At , the Großer Gleichberg is the higher of the two adjacent mountaintops known as the

Gleichberge The Gleichberge, which mainly comprise the Großer and Kleiner Gