Passes in the Taunus
Map with all coordinates: 
The most famous passes in the Taunus lead in the High Taunus over the Taunushauptkamm and connect the Rhine-Main plain with the Usinger Land and the Lahn valley . These are traditional traffic routes, some of which have been used since prehistoric times. In addition to the passes over the Taunus main ridge, this article describes other crossings in the Taunus.
General
The Taunus ridge has been a natural obstacle on the way from the Rhine-Main area to the Usinger Land, the Lahn valley and further into the Rhineland or the Siegerland since time immemorial . Even if the Taunus as a low mountain range is neither in extent nor in height represents an insurmountable obstacle, the traffic routes always ran over the passes as the natural connecting routes.
Transitions over the Taunus main ridge
In the following, all heights of mountains, towns and passes are given in meters (m) above mean sea level. The sorting is from east to west.
Saalburg
- Coordinates: 50 ° 16 ' N , 8 ° 34' E
The Saalburg Pass ( 414 m ) is the most easterly and probably best known pass over the Taunus ridge. Its popularity results from the Saalburg Roman fort , which secured the passage over the pass in Roman times. The Romans connected the fort with the Roman city of Nida via Saalburgstrasse . The Saalburg Pass was already used before the Romans: the prehistoric Lindenweg , which has now almost disappeared , ran from the Nidda estuary near Frankfurt-Höchst straight to the Taunushöhe. Today the pass connects the district town of Bad Homburg vor der Höhe with the former district town of Usingen , the B 456 runs over it.
The Saalburghöhe represents a bottleneck for car traffic, especially during rush hour, which leads to traffic jams almost every day. Every day 18,000 cars pass the pass, which has two lanes on the climbs but only one lane on the downhill route. The Saalburgchaussee is a hot spot for accidents. In particular, the descent towards Bad Homburg and there the so-called Horex curve are often underestimated, especially by two-wheelers because of the good development.
Sand slapping
- Coordinates: 50 ° 15 ' N , 8 ° 29' E
The Sandplacken ( 669 m ) is the top of the pass between Oberursel and Schmitten and thus into the Weiltal , which is a natural connection between the Lahntal and Weilburg . Celtic sites on the Taunushang testify that people used this pass even in pre-Christian times. In Roman times, the Altes Jagdhaus fort secured the pass over which the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes runs. From Oberursel ( 280 m ) the pass road leads relatively evenly at an average of 5 to 6% to the top of the pass. The descent to Schmitten is steeper and narrower. At the top of the pass, the L 3024 branches off to the Großer Feldberg and the L 3276 to Oberreifenberg .
After the Second World War, the US troops set up a radar station on the Kolbenberg near Sandplacken.
The street is called Kanonenstraße . When it was built from 1871 to 1877, it was built (which was unusual in the Taunus until then) with such a solid base that even heavy vehicles could drive on it in bad weather conditions. As a result, the residents feared the transport of (also heavy) cannons, and the vernacular gave it the name Kanonenstrasse. Although the transport very likely failed to materialize, the name established itself and is now the official street name in Schmitten.
On the sandplacken there is a hotel (with a restaurant) and a café / restaurant. During the high point of the influx of asylum seekers before the asylum compromise in 1992, the hotel was used as a home for asylum seekers. There is a stop on the way from the Hohen Mark to the Feldberg. A shuttle bus drives to a total of 14 parking spaces around the Feldberg on weekends and public holidays.
Red Cross
- Coordinates: 50 ° 14 ' N , 8 ° 26' E
Another pass ( 688 m ) opens up the entrance to the Weiltal a few kilometers to the west: the Red Cross, the pass connection between Königstein and the Weiltal. This pass has also been used since ancient times. The Romans secured the crossing with the Kleiner Feldberg Roman fort (due to the water supply, the fort is not located directly on the pass, but approx. 1 km away at the Weilquelle). In the Middle Ages, Reifenberg Castle secured the transition. At the top of the pass, the L 3024 branches off, which leads over the Großer Feldberg to Sandplacken.
