.67 km²)
      • 227.30 Gaustraßenhöhe (N – S oriented with Uelversheim in the center; 109.45 km²)
      • 227.31 Nierstein-Guntersblumer Hang (eastern slope of 227.30; 22.22 km²)
    • 227.4 Alzeyer hill country in the narrower sense (262.62 km²)
      • 227.40 Alzey-Ilbesheimer Heights (155.54 km²)
        • 227,400 Inner Alzeyer Hügelland (around Alzey ; 87.81 km²)
        • 227,401 Ilbesheimer Lössschwelle (south of 227,400; 67.73 km²)
      • 227.41 Bolander Randhöhen (transition from 227.40 to the west to the North Palatinate Bergland with Kirchheimbolanden in the center; 44.58 km²)
      • 227.42 Göllheimer Hügelland (between Grünstadt in the SO and Göllheim in the W; 62.50 km²)
    • 227.5 priming area (229.03 km²)
      • 227.50 Mittleres Pfrim valley (from north of Göllheim to above Marnheim , separating 227.40 / 41 in the north and 227.42 in the south; 27.71 km²)
      • 227.51 Unteres Pfrimmhügelland (flat undulating south-east of the hill country with Pfeddersheim in the center; 201.31 km²)
    • 227.6 Eisenberg Basin (half-framed by the Palatinate Forest, southwestern edge basin near Eisenberg ; 33.38 km²)

Landscape and geology

The Rheinhessisches Tafel- und Hügelland is roughly divided into the Wöllsteiner Hügelland draining to the Nahe in the northwest, the plateau landscapes on both sides of the middle and upper Selz with steep slopes to the Rhine in the north and east as well as the plateau-like Alzeyer Hügelland in the southwest, cut by streams. In addition, there is the flat, undulating Oberpfrimmhügelland in the southeast and the small Eisenberg basin in the extreme southwest.

Apart from the singular heights (for the natural area) at the interfaces between the Palatinate Forest and the North Palatinate Uplands, 280  m to almost 320  m are reached in the mountain ranges of the Alzeyer hill country and just under 200  m to over 270  m on the mountain ranges in the north to east .

Wöllsteiner hill country

View from the western plateau to the Kreuzkapelle with Gau-Bickelheim and the Wöllsteiner Hügelland in the background

The Wöllsteiner Hügelland (227.0) at the mouths of the Appelbach and Wiesbach , which occupies the north-west of the overall landscape and is named after the semi-central town of Wöllstein , is a comparatively self-contained basin landscape with a somewhat livelier relief. It is interspersed with some internal elevations up to almost 230  m . To the north-west it is bounded by the Nahe valley with Bad Kreuznach in the extreme west, to the north-east by the Rhine-Hessian edge step covering the western plateau and to the south-east by the Alzeyer hill country; to the south-west it meets the North Palatinate Uplands. Up to Blatt Mainz in 1964, the Wöllsteiner Hügelland was still combined with the current units Lower Nahe Plain (229) and, to the left of the Nahe, Lower Nahe Hill Country (228) to form the old main unit 228 Lower Naheland .

Northern Tafelland, Selztal and Gaustraßenhöhe

View from the east plateau to the west plateau with the Westerberg

The winding Selztal (227.2) of the Selz between Gau-Odernheim in the south and Ingelheim am Rhein in the north sharply separates the western plateau from the eastern mountain ranges. Altogether, the higher elevations are chambered in four mountain ranges, which have a distinctive steep slope in common on the Rhine side (indented with a preceding ↓ for each of the dividing rivers or the notches):

• the western plateau (227.11) in the northwest with the Jakobsberg and the Westerberg (up to 273.8  m )
  • ↓ Selz (between Nieder-Olm and the estuary 110-80 m)
• the eastern plateau (227.130) in the north with the Mainzer Berg (up to 260  m )
  • ↓ Scharte at Mommenheim (approx. 145  m )
• the Schwabsburg – Nackenheimer mountain range (north of 227,130) in the northeast (up to 194.6  m )
  • ↓ Scharte southeast of Dexheim (approx. 157  m )
• the Gaustraßenhöhe (227.30 without north) in the east (up to 245.6  m )
  • ↓ Scharte northeast of Monzernheim (approx. 218  m ) to the Kloppberg plateau of the Alzeyer hill country

From the western plateau, a depression (gap is around 185  m in Wörrstadt ), which the Saulheimer Bach follows to the north-east, separates a south-east part that reaches a maximum of 262.2  m .

