Weißenberg (Frankenweide)

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Weissenberg
View from Hermersbergerhof to Weißenberg (with Luitpold tower)

View from Hermersbergerhof to Weißenberg (with Luitpold tower )

height 609.9  m above sea level NHN
location Merzalben , District of Südwestpfalz , Rhineland-Palatinate ( Germany )
Mountains Palatinate Forest
Dominance 15 km →  Roßberg ( 637  m above sea  level ) or Steigerkopf ( 613  m above sea level )
Notch height 138 m ↓  Forsthaus Heldenstein ( 472  m above sea level )
Coordinates 49 ° 15 '9 "  N , 7 ° 49' 32"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 15 '9 "  N , 7 ° 49' 32"  E
Weißenberg (Frankenweide) (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Weißenberg (Frankenweide)
rock Red sandstone as a unit of stone
Age of the rock 251–243 million years
particularities Luitpold Tower with a comprehensive panorama

The Weißenberg in the municipality of Merzalben in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Südwestpfalz is 609.9  m above sea level. NHN high mountain of the Palatinate Forest . It has a saddle-shaped dome extending from south to north with two peaks of almost the same height, which are 280 m apart. The Weißenberg is formed by rocks of the Buntsandstein , which were deposited at the beginning of the Triassic and underwent tectonically induced redistribution in the Paleogene when the Upper Rhine Rift was formed. From this sandstone package, the current surface form of the Palatinate Forest and thus also the ridge of the Weißenberg was modeled through weathering and erosion processes.

On the southern summit stands the 35 m high Luitpold Tower, inaugurated in 1909 , from which, due to the central location of the mountain, offers the most comprehensive view over the entire Palatinate Forest and far beyond to the Hunsrück , Donnersberg , Taunus , Odenwald , Black Forest and the Vosges . As part of the Palatinate Forest-Vosges du Nord biosphere reserve , the Weißenberg is subject to special protection regulations.

geography

location

The Weißenberg is located in the center of the Middle Palatinate Forest in the Palatinate Forest Nature Park . It rises about 6.5 km east-northeast of Merzalben and 8 km north of Hauenstein near the hamlet Hermersbergerhof, which belongs to Wilgartswiesen . The mountain is part of the Frankenweide , a central massif of the Palatinate Forest, and the southernmost of a series of four peaks that reach a height of more than 600  m . To the north follow the Hortenkopf ( 606.2  m ), the Mosisberg (about 610  m ) and the Eschkopf ( 608.3  m ).

Natural allocation

The Frankenweide in the Middle Palatinate Forest : On the left Weißenberg with Luitpold tower , on the right Hortenkopf

The Weißenberg belongs to the Palatinate Forest natural area, which is classified in the systematics of the handbook of the natural structure of Germany published by Emil Meynen and Josef Schmithüsen and its follow-up publications as a Greater Region 3rd order. If you look at the internal structure of the natural area , it belongs to the Frankenweide or the High Palatinate Forest, a core area of ​​the Middle Palatinate Forest .

In summary, the natural spatial allocation of the Weißenberg follows the following system:

  1. Greater region 1st order: Layer level land on both sides of the Upper Rhine Rift
  2. Greater region 2nd order: Palatinate-Saarland layer level land
  3. Greater region 3rd order: Palatinate Forest
  4. 4th order region (main unit): Middle Palatinate Forest
  5. 5th order region: Frankenweide or High Palatinate Forest

Mountain height and summit

The height of the 609.9  m high Weißenberg is given differently with around 610  m or 607  m . The higher value has been officially recommended since 2011. This makes Weißenberg and Mosisberg (also about 610  m ) before Eschkopf ( 608.3  m ) and Hortenkopf ( 606.2  m ) the highest peaks in the west of the mountains. The mountain, whose saddle-shaped crest extends from south to north, has two peaks: the south summit is 609.9  m , the north summit, 280 m away, is 609.1  m high.

Dominance and notch height

The Weißenberg as a mountain with a relatively high dominance and low notch height: View from the Luitpold Tower to the north

The closest mountains that exceed the Weißenberg in height are the Roßberg ( 637  m ) and the Steigerkopf ( 613.6  m ); they are located at a distance of 15 km as the crow flies in the Haardt on the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest ( dominance of the Weißenberg). In addition, the Weißenberg is not an isolated single peak, but part of a system of elongated ridges that cross the inner Palatinate Forest in different directions and shape its surface .

If you draw a connecting line from Weißenberg at the highest possible height (mountain ridge) to the next higher summit, this is the Steigerkopf with a height of 613.6  m . The lowest point on this line is the saddle with the forester's house Heldenstein at an altitude of 472  m . The difference between the height of the Weißenberg and that of the forester's house Heldenstein (= Schartenhöhe or prominence of the mountain) is 138  m . This relatively low value is explained by the above-described morphological structure of the central Palatinate Forest. So it is possible to hike from Weißenberg to Leimen , Kaiserslautern - Mölschbach , Elmstein and via the forest houses Taubensuhl and Heldenstein to almost Neustadt on ridges without falling below the 450 m height line .