The extent of long-distance trade via the Weiltal route can no longer be quantified today. However, a gold coin discovery near the Red Cross in 2005 shows how integrated world trade was at the time; One of the coins found was an Arab coin.
Donkey corner (or donkey tail)
- Coordinates: 50 ° 12 ' N , 8 ° 26' E
Below the red cross, the B 8 crosses the Taunus ridge on the way from Königstein ( 380 m ) to Limburg an der Lahn . After the steep ascent through the Billtal, the road reaches the top of the pass at Eselsheck ( 556 m ).
The pass is part of the historic connecting road between Frankfurt am Main and Cologne. Between 1772 and 1807 the later Reichsstraße 8 was built on the current route. The carters used additional draft animals (mainly donkeys) from the local farmers to help them with the steep ascent to the Billtalhöhe. They stopped at the Eselseck and then returned to Königstein. At the Eselseck a special drinking stream was artificially created to supply the animals and people with water.
Idstein Valley
- Coordinates: 50 ° 11 ′ N , 8 ° 16 ′ E
The Idsteiner depression is a 3 to 4 km wide trench depression running in a south-north direction, which connects the Taunus ridge north of the Eppsteiner Horstes with the Limburg basin and separates the western Hintertaunus from the east. In the north it follows the upper reaches of the Emsbach river , in the west south the headwaters of its tributary Wörsbach and in the east south the Emsbach tributary Schlabach and in the west it is roughly connected to the federal motorway 3 between the Taunus ridge immediately south of the eponymous city of Idstein and the entrance to Limburg Basin limited at Selters . The A 3 and the ICE high-speed line Cologne – Rhein / Main use this pass.
plate
- Coordinates: 50 ° 8 ′ N , 8 ° 13 ′ E
The plate is a slight indentation in the ridge line of the Wiesbaden Hochtaunus , in which the Jagdschloss Platte and an excursion restaurant are located. The Old Platter road used this Taunus transition at a height of 498 m . The federal highway 417 runs 200 meters west of it with a cut through a terrain higher than 500 m .
Iron hand
- Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ' N , 8 ° 10' E
With a pass height of 421 m , the Eiserne Hand represents the lowest crossing over the wooded Taunushauptkamm between Schlangenbad ( B 260 ) and Niedernhausen ( A 3 ) and thus marks a traffic route between the city center of Wiesbaden and the upper Aartal . The crossing is now from the federal highway 54 and was used until the closure of the Aartalbahn , which has the Eiserne Hand station at the apex of the line .
High root
- Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ' N , 8 ° 8' E
Landesstraße 3037 (also called Hohe Straße or Lahnstraße ), which branches off from Bundesstraße 275 in the north-west between Bad Schwalbach and Wambach , runs over the southwestern high altitude of the Hohe Wurzel ( 617.9 m ). It runs past the Taunus Wunderland amusement park and then around 400 m southwest of the mountain summit over an approximately 570 m high mountain point and a little later, southeast of the mountain, crossing the Aartalbahn , roughly in a north-west-south-east direction to Wiesbaden. The Hohe Wurzel hikers' car park is located near this mountain and road point , from which the mountain summit can be accessed on circular hiking trails in the Rhein-Taunus Nature Park. In addition to the part of the Rheinhöhenweg on the right bank of the Rhine , the E3 European long-distance hiking trail also leads over the mountain .
Red stone
- Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ' N , 8 ° 5' E
The lowest road crossing from the district town of Bad Schwalbach over the Taunushauptkamm into the district of Rheingau leads up the federal highway 275 east of the Rote Stein to 473 m and after the confluence with the federal highway 260 down the Wambacher Stich into the Schlangenbad district of Wambach . If the visibility is good, the drive over the Rote Stein offers a clear view over its unwooded eastern slopes to the Großer Feldberg, 29 kilometers away .
