Whetstone (Franconian Forest)
| whetstone | ||
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 Altvaterturm on the whetstone |
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| height | 792.7 m above sea level NHN | |
| location | at Brennersgrün ; District of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt , Thuringia ( Germany ) | |
| Mountains | Franconian Forest (near Thuringian Slate Mountains ) | |
| Dominance | 16 km → Red Mountain | |
| Notch height | 199 m ↓ Steinbach am Wald | |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 26 '46 " N , 11 ° 27' 6" E | |
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| particularities | - formerly with Bismarck tower and NVA base - Altvaterturm ( AT ) |
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The whetstone is a mountain of the northern roof of the Franconian Forest and at 792.7 m above sea level. NHN the highest in East Thuringia . It is located near Brennersgrün in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district in Thuringia . The Altvaterturm observation tower stands on top of it .
Geographical location
The whetstone rises at the transition from the Franconian Forest to the Thuringian Slate Mountains in the Thuringian Slate Mountains / Obere Saale Nature Park near the border with the Franconian Forest Nature Park in the southwest. Its summit is 3.3 km south of the core city of Lehesten . The Lehesten districts of Brennersgrün and Röttersdorf lie to the southeast and northeast of it.
The historic Rennsteig border path runs over the southern flank of the mountain .
Protected areas
The Staatsbruch nature reserve ( CDDA no. 319132; designated in 1998; 92.39 hectares in size) and part of the fauna-flora-habitat area Schieferbrüche around Lehesten (FFH no. 5534-301; FFH no. 5534-301 ) are located on the west and north-west flanks of the Wetzstein. 2.41 km² ). Parts of the Thuringian Slate Mountains landscape protection area (CDDA no. 378705; 2006; 264.8006 km²) and the Frankenwald bird sanctuary - slate quarries around Lehesten (VSG no. 5535-420; 72.09 km²) are located on the mountain .
Buildings
Bismarck Tower
From the summit region of the Wetzstein you can see all the way to Leipzig . The Thuringian Forest Association built a 22 m high observation tower near the mountain summit in 1902 and named it Bismarck Tower ( ⊙ ). A brisk excursion and tourism developed. During the Cold War , the mountain was only in the border area between the Soviet zone and the western occupation zones and from 1961 to 1989/1990 in the restricted area of the inner German border , so that excursion traffic came to a standstill. The last dilapidated tower was blown up on July 27, 1979.
NVA base
A base of the National People's Army (NVA) for air surveillance was located on the whetstone in the restricted border area .
Altvaterturm
In 2000, work began on the 35.8 m high Altvaterturm ( ⊙ ), which was completed in August 2004 , 530 m north-northeast of the Wetzsteingipfel and 350 m north-northeast of the former Bismarck tower . The builders were friends of home from Sudeten Silesia, who founded the Altvaterturm Association in Langgöns in 1976 . The tower is a replica of the tower, which until 1959 on the Praděd (Altvater mountains) in Altvatergebirge had stood. The location in the south-eastern Thuringian Forest was chosen because it resembles the wooded and mountainous surroundings of the Jeseníky Mountains. The newly built tower is intended to commemorate the lost homeland of the displaced persons . In the chapel in the basement there are commemorative plaques for cities and communities from which Sudeten Germans were expelled in 1945/46 . There is a restaurant on the ground floor, which is decorated with colored wooden coats of arms. On the upper floors, individual rooms are used for exhibitions on the former German settlement areas. There is a viewing platform on the ninth and top floor.
Lehesten slate park
The Lehesten Slate Park is located in a former open-cast slate mine on the lower part of the north-western slope of the whetstone and has been designated as a technical monument. The Thuringian-Franconian Slate Road leads past the 105 hectare area.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Altvaterturm replaces the blown up Bismarck tower , on bismarcktuerme.de
- The Altvaterturm , on altvaterturm.de