Waters

Source brooks of the Lauter: View from Weißenberg in southwest direction into the Scheidbach and Wartenbachtal valleys

As part of the Frankenweide, the Weißenberg receives comparatively high amounts of precipitation (see section Precipitation ) and is therefore the headwaters of a number of smaller and larger rivers .

Since its sandy soils are very permeable to water, the rainwater can quickly seep into the soil and be stored and forwarded as groundwater , especially in the rocky areas of the Lower (Trifels and Rehberg layers) and Middle Buntsandsteins (Karlstal layers) . The water- retaining clay layers of the Rehberg formation , which are located in the area of ​​the Weißenberg at a height of about 350 to 400  m , serve as a source horizon , at which the groundwater emerges in a number of springs and wells .

Coming from the north, the watershed between the Rhine and Moselle already bends to the southwest at the Hortenkopf. The waters to the north-west of it flow into the Moselle via Schwarzbach , Blies and Saar before their water reaches the Rhine. The watercourses to the east and south of it, including those in the Weißenberg area, head directly towards the Rhine: Wartenbach and Scheidbach , the two source brooks of the Lauter , arise to the west of the Weißenberg at 382.1  m and 386.3  m above sea level (see also section Core zone "source area of ​​the Wieslauter" ). It turns, on the upper reaches as Wieslauter , first to the south and later flows as Lauter along the German-French border eastwards towards the Rhine. To the east of Weißenberg, Kaltenbach and Modenbach have dug their way deep into the red sandstone package; they flow at the Zwiesel into the Wellbach , whose water also flows eastward over the Queich towards the Rhine.

geology

Emergence

The Weißenberg is formed by rocks of the red sandstone , which were deposited at the beginning of the Triassic (251–243 million years) under predominantly desert conditions. In the Paleogene (65–23.8 million years ago), these rock layers underwent tectonically induced rearrangements during the formation of the Upper Rhine Rift, which among other things led to the rock arching, shifting and tilting. Subsequently (23.8–0.01 million years) this sandstone package was used to model the present-day surface form of the Palatinate Forest and thus also the ridge of the Weißenberg through weathering and erosion processes.

Structure (stratigraphy)

The Weißenberg is built up primarily from rock layers of the lower and middle red sandstone. Since these are inclined (see section Origin ) and sink from east to west, the layers of the Lower Buntsandstein are to be found at a lower height on Weißenberg than is the case further east, for example in the Haardt. The particularly strong solidified quartz sandstone of the Trifelsschichten at a height of about 300 to 450  m characterize the surface structure, while on the Weißenberg they are only exposed in the deep indented valleys of the Kaltenbach and Modenbach.

On the other hand, the formations of the Rehberg and Schlossberg strata, which cover the Trifels strata and come to the surface in the valleys of the western Weißenberg area and on its slopes up to a height of about 400  m, take up larger space . In these rock layers, small-scale rock zones alternate with thin clay layers, the latter often acting as a source horizon (see section Waters ). These are often red, partially scree-bearing sandstones of different grain sizes , which, especially in higher areas, have a finer-grained, less crystallized structure and are therefore less weather-resistant.

Middle red sandstone : Block field in the summit area of ​​the Weißenberg

These formations are covered in the summit area of ​​the Weißenberg from a height of about 400  m by the rocks of the middle red sandstone, with gray to light red middle to coarse sandstone dominating. Particularly characteristic are rock formations of the Karlstalschichten, the rock zone of which consists of up to 40 m thick, silicified rock packages that often come to the surface as hard boulders with a diameter of several meters. The upper Karlstalschichten and the upper rocky zone (9–26 m) extend over it, whose also heavily silicified middle and coarse sandstones often form steep walls, especially in the inner area of ​​the Palatinate Forest (Palatinate Mulde). In this context, impressive rocky areas can be observed especially on the southwest slope of the Weißenberg at an altitude of between 450 and 550  m . However, this area has not been accessible to hikers since 2007, as an extensive core zone of the Palatinate Forest-Northern Vosges biosphere reserve was established there. But also in the direct summit area of ​​the Weißenberg there are boulders of the Mittlerer Buntsandstein, which immediately catch the eye on the ascent to the summit below the Luitpoldturm.

climate

Precipitation

station Annual precipitation
(mm)
Hermersbergerhof 1095
Glue 1071
Forester's lodge Taubensuhl 1125
St. John's Cross 1004
Trippstadt 941
Annweiler 910
Lviv 898