On the east side of the Alzeyer hill country, which is marked as a clear elevation, there is a suspected fault that flanks the main ridge of the Gaustraßenhöhe further northeast and ends in the depression near Nierstein . The ridge to the west of the fault line, referred to above as Schwabsburg – Nackenheimer ridge , the core ridge of which is north-east from Schwabsburg to Nackenheim , was assigned to Gaustraßenhöhe on sheets 150 Mainz and 151 Darmstadt, but its eastern slope to the Rhine is compared to the actual Gaustraßenhöhe Shifted northwest. On the east and north slopes here - and nowhere else except in the immediate vicinity of the North Palatinate Uplands  - Rotliegend comes to light. Another reason not to assign it to the Gaustraßenhöhe by name would be that the northern part of Gaustraße does not lead over it, but to the west by it.

While heights of well over 250  m are reached on the west and east plateau , the Schwabsburg – Nackenheimer ridge remains below 200  m everywhere , on the Gaustraßenhöhe it again reaches 230  m - on the singular Petersberg in the far west even almost 250  m .

Alzeyer hill country

View from the eastern slope (about 375  m ) of the 430  m high Kuhkopf es immediately west of Kirchheimbolandens on the Ilbesheim plateau (up to 317.2  m )

The Alzeyer hill country in the narrower sense (227.4) in the center and southwest of the overall landscape is divided by streams and valleys into a total of five plateaus of different sizes, of which the core plateau around the city of Alzey , which takes up about half of the area, faces northwest with no noticeable differences in altitude into the northern Palatinate Mountain country passes. However, noticeable elevations can be found both at the eastern junction with the flat undulating Oberpfrimmhügelland and on the western flank of the more southern mountain ranges to the equally flat Kaiserstraßensenke.

The Alzeyer hill country is divided as follows, from north to south, in plateaus and depressions (indented with a preceding ↓ for the dividing rivers or the notches):

• the Kloppberg plateau (east of 227,400) in the northeast (up to 293.6  m )
  • ↓ Scharte on the A 61 (almost 220  m ), extended to the east by Altbach and Seebach , to the northwest by the Weidasser Bach
• the Ilbesheimer Plateau (227,401 excluding the extreme southwest, west of 227,400) in the east, center and northwest (up to 317.2  m )
  • ↓ Leiselsbach (between the confluence of the Gutleutbach near Bischheim and the confluence with the Pfrimm 218–160 m)
• the very small Hungerberg plateau (extreme southwest of 227,401) in the west (up to 303.1  m )
  • ↓ Pfrimm , Middle Pfrimmal (227.50; from the Lohmühle below Dreisens to below Wachenheims 202-141 m)
• the Göllheimer Hügelland (227.42 without the extreme south-east) in the extreme south (up to 317.1  m )
  • ↓ Eisbach , railway line (157–141 m)
• the Grünstadter Berg (up to 336.7  m ) with the A 6 on the southern flank and Neuleiningen Castle a little below
  • ↓ Eckbach (189–173 m), border to the south adjoining Leininger spur of the Palatinate Forest

Even higher absolute heights than in the core mountain ranges are up to almost 360  m above sea level. NHN north of Kirchheimbolandens at the Bolander Randhöhen (227.41) at the western interface to the northeastern foothills of the Donnersberg . However, these peaks have few prominence and their dominance is negligible.

Lower Pfrimmhügelland and Eisenberg Basin

The lowest relief energy of the entire Rheinhessen table and hill country is found in its southeast, in the Lower Pfrimmhügelland (227.51), which remains absolutely everywhere below 200  m, northwest, west and southwest of Worms , on the (lower) courses of (from N to S ) Seebach , Grailsbach , Pfrimm and Eisbach , which is flanked in the south by the Eckbach . This landscape is quite clearly differentiated from the Alzeyer Hügelland and Gaustraßenhöhe, which frame it from west and north, and in some respects resembles the even more gently undulating Rhine plains adjoining to the south.

The Eisenberg Basin (227.6) in the extreme southwest near Eisenberg is also flat . It is locked to the south and west by the (Lower) Palatinate Forest , to the east and north by Grünstadter Berg and Göllheimer Hügelland. Between the last two mountain ranges, there is only a connection to the Lower Pfrimmhügelland through the narrow Eisbach valley.

and display information about the image

View from the 336.7  m high Grünstadt mountain to the Eisenberg basin and the Donnersberg;
on the left the stump forest in the far north of the Palatinate Forest with the domed Hohen Bühl (far left) in front of the Diemersteiner forest ;
before the stump forest left Wattenheim , then Tiefenthal before the A 6 disappearing into the stump forest and Hettenleidelheim ; half left Eisenberg and Kerzenheim , right of the Donnersberg then the Göllheimer Hügelland with the Esper ( 309  m , first wind turbines, half right) and Lautersheim (right) as a peripheral town

Geology and soils

The soils in the middle and higher elevations are very loess , limestone and marl with a large proportion of clay . Clay marl and fine sand can be found on the slopes, and limestone in the lower areas and especially in the Eisenberg Basin.

