The Brilon Plateau (german: Briloner Hochfläche) is a

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

area in the county of

Hochsauerlandkreis Hochsauerlandkreis (meaning “High Sauerland District” in German) is a Kreis (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Soest, Paderborn, Höxter, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Olpe, Mär ...

in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. It is surrounded by the Brilon Heights (''Briloner Höhen''), whose mountains reach a height of .

Geography

Location

The countryside of the Brilon Plateau and Brilon Heights includes the town of

Brilon Brilon (; Westphalian: ''Brailen'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany, that belongs to the Hochsauerlandkreis. Geography Brilon is situated on the Brilon Heights at an altitude of about 450 m on the upper reaches of the r ...

itself and several of its municipalities. Administratively it belongs largely to

, in the northeast, near Bleiwäsche, it is part of the county of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

. It is roughly elliptical in shape; its longitudinal axis running from east-northeast to west-southwest. To the north and northeast it transitions via the Alme Uplands into the Sintfeld. In the east and southeast it descends into the very deeply incised valley of the

Hoppecke Hoppecke is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany. It flows into the Diemel near Marsberg. See also *List of rivers of Hesse A list of rivers of Hesse, Germany: A * Aar, tributary of the Dill * Aar, tributary of the Lahn * Aar ...

. In the south it is adjoined by the

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in ...

and Upland (landscapes in the

Rothaar Mountains The Rothaar Mountains (german: Rothaargebirge, , also ''Rotlagergebirge''), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany. It is believed that its name must once have been ...

); in the west by the Warstein Forest (the eastern part of the

Arnsberg Forest Nature Park The Arnsberg Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Arnsberger Wald) is a nature park in the districts of Hochsauerlandkreis and Soest within the administrictive region of Arnsberg in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The park was est ...

) and in the northwest by the narrow

Haarstrang The Haar () or Haarstrang is a ridge of hills on the southern edge of the Westphalian Basin in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From a natural region perspective it is the southern, submontane part of the Hellweg Börde, which stands ...

. In the north the terrain descends (on the far side of Sintfeld and Haarstrang) more or less gently into the

Westphalian Bight The Westphalian Lowland, also known as the Westphalian Basin is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine (in the extreme southwest) and in Lower Saxony (on the nort ...

towards the

River Lippe The Lippe () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine and in length with an elevation difference of 125 metres and a catchment area of 4.890 km². The source is located at the edge of the Teutoburg ...

. The plateau forms an island of farmland in the middle of forested mountains and hills.

Mountains and hills

The mountains and hills of the Brilon Heights include the following (sorted by height in

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

s (m) above sea level (NHN): * Borberg (670.2 m) – southwest of

* Bilstein (620.1 m) – northwest of

* Eisenberg (606.2 m) – südwest of Brilon * Poppenberg (605.0 m) – south of Brilon * Weiße Frau (562.5 m) – east of Rösenbeck * Heimberg (536.4 m) – east of Brilon *

Totenkopf ''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for the skull and crossbones symbol. The "skull and crossbones" symbol is an old international symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as ...

(502.6 m) – west of

Marsberg Marsberg () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Although its origins are obscure, Marsberg was a prospering town by the 13th century (it was even minting coins). It was a free city until 1807, when ...

* Schaaken (500 m) – east-northeast of Brilon * Schälhorn (499.1 m) – east of Scharfenberg * Bulstern (482.3 m) – west of Wülfte * Schweinskopf (481.4 m) – east-southeast of Bleiwäsche * Schellberg (472 m)

Literature

* *

Footnotes and references

Height based on unknown or un-researched source {{Coord, 51, 25, 12, N, 8, 37, 50, E, type:landmark_region:DE-NW, display=title Central Uplands Mountain ranges of North Rhine-Westphalia Hochsauerlandkreis