Due to its exposed location in the southwest of the Frankenweide, the Weißenberg is subject to particularly strong Atlantic influences. Moderately warm and humid air masses, which mainly flow in from the west, are forced to rise ( windward effects ), so that there is increased cloud formation and above-average precipitation . Particularly meaningful are data from the Hermersbergerhof, just 1.5 km to the east, for which an average annual precipitation of 1095 mm is measured. The values ​​further north-west ( Leimen 1071 mm) or north-located stations ( Johanniskreuz 1005 mm) also tend to point in the same direction. Thus, in the case of the Weißenberg, a similar amount of precipitation can be assumed, whereby due to its higher altitude and its southwest exposure even values ​​between 1100 and 1200 mm annual precipitation can be expected. If one compares the precipitation totals of the individual months, the winter months December and January in particular show a pronounced precipitation maximum. This is a typical phenomenon for low mountain ranges , as rain-bringing Atlantic low pressure systems affect Central Europe, especially in the winter months , and this leads to increased incline precipitation in mountain areas.

temperature

The mean annual temperature in central areas of the Weißenberg is 7 to 8 ° C and drops to 6 to 7 ° C in its summit area; the values ​​in January are around −1 to −2 ° C and reach 15 to 16 ° C in July. In comparison, the corresponding data for the wine route region ( Upper Rhine Plain ) amount to 9 to 10 ° C for the entire year, 0 to 1 ° C in January and 18 to 19 ° C in July, with a narrow strip from Landau to Bad Dürkheim - due to the effects of a hair dryer  - an average temperature of up to 20 ° C is measured in midsummer. The mean annual fluctuation in air temperature at the Weißenberg is around 16.5 ° C, a relatively low value that also points to the oceanic character of this region.

wind

climate Weißenberg
(summit)
Frankenthal
(lowlands)
low
impact
~ 1150 mm 528 mm
Annual
temperature
6-7 ° C 9-10 ° C
Spring
start
10.5. – 15.5. 20.4. – 25.4.
wind frequently;
often strong
less
often;
moderate
Bioclimat.
Aspects
moderate
stimulating climate
Exposure
climate

In contrast to other low mountain ranges, which are more continental, stronger and longer lasting air movements are observed on average in the area of ​​the left bank of the Rhine (Palatinate Forest / Vosges ). This applies in particular to the central mountain ridge with the Weißenberg in the southwest, which forms the first significant barrier for Atlantic frontal systems and is therefore fully exposed to the prevailing southwest and westerly winds with a frequency of over 50 percent. Particularly during storms , therefore, noticeably high wind speeds are registered at various stations of the German Weather Service in the Palatinate Forest, which is proven time and again , for example, by measured values ​​from the weather station on the Weinbiet ( 553  m ), a mountain in the northeast of the Palatinate Forest. It can therefore be assumed that, given the appropriate weather conditions, the Weißenberg will experience even higher wind speeds due to its south-westerly location.

Bioclimatic aspects

From a bioclimatic point of view , the climate of the Weißenberg region can be assessed as a moderately stimulating climate with fairly low temperatures, high precipitation, often stronger winds and great air purity. In contrast to the lowlands, those seeking relaxation are therefore exposed to stronger climatic stimuli, so that this type of climate can have positive effects on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases , but also rheumatic complaints and depressive disorders . On a seven-level scale of thermal stress levels, the Weißenberg area is therefore freshly classified into the lowest stress level .

Protected areas

Zoning in the Weißenberg area

Core zone "source area of ​​the Wieslauter": View from the northern slope of the Weißenberg into the upper Wartenbachtal

As part of the Palatinate Forest, the Weißenberg belongs to the cross-border Biosphere Reserve Palatinate Forest-Northern Vosges. In implementation of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) guidelines , the state of Rhineland-Palatinate issued a statutory ordinance in 2007 containing a zoning concept with different protection goals and graduated protection levels. The Palatinate Forest is divided into three zones, namely core, maintenance and development zones, with the summit area of ​​Weißenberg and its north and east slopes being assigned to zone 2, the "maintenance zone", while the western and southern regions are assigned to the core zone "Headwaters of the Wieslauter" fall (see section core zone "Headwaters of the Wieslauter" ).

The special protection purpose of Zone 2 is “the addition, buffering and networking of the core zones and the preservation, restoration and development of the use or maintenance-dependent parts of the landscape, its species and communities, also to preserve the typical cultural landscape character. For this purpose, farming methods that are environmentally friendly, consider species and biotope protection and the character of the landscape or promote the nature of the landscape should be preserved or restored as far as possible ”(Section 4.3). For the Weißenberg, this means above all an ecologically-oriented form of forestry use that is based on the principles of sustainability and strives for the development of near-natural mixed forests with appropriate soil flora.