Förster-Bitter-Oak (Hausen vor der Höhe)
- Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ' N , 8 ° 3' E
At an altitude of 514 m , the Förster-Bitter-Eiche pass , south of Hausen vor der Höhe ( 479 m ), over which the L 3035 descends to Kiedrich ( 165 m ) in the Rheingau , represents the south-western mountain pass in the Taunushauptkamm The transition is the starting point for hikes on the Rheinhöhenweg and along the former Rheingau Gebück . At the same time, the forest road into the hinterland forest begins here . About 2 km to the east are the 548 m high Dreibornsköpf and almost 1.5 km southwest of the 580 m high Erbacher Kopf . It is located directly on the Rheingau Gebück in the hinterland forest.
Usa- and Köpperner Tal
- Coordinates of the Köpperner Tal: 50 ° 17 ′ N , 8 ° 38 ′ E
- Usatal coordinates: 50 ° 21 ' N , 8 ° 35' O
Two valleys of low mountain streams in the eastern Taunus are not passes, but they are important in terms of traffic. In the Usa valley, the B 275 runs from Bad Nauheim to Usingen . In the Köpperner Tal, the Erlenbach broke through the Taunus ridge, which is only separated from the Usa valley by a ridge near Usingen. In Roman times, the Lochmühle fort secured the valley. Today the L 3041 runs through the Köpperner Tal, which has been an important alternative route to the Saalburg Pass, especially since the Friedrichsdorf relief road was built . It replaced a smaller road, which was built on an older gravel road long after the Second World War. Immediately after the new road, the Taunusbahn crosses a remnant of the old road next to the Erlenbach , which first leads south and then north of the Erlenbach from Friedrichsdorf into the Usinger basin.
Crossings between Weiltal and Emstal
The passable crossings between Weiltal and Emstal are shown sorted in a south-north direction.
Kittelhütte
- Coordinates: 50 ° 15 ' N , 8 ° 25' E
From Oberems ( 410 m ) the winding L 3023 leads up to the Kittelhütte. The pass is at an altitude of 578 m . From there the road branches off to Seelenberg ( 584 m ) and to Niederreifenberg ( 534 m ). At the top of the pass there is a small refuge and a parking lot. Every year a mountain classification is taken here in the cycle race around the financial center Eschborn-Frankfurt .
The Kittelhütte is the only passable passage from the Weiltal to the Emstal.
In 1913 the Kittelhütte was built on the top of the pass by the Taunus Club (local association Seelenberg). It was named after Peter Kittel († 1919), chairman of the Taunus Club from 1888 to 1914. After this hut was destroyed by fire in World War II, a new hut was built by American pioneers after the war, based on the model of the house where Abraham Lincoln was born. In 1993 the hut was again destroyed by fire after being set on fire. The hut that exists today was again built by US soldiers (stationed in Camp King ).
Threshing floor
- Coordinates pass height: 50 ° 18 ′ N , 8 ° 23 ′ E
- Coordinates Tenne: 50 ° 17 ' N , 8 ° 22' E
Between Riedelbach ( 433 m ) and Reichenbach ( 387 m ) the federal highway 275 crosses the mountain range between Weil- and Emstal. Even if the top of the pass ( 505 m ) is above Riedelbach just after the confluence of the district road 750 from Mauloff ( 527 m ), the pass is usually associated with the name of the Tenne. The Tenne ( 480 m ) is a small settlement about one kilometer after the top of the pass towards Reichenbach. Here the state road 3031 branches off from the federal road to Bad Camberg ( 197 m ). The threshing floor was known from an excursion hotel that fell victim to a fire. The remaining former Gasthaus zur Tenne is a listed building.
Cow bed pass
- Coordinates: 50 ° 19 ′ N , 8 ° 20 ′ E
The Kuhbettpass ( 459 m ) is part of the country road 3030 between Hasselbach ( 386 m ) and Schwickershausen ( 266 m ). It is the pass between the mountains Kuhbett ( 525.6 m ) and Stückelberg ( 509.7 m ).