Most of the rocks in the subsoil come from the Tertiary . At that time the area of ​​today's Rheinhessen was covered by a sea . In the early Tertiary, mainly clays and sands were deposited here, later limestone (limestone Tertiary), which today still mark the ascent to the Rheinhessen hill country in the northern part of Rheinhessen, near Ingelheim and Gau-Algesheim .

The hill country is among the poorest forest areas of Germany and is mainly used for agricultural purposes used cultural landscapes , especially the wine-growing used.

Surveys

The elevations and slope spurs of the Rheinhessen hill country include - with a height in meters (m) above sea ​​level (NHN); behind the dash the natural space / mountain range:

• Behind the Remise or Eichelberg-Koppelberg-ridge (a good 360 m), south of Orbis - Bolander Randhöhen
  • Koppelberg , east summit (357.8 m)
  • Eichelberg , west summit (356.9 m)
• Steinkopf (354.1 m), NSG Steinbühl-Schäfergraben , northwest of Kirchheimbolandens - Bolander edge heights
• nameless elevation (337.7 m) in the local area of Wattenheim , at the confluence of the street Am Wasserturm in Hochgerichtsstrasse  - southern edge of the Eisenberg basin
• Grünstadter Berg (336.7 m; Bitternell ), between Neuleiningen, Ebertsheim and Grünstadt - Göllheimer Hügelland (southern part)
• Kleiner Donnersberg (321.2 m), at the Nackterhof ( Neuleiningen ) - southern edge of the Eisenberg basin

The very flat and spacious Entenpfuhl plateau

• Entenpfuhl ( 317.2  m ), between Bischheim and Ilbesheim - Ilbesheimer Lössschwelle / Ilbesheimer Plateau
• Gerstenberg , ridge with Quirnheimer Berg ( 317.1  m ), east of Quirnheim - Göllheimer Hügelland
• Esper ( 309  m ), between Kerzenheim and Lautersheim - Göllheimer Hügelland

Kahlenberg

• Kahlenberg (305.6 m), between Bubenheim and Kindenheim - Göllheimer Hügelland
  • South summit: Rosengarten (305.6 m)
  • North summit (303.3 m)
• Hungerberg ( 303.2 m ), north of Marnheim - Ilbesheimer Lössschwelle / Hungerberg plateau 
• Galgenberg ( Göllheimer Höhe ; 302.1  m ), near Lautersheim - Göllheimer Hügelland
• Hohe Benn ( 300.9  m ), north of Göllheim - Göllheimer Hügelland
• Folding rule ( 300.3  m ), between Immesheim and Rüssingen - Göllheimer Hügelland
  • Saukopf ( 296.4  m ), northeast spur of the ruler - Göllheimer Hügelland
• Kloppberg (293.4 m), near Hochborn and Dittelsheim-Heßloch - Inneres Alzeyer Hügelland / Kloppbergplateau
• Ahrenberg (292 m), between Nack and Wendelsheim -  Wiesener Randhöhen (North Palatinate Bergland) and thus to the west just outside the Bolander Randhöhen
• Wartberg (285.2 m), with the Alzeyer Wartbergturm (275.3), south of Alzey - Inner Alzeyer Hügelland / Ilbesheimer Plateau
• Jakobsberg (273.8 m), between Dromersheim, Laurenziberg and Ockenheim, with the Jakobsberg priory - western plateau (north-western edge)
• NN (273.8 m), west of Ober-Hilbersheim - western plateau (western edge)
• Hornberg (273.3 m), southeast of Framersheim - Inneres Alzeyer Hügelland / Kloppbergplateau
• Napoleonshöhe (271.4 m), southwest of Ober-Hilbersheim , with the southwestern pre-summit Zotzenheimer Horn (247.5 m) - western plateau
• Wißberg (270.2 m), between Gau-Bickelheim and Sankt Johann, with golf course - west plateau / southwestern witness mountain of the west plateau within the Rhine-Hessian edge step
• Michaelsberg (262.2 m), northwest of Spiesheim - west plateau (extreme south)
• NN (258 m), north of Essenheim - east plateau
• Mainzer Berg (249.1 m), southeast of Ingelheim am Rhein and east-northeast of Großwinternheim - east plateau
  • Lerchenberg (max. 233.8 m), east-northeast flank of the Mainzer Berg in Mainz with ZDF broadcasting center (approx. 205 m)
• On the Muhl (247.5 m), between Mainz-Ebersheim , Nieder-Olm and Zornheim - east plateau (extreme south-east, south-east seam to Gaustraßenhöhe)
• Westerberg (247.5 m) with Ingelheimer Bismarck Tower on Waldeck (approx. 212 m), near Ingelheim am Rhein - western plateau (northern edge)