In contrast, core zones are subject to particularly strict usage restrictions. The protective purpose of the core zones is "to ensure that the natural processes are largely unaffected by humans and to protect the dynamic of natural or near-natural ecosystems including soils and rocks as well as the resulting diversity of habitats, animals and plants in the long term" (§ 4.2). This means that, for example, in the core zone "source area of ​​the Wieslauter" no forestry is operated and hunting as well as recreational use must be based on this protection purpose. The aim is not only to preserve the forests of the Weißenberg region in their current state, but also to develop them in the medium and long term into primeval forest -like natural forests, so-called “wilderness areas”.

Core zone "headwaters of the Wieslauter"

Beech and pine mixed stands below the otter rocks with a high proportion of dead wood, heterogeneous age structure and natural regeneration

The core zone covers an area of ​​2,399.532 hectares and is thus by far the largest protected area of ​​the 16 core zones in the Palatinate Forest Nature Park. It is located in the districts of Wilgartswiesen , Münchweiler an der Rodalb and Merzalben in the district of Südwestpfalz and extends, starting from the summit of the Weißenberg, clockwise about 3 to 7 km in a south to north-west direction. Its south-eastern boundary is a long ridge that stretches down to the lower Horbach Valley and with the "Bollen" - for example, Spitze Boll or Breite Boll - carries several striking mountain peaks. From there the protected area turns to the west and then runs north at Hinterweidenthal-Kaltenbach over the Rotenstein to the Schloßberg with Gräfenstein Castle . From here, its outer border follows - now more to the northeast - the ridge of the Winschertberg ; later it meanders along several south-west to north-west slopes in the narrower Weißenberg area and finally reaches the actual summit plateau again at the "Holländerklotz".

Primeval forest-like grove beech forest with clearings on the western slope of the Weißenberg

An essential feature of the protected area is its richly structured relief with a complex drainage system (see the section on waters ) and various mountain shapes , including cone mountains - for example, Large, Wide and Peak Boll -, elongated ridges - for example Wartenberg and Schmaler Hals - and plateau-like Structures - the high plateau of the Frankenweide with the summit area of ​​the Weißenberg - determine the landscape. This is an extensive, practically uncut biotope complex , which is mainly composed of near-natural beech forests ( Hainsimsen-Buchenwald , also known as Luzulo-Fagenion ) and oak- beech forests. They form FFH habitat types of international importance with natural regeneration , a mixed age structure and a high proportion of dead wood and grow mainly in the summit area and on steep slopes with rocky reefs, rock edges, block fields and block rubble, which consist of rocks from the Middle Buntsandstein (see section Geology ). Are In Storage Auflichtungen with flowering plants rich dry meadows and heath wasteland . In the area of soil flora dominate ground acid-loving species such as wire Schmiele , forest - and pills sedge , next Luzula sylvatica , White Wood-rush and various ferns ; there are also blue and wild strawberries and, in suitable locations, cranberries .

The abundant groundwater comes to the surface in the form of stratified and cascading springs - more on slopes - or in seepage or swamp sources - more in hollows or valleys - and forms many spring streams that flow mainly to the west and south-west in deeply cut valleys and finally unite at Wieslautereck to form the upper reaches of the Wieslauter. Characteristic of the upper Wieslautertal (Zieglertal) and its side valleys are wet and poor meadows, which are richly structured by woods on both sides. The smooth oat meadows of the lower Ziegler Valley are used as hay meadows and partly for grazing. In the Waterside area of Wieslauter one finds moisture-loving plants such as the Bitter smock , the commons loosestrife and reed canary grass , while the river itself typical plants of the vegetation type "Ranuncolion fluitantis" as the flood ends Buttercup (indefinite) and the narrow-Wish contains.

history

In the Weißenberg area there are several boulders which, as stone marks or knight's stones, indicate or document historically remarkable events.

Dreiherrenstein

Dreiherrenstein
Luitpoldstein
Dutch block

One of these stone brands is the Dreiherrenstein located in a saddle south of the Weißenberg in the direction of Hermersbergerhof (Ritterstein No. 57); it is somewhat hidden in the forest near county road  56 or a hiking trail marked with a “blue cross”.

Luitpoldstein

About 400 m south of the Luitpold Tower, but still in the actual summit area of ​​the Weißenberg, there is the Luitpoldstein , another boulder designed as a knight's stone (Knight's stone No. 70) in a forest clearing with a small parking lot . It was erected to commemorate the 90th birthday of the then Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria and bears the following inscription: Prince Regent Luitpold, March 12, 1911, 90 years old . There is also an oak next to the Luitpoldstein, which was planted in honor of the Prince Regent on his birthday.