Heather oak
- Coordinates: 50 ° 23 ' N , 8 ° 20' E
Between Wolfenhausen ( 297 m ) and Laubuseschbach ( 295 m ) is the roundabout crossing at the Heideneiche ( 342 m ). There the L 3021 from Wolfenhausen and L 3054 from Laubuseschbach and the L 3063, which leads from Winden ( 220 m ) to Langhecke ( 232 m ), meet; Northwest of the intersection, the L 3021 and L 3063 have a common section over a length of about 770 m. It is the pass between the elevations of Rote Küppel ( 377.9 m ) and the Alteberg ( 370.3 m ) - the lowest and northernmost pass between the Emsbach and Weiltal valleys.
More passes
Windeck
- Coordinates: 50 ° 14 ' N , 8 ° 27' E
The Windeck ( 795 m ) between Großem Feldberg and Kleinem Feldberg is the highest pass in the Taunus. However, the paved road that goes from the Red Cross to the Windeck is not the actual pass road, as it continues uphill 1.5 km to the Großer Feldberg. The correct, only graveled pass road leads 1.7 km from Fuchstanz ( 662 m ) to Windeck and then down to Oberreifenberg ( 650 m ).
Fox dance
- Coordinates: 50 ° 13 ' N , 8 ° 28' E
The Fuchstanz is a 662 meter high pass in the heart of the Taunus between Altkönig ( 798.2 m ) and Kleiner Feldberg ( 825.2 m ). The Romans already used this pass by creating a connecting road from Nida to the Feldberg Fort, the name Pflasterweg still refers to this Roman origin. Its two restaurants make it one of the most popular excursion destinations in the Taunus, but it cannot be reached by car.
Possible routes are:
- from Windeck: 1.7 km downhill only.
- from the Große Bend (on the road from Oberursel to Sandplacken): 1.6 km slightly uphill.
- from Falkenstein: 3.0 km evenly steep.
Custine ski jump
- Coordinates: 50 ° 13 ' N , 8 ° 32' E
The Custine hill is in accordance with the lying there Custine-jumps named less 332 meters high pass between Kronberg im Taunus and Oberursel. The B 455 runs over it . The Oberursel cemetery is located near the pass.
Hardt
- Coordinates: 50 ° 17 ' N , 8 ° 29' E
The L 3041 leads over the Hardt Pass ( 476 m ), which connects Neu-Anspach ( 340 m ) with the Schmitten districts of Dorfweil ( 430 m ) and Brombach ( 420 m ). Shortly before the top of the pass there is a parking lot from which you can go hiking on the nearby Langhals ( 573.5 m ).
Math cross
- Coordinates: 50 ° 14 ' N , 8 ° 31' E
The Mathkreuz is 470 meters high and lies between Goldgrube ( 492 m ) and Lindenberg ( 541.3 m ). The pass road is only a narrow, steep gravel path from Oberstedten ( 250 m ).
Ways of the cross
- Coordinates: 50 ° 14 ' N , 8 ° 31' E
Kreuzwege is a 529 meter high pass between Lindenberg ( 541.3 m ) and Klingenkopf ( 682.7 m ). The gravel path connects Oberstedten ( 250 m ) with the Schnellbachtal on the L 3004.
Whine hedge
- Coordinates: 50 ° 17 ′ 42.85 " N , 8 ° 28 ′ 41.6" E
The Jammerhecke is a 463 m high pass and connects Brombach and Hunoldstal and the Neu-Anspach district of Rod am Berg .
Individual evidence
- ^ Taunusreiter: Roads built in the Taunus area from 1850 to approx. 1890
- ^ Shuttle bus Großer Feldberg ( Memento from December 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 1, 2017, at taunus.info
- ↑ Hermin Herr: Lexicon from the High Taunus . Frankfurt 1993, ISBN 3-7829-0437-0 , p. 28/29 .
- ↑ Hermin Herr: Lexicon from the High Taunus . Frankfurt 1993, ISBN 3-7829-0437-0 , p. 65/66 .
- ↑ Farewell present from the US soldiers: Kittelhütte set up. In: Yearbook of the Hochtaunuskreis. 1994, ISSN 0943-2108 , pp. 198-199.
- ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Entire plant Tenne In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hesse