Petersberg

• Petersberg (245.6 m), between Gau-Odernheim and Bechtolsheim - Gaustraßenhöhe (singularity in the extreme west of the natural area)
• Mühlberg (242.9 m), between Mainz-Ebersheim and Nieder-Olm - east plateau
• On the Steinböhl (232.3 m), immediately northeast of Monzernheim - Gaustraßenhöhe (southwestern interface to the inner Alzeyer hill country)
• Scheelebell (230.2 m), between Wintersheim and Eimsheim , see also: Wintersheim elevated reservoir ( 218.7  m ) - Gaustraßenhöhe
• Steigerberg (227.5 m), southeast of Eckelsheim - Wöllsteiner Hügelland (south)
• Bosenberg (226.4 m), northwest of Kreuznach - Pfaffenschwabenheims - Wöllsteiner Hügelland (north)
• Kirchberg (219.0 m), immediately south of Heßloch - Gaustraßenhöhe (south)
• Farrenberg (a good 210 m), southeast of Dexheim , quarry - Gaustraßenhöhe (east side)
• Schildberg (209.8 m), near Sulzheim - west plateau
• Gauberg (210.2 m), northeast of Mainz-Ebersheim - east plateau (southeast)
• Laubenheimer Höhe (197.6 m), between Hechtsheim in the west and Laubenheim in the east - east plateau (extreme northeast)
  • Hechtsheimer Höhe (187.9 m), northwest foothills
• Fockenberg (194.6 m), northwest of Nierstein , Niersteiner Warte - Gaustraßenhöhe (north, east side) / Schwabsburg – Nackenheimer ridge
• Orlenberg (190.8 m), southeast of Grünstadt ( A 6 ) - Lower Pfrimmhügelland (extreme south)
• Rolländer Berg (188.2 m), southeast of Lörzweiler - Gaustraßenhöhe (extreme north, east side) /
• Hoheberg (183.3 m), immediately north of Lörzweiler - Gaustraßenhöhe (extreme north) / Schwabsburg – Nackenheimer mountain range

literature

• Emil Meynen , Josef Schmithüsen (Hrsg.): Handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany . Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Remagen / Bad Godesberg 1953–1962 (3rd delivery 1956 from 9 deliveries in 8 books; updated map 1: 1,000,000 with main units 1960).
• Harald Uhlig: Geographical land survey: The natural spatial units on sheet 150 Mainz. Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Bad Godesberg 1964. →  Online map (PDF; 4.7 MB)

Web links

Commons : Rheinhessisches Tafel- und Hügelland  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Landscape profile of the large landscape 22/23 Northern Upper Rhine Lowland of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate nature conservation administration ( notes ) (with links to profiles of all sub-landscapes from 227)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Natural area table with area data from the State Office for the Environment, Water Management and Trade Inspectorate Rhineland-Palatinate (PDF; 250 kB)
2. ^ ^{A b c d e} Emil Meynen , Josef Schmithüsen (editor): Handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany . Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Remagen / Bad Godesberg 1953–1962 (9 deliveries in 8 books, updated map 1: 1,000,000 with main units 1960).
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Harald Uhlig: Geographical land survey: The natural spatial units on sheet 150 Mainz. Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Bad Godesberg 1964. →  Online map (PDF; 4.7 MB)
4. ↑ Landscape profile of the large landscape 22/23 Northern Upper Rhine Lowland of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate Nature Conservation Administration ( notes )
5. ↑ ^{a b} Map service of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate Nature Conservation Administration (LANIS map) ( notes )
6. ↑ Otto Klausing: Geographical land survey: The natural space units on sheet 151 Darmstadt. Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Bad Godesberg 1967. →  Online map (PDF; 4.3 MB)
7. ↑ On sheet 150 Mainz is called 227.31 Nierstein-Guntersblumer Berg , in sheet 151 Darmstadt, published four years later, it is called Hang .
8. ↑ ^{a b c} GeoViewer of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources ( notes )
9. ^ According to Falke: Geological Guide of Rheinhessen. (1960)
10. ↑ Map service of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate nature conservation administration (LANIS map) ( notes )
11. ↑ ^{a b} The Fockenberg and the Rolländer Berg are assigned to the Nierstein-Guntersblumer slope in the LANIS map service, but they are part of the rump plateau of the Gaustraßenhöhe and their eastern slope is clearly offset from the summit. The scale of the drawings on the Mainz and Darmstadt sheets is too imprecise for the mountains to be assigned, but the books explicitly refer to the eastern slopes.