Dutch block

North of the Weißenberg summit , after about 0.7 km, you reach the Holländerklotz , which is also in a larger clearing near the K  56 at 550.7  m . This knight's stone (no. 71) refers to the intensive timber trade that was carried out in the 17th and 18th centuries between the Palatinate and Dutch shipbuilders, mainly in oak.

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the name "Zwisslerruhe" was also used for this square, but for unknown reasons it was not able to gain acceptance. This designation was intended to honor the special merits of August Zwissler , which he had acquired in the tourist development of the Palatinate Forest. Zwissler worked from 1891 to 1897 as a forestry supervisor in Leimen and at that time was significantly involved in the development of a comprehensive, uniform marking system for the entire Palatinate Forest.

Summit panorama

Panoramic picture from Weißenberg: View from the Luitpold Tower over the Palatinate Forest, the largest uncut wooded area in Germany

introduction

Luitpold Tower on the summit of the Weißenberg

From the 35 m high Luitpold Tower, which was inaugurated on the southern summit in 1909, the central location of the mountain offers the most comprehensive view of the entire Palatinate Forest and far beyond to the Hunsrück , Donnersberg , Taunus , Odenwald , Black Forest and Vosges Mountains . After geometrical investigations, 457 known targets by name, including more than 350 mountain peaks, can be identified from there if visibility is good, with twelve target plaques on the observation deck of the tower making orientation easier.

description

View to the east: Modenbachtal in the foreground, Almersberg behind, Kalmit , Steigerkopf , Kesselberg and Roßberg in the background (from left to right)

If you look east from the tower, the unpopulated core area of ​​the inner Palatinate Forest spreads out at the feet of the beholder - apart from a few small hamlets and forest houses. The landscape is characterized by elongated or trapezoidal mountain shapes with dense mixed forests, complex valley systems and a large number of smaller or larger rivers. In the foreground, the deeply cut valleys of the Modenbach and the Kaltenbach are eye-catching, followed by the striking mountain block of the Almersberg ( 564.1  m ) and the mountain area around the forester's house Taubensuhl ( 528.2  m ). At a distance of about 15 to 25 km as the crow flies you can see the long Haardt mountain range , which borders the Palatinate Forest on the Rhine plain and carries a number of well-known mountain peaks. From north to south these are Eckkopf ( 516  m ) near Bad Dürkheim and Weinbiet ( 554  m ) near Neustadt , the latter mountain being easily identified by its transmitter mast. To the south of the Speyerbach valley follow Kalmit ( 672.6  m ; distance 20 km, chance of visibility 82 percent), Steigerkopf ( 613.6  m ), Kesselberg ( 661.8  m ) and Roßberg ( 637  m ), the highest peaks of the mountain range, which with the Orensberg ( 581.2  m ) close above the Queichtal .

View to the southeast: in the foreground the Hermersbergerhof, in the background Reichsburg Trifels and Rehberg (left side of the picture)
View to the south: in the foreground Breite and Spitze Boll , in the background Wegelnburg and Großer Wintersberg (from left to right)

Even further south, beyond the Queich, the diverse mountain forms of the Wasgau determine the landscape. Noticeable in the Annweiler area are the cone mountains of the "Burgdreifaltigkeit" Trifels ( 497.1  m ; distance 13 km; visibility 94 percent), Anebos ( 482  m ) and Scharfenberg (Münz) ( 488.6  m ), which is also 13 km away distant, distinctive mountain pyramid of the Rehberg ( 576.8  m ), the highest mountain in the Palatinate Wasgau. Then you can see the Hohe Derst ( 560.5  m ) near Bad Bergzabern and, at a distance of 34 km, the Großer Wintersberg ( 581  m ) near Bad Niederbronn in Alsace . When visibility is good, the 80 to 90 km distant mountain range of the Northern Black Forest appears on the horizon , for example the Mehliskopf ( 1008  m ) and the Hornisgrinde ( 1164.4  m ; distance 77 km; visibility 14%), the highest mountain in the northern part of the Black Forest, stand out clearly. With extremely good visibility, the Feldberg ( 1493  m ), the Schauinsland ( 1283.9  m ) and the Belchen ( 1414.2  m ), the highest mountains in the entire Black Forest , can be identified at a distance of around 150 km .

Towards the south-west, the viewer is presented with the extensive forest areas of the southern Palatinate Forest, which continue across the German-French border in the northern Vosges to the horizon. In the foreground, the striking mountain forms of the Bollen rise up, the Breite Boll ( 528  m ), the tip Boll ( 540.1  m ) and the Große Boll ( 532.8  m ), behind which the Dahner Felsenland extends in the middle distance . At a distance of about 20 to 25 km in the border area Palatinate / Alsace tower over Wegelnburg ( 570.9  m ; distance 21 km, visibility 80 percent), the highest castle ruin in the Palatinate, furthermore - already in Alsace - the Mohnenberg ( 547  m ) and the Dürrenberg ( 521  m ) the crests of the Wasgau. When the air is particularly clear, at a distance of around 80 to 100 km beyond the Zaberner Steige, there are even the higher peaks of the Northern Vosges located further to the southwest with Schneeberg ( 961  m ), Ungersberg ( 901  m ) and Donon ( 1008  m ; 8 percent chance of visibility ) to make out.

