The Fuchskaute is an extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

and, at , the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

of the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

and the county of

Westerwaldkreis The Westerwaldkreis ("District of Westerwald") is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Rhein-Lahn, the district-free ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. The name ''Fuchskaute'' ("foxhole") refers to a place where the fox (''Fuchs'') had its den (''Kaute'').

Geography

Location

The Fuchskaute rises in the High Westerwald, a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

of the Westerwald which, in turn, is part of the

Rhenish Massif The Rhenish Massif, Rhine Massif or Rhenish Uplands (german: Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic massif in western Germany, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France. It is drained centrally, south to n ...

. It is about halfway between

Bad Marienberg Bad Marienberg (Westerwald) is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality. Geography The community lies in the Westerwald between ...

in the west and Breitscheid in the east and lies in the parish of

Willingen Willingen (official name: ''Willingen (Upland)'') is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany, some 80 km west of Kassel. Geography Location Willingen is found in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in the Upland. Its main ...

. The state boundary with

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

runs along its eastern slopes and that with

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 ...

lies a few kilometres to the north. Just under 3 km north-northeast is the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

of the states of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Several streams rise on its flanks, including the

Nister Nister is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The community lies north of Hachenburg on the river Große Nister. Nister belongs to the ' ...

(''Große Nister'').

Towers

There used to be an observation tower on the Fuchskaute from where views of the Westerwald and other local countryside could be enjoyed.

Amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

services operate two

transmission tower A transmission tower, also known as an electricity pylon or simply a pylon in British English and as a hydro tower in Canadian English, is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. In electrical gri ...

s on the south top of the Fuchskaute.

References

{{German Central Uplands Mountains under 1000 metres Volcanoes of Germany Mountains and hills of Rhineland-Palatinate Mountains and hills of the Westerwald

Geography

Location

Towers

See also

References