To the west one overlooks the headwaters of the Wieslauter in the foreground (see section Waters ), to which the mountains in the area of Merzalben with Castle Gräfenstein ( 437  m ) connect. Leimen ( 475  m ; visibility almost 100 percent), the highest municipality in the Palatinate, lies on a cleared area 5 km away . Further to the west, the large forest areas of the mountains merge into the more agriculturally used plateaus of the Westrich plateau and northeastern Lorraine . Parts of the town of Pirmasens can be easily recognized (e.g. water tower, 435  m ; distance 16 km; visibility 89 percent) and the hilltop villages between 10 and 30 km away such as Heltersberg ( 435  m ), Hermersberg ( 430  m ) and Martinshöhe ( 420  m ), the latter being particularly noticeable due to wind turbines. At a distance of 40 to 50 km, the mountain and hilly landscapes of the Bliesgau and Saarkohlenwald in Saarland stretch out on the horizon , for example the Große Stiefel near St. Ingbert ( 397.2  m ), the municipality of Spiesen-Elversberg ( 354  m ) , the power station near Bexbach ( 290  m ; visibility 40 percent) and above the Höcherberg ( 518  m ).

View to the northwest: Leimen in the foreground on the left, Sickinger Höhe in the middle distance, Potzberg and Königsberg on the horizon (from left to right)
View to the northeast: in the foreground Kaltenbachtal and Eiderberg, in the background Drachenfels, Hinterer Stoppelkopf and Weinbiet (from left to right)

To the northwest, the Sickinger Höhe land level limits the West Palatinate plateau, behind which the North Palatinate Bergland, about 40 km away, extends with Potzberg ( 560.7  m ) and Königsberg ( 569  m ; visibility 45 percent). Even further northwest on clear days are the Schaumberg ( 568.2  m ; distance about 60 km) in central Saarland and the mountain ranges of the Black Forest high forest in the Hunsrück with the Erbeskopf ( 816  m ; distance 75 km), the highest mountain in Rhineland-Palatinate to see. These mountain ridges are continued in the Soonwald and in the southwestern Taunus , which can also be seen when the weather is suitable.

To the north and northeast you can see in the foreground at a distance of two to 11 km the elongated mountain ridge of the Frankenweide with Hortenkopf ( 606.2  m ; with transmitter), Mosisberg ( 608.7  m ) and Eschkopf ( 608.3  m ). Behind it, Schindhübel ( 571  m ) and Bloskülb ( 570.2 m ) near Elmstein extend  the central mountain ridge to the northeast, the Donnersberg ( 686.5  m ; visibility 42 percent), the highest mountain in the Palatinate when visibility is good , is towered over. Further northeast, about 25 km away, the Drachenfels ( 570.8  m ; visibility 72 percent) and Hinterer Stoppelkopf ( 566.2  m ), the highest mountains in the northern Palatinate Forest, complete the panoramic view.

Sightseeing and tourism

reachability

Summit area of ​​the Weißenberg: Markings of the Palatinate Forest Association

From the south, leave about 1 km west of Wilgartswiesen the Interstate 10 and transits the K  56 towards Hermersbergerhof which one km reached after about the seventh From here you use a narrow forest road that is open to public traffic, which after about 1 km touches a small hiking car park on the Luitpoldstein. From this parking lot you have to walk about 400 m on a marked forest path ( PWV marking "blue cross" and the trail logo of the Palatinate Forest Path ), whereby about 50 meters in altitude have to be overcome to the summit area  .

From the north you also use the aforementioned forest road, which  branches off from state road 496 about 4 km east of Leimen and after 3.6 km you reach another parking lot at Holländerklotz. From there, a narrow forest path (marked “blue cross” and the trail logo of the Palatinate Forest Path) leads to the summit after approx. 700 m and overcoming 60 meters of altitude.

For non-motorized visitors to the White Mountain it makes sense, from the direction Vorderpfalz to Wilgartswiesen or Hauenstein , the Landau-Rohrbach railway use. From Wilgartswiesen you can reach the Weißenberg on a marked hiking trail (marked “blue cross”) after about 8 km, with an ascent of almost 400 meters. The same applies to Hauenstein, from where you use a hiking trail marked “red-white line” and the trail logo of the Palatinate Forest Path, which reaches the Weißenberg summit after about 9 km and also almost 400 meters in altitude.

For visitors from the west (West Palatinate, Saarland) there is the possibility of taking the train to Münchweiler or Rodalben and from there taking the bus to Merzalben . From here there is also a marked hiking trail (marking “blue-white line” or the logo of the Palatinate Forest Path) in about 9 km to the summit of the Weißenberg; With this variant, about 350 meters in altitude have to be mastered.

Hiking opportunities

Hiking trails in the area of ​​the Weißenberg

The extensive, semi-natural deciduous and mixed forests of the Weißenberg area are completely deserted, uncut and therefore endowed with a diverse flora and fauna. The focus for the visitor is on experiencing these special features, they form the actual sights of this nature reserve.

To the summit

As already described in the Accessibility section, small walks from the parking lots at Luitpoldstein or Holländerklotz lead to the summit of Weißenberg in 10 to 20 minutes. A somewhat longer walk begins at the Hermersbergerhof and uses the hiking trail that has already been mentioned several times and is marked “blue cross”. It requires an hour of pure walking time for the way there and back, with a total ascent of around 80 meters in altitude to be mastered.

Larger target hikes are possible, for example, from the nearest forest communities Wilgartswiesen, Hauenstein, Hinterweidenthal , Merzalben or Leimen, whereby markings by the Palatinate Forest Association such as blue cross, white-red, blue-red and white-blue bars or the trail logo of the Palatinate Forest Path provide orientation can (see also section Accessibility ). Because of their length (there and back about 15 to 25 km) and considerable inclines (300 to 500 m total incline), these hikes should be designed as day hikes. They run exclusively through dense forests, whereby neither villages nor individual forest restaurants and, with the exception of the Merzalbener hut, also no huts of the Palatinate Forest Association are touched.

In the Weißenberg area

The parking spaces for hikers at Luitpoldstein, Holländerklotz or Hermersbergerhof are the starting point for a number of smaller and larger circular hikes. An unmarked, smaller circular route of around 5 km in length begins at the Luitpoldstein and leads into the core zone of the biosphere reserve to the Otterfelsen, which offer a comprehensive view to the southwest over the headwaters of the Wieslauter. Return to the Luitpoldstein in the same way and then circle the Weißenberg on its west and north-west side. You reach the Holländerklotz and from there use the hiking trail marked with a blue cross, which leads over the summit of the Weißenberg back to the starting point on the Luitpoldstein.

Near-natural grove beech forest on the Forstmeisterweg

On a longer circular hike of around 19 km in length, you also cross parts of the core zone “source area of ​​the Wieslauter” with their characteristic forest and rock images. From Luitpoldstein you first use the "Forstmeisterweg" (PWV marking white-blue bar) to reach Gräfenstein Castle after about 7 km via the Schmaler Hals and the Wartenbachtal . Then the circular hike leads either on a hiking path marked with a green cross or the Palatinate Forest Trail to Winschertberg and Mühlenberg , whereby the Palatinate Forest Trail still touches the viewing rock on the Winschertkopf. You stay on this hiking trail, which now meanders along the western slope of the Hortenkopf and comes back to the Dutch block; From there you hike the Weißenberg as already described and finally reach the Luitpoldstein again.

Another day hike with a length of about 17 km and a total ascent of about 530 meters in altitude runs from Hermersbergerhof or Luitpoldstein with the blue cross marking first to the summit of the Weißenberg and then down to the Holländerklotz. From there, the blue-red line leads to the isolated hamlet of Hofstätten belonging to Wilgartswiesen , where a hiking trail with the PWV “blue-yellow line” branches off and, after crossing the Eiderbach valley, leads to the “ Annweiler Forsthaus ” restaurant, which is currently closed ; From here you can take a detour to the Kirschfelsen with a panoramic view of Trifels and Rehberg, among other places. You now follow the blue-and-yellow marking down into the Kaltenbachtal and change there to the hiking trail marked “blue-white line”, which leads back to the Hermersbergerhof or Luitpoldstein in a steady climb.

Signpost on the Palatinate Forest Path, near Weißenberg

The Weißenberg area is also crossed by several long-distance hiking trails . For example, the Pfälzer Waldpfad, which has already been mentioned several times, leads on its sixth stage (Merzalben – Hauenstein) to the summit of the Weißenberg (see above).

The main hiking trail marked by the Palatinate Forest Association with the “blue cross” mark also crosses the Weißenberg. Coming from Kaiserslautern , it runs through the extensive forests of the north-western Palatinate Forest and reaches the main Palatinate watershed at Johanniskreuz . From there it crosses the Frankenweide, a core area of ​​the Palatinate Forest (see also the section on natural spatial allocation ) and also crosses the Weißenberg. It finally leaves the Middle Palatinate Forest at Wilgartswiesen and leads through part of the Wasgau until the end of the long-distance hiking trail is finally reached at Sankt Germanshof near the French town of Weißenburg (French: Wissembourg ).

literature

  • Winfried Lang: Outstanding in the Palatinate Forest: The Luitpold Tower and its panorama . Plöger, Annweiler 2009, ISBN 978-3-89857-254-5 .
  • Kurt Reh: Luitpold Tower on the Weißenberg . In: Adolf Hanle (Ed.): Meyers Naturführer Pfälzerwald and Weinstrasse . Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1990, ISBN 3-411-07131-1 , p. 82-84 .

Web links

Commons : Weißenberg  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g State Office for Surveying and Geo-Base Information Rhineland-Palatinate , Koblenz, information from September 19, 2011, text excerpt cf. Article discussion.
  2. a b c d e f g h i j State Office for Surveying and Geographic Base Information Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Topographic maps 1: 25,000 with hiking trails, Hauenstein and the surrounding area; Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Maikammer, Edenkoben, Landau in the Palatinate . Self-published by the State Office for Surveying and Geographic Base Information Rhineland-Palatinate, Koblenz 1999 and 2006.
  3. ^ Federal Institute for Regional Studies: Geographical Land Survey. The natural space units in single sheets 1: 200,000 . Bad Godesberg 1952–1994. → Online maps * Sheet 160: Landau i. d. Pfalz (Adalbert Pemöller, 1969; 47 p.).
  4. Helmut Beeger u. a .: The landscapes of Rheinhessen-Pfalz - naming and spatial delimitation. In: Reports on German regional studies , Volume 63, Issue 2, Trier, 1989, pp. 327–359.
  5. State Office for Surveying and Geographic Base Information Rhineland-Palatinate , Koblenz, information on request from July 22, 2010.
  6. a b c State Office for Geology and Mining Rhineland-Palatinate: Geological overview map of Rhineland-Palatinate . Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  7. Jost Haneke / Michael Weidenfeller: The geological building units of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz. Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, pp. 74-91.
  8. Due to their inclination, younger rock layers were increasingly removed in the eastern and central Palatinate Forest; so the summit area of ​​the Weißenberg consists of rocks of the middle and not of the upper red sandstone. The latter series of rocks, on the other hand, only forms the relief of the low mountain range a few kilometers further to the west.
  9. ^ German Weather Service (ed.): Climate Atlas of Rhineland-Palatinate . Verlag Deutscher Wetterdienst, Bad Kissingen 1957 (sheet 51).
  10. German Weather Service: Weather and climate from a single source. Retrieved September 26, 2011 .
  11. ^ German Weather Service (ed.): Climate Atlas of Rhineland-Palatinate . Verlag Deutscher Wetterdienst, Bad Kissingen 1957 (pages 3–5).
  12. Meteomedia AG: Comparative analysis of the storm events of the last decade. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; Retrieved September 26, 2011 .
  13. Michael Geiger / Manfred Kurz: Weather and Climate in the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger et al. (Hrsg.): Geographie der Pfalz . Publishing house Palatinate cultural studies, Landau / Pf. 2010, p. 143.
  14. a b Ministry for the Environment, Forests and Consumer Protection of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate State ordinance on the Palatinate Forest Nature Park as the German part of the Palatinate Forest-Northern Vosges Biosphere Reserve of January 22, 2007 . Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  15. a b c d e f Nature Conservation Administration in Rhineland-Palatinate: Map service , accessed on September 13, 2012.
  16. Nature Conservation Administration Rhineland-Palatinate: Osiris System ( Memento from January 6, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  17. Klaus Hünerfauth: An overview of the natural and cultural landscapes of the Palatinate . In: Michael Geiger (ed.): Geography of the Palatinate . Verlag Pfälzische Landeskunde, Landau 2010, p. 158 f.
  18. Winfried Lang: Outstanding in the Palatinate Forest: The Luitpold Tower and its panorama. Plöger, Annweiler 2009, p. 69.
  19. Winfried Lang: Outstanding in the Palatinate Forest: The Luitpold Tower and its panorama. Plöger, Annweiler 2009, p. 67 f.
  20. Winfried Lang: Outstanding in the Palatinate Forest: The Luitpold Tower and its panorama . Plöger, Annweiler 2009, p. 108-121 .
  21. The description is based on Winfried Lang: Outstanding in the Palatinate Forest: The Luitpold Tower and its Panorama, Directory of Landing Points, Plöger, Annweiler 2009, pp. 108–121, also on the relevant topographical maps of the State Office for Surveying and Basic Geographic Information in Rhineland-Palatinate Koblenz and the Institut Géographique National Paris.
  22. Südwestpfalz Touristik: Description of the Palatinate Forest Path  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 27, 2013.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.suedwestpfalz-touristik.de  
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on May 20, 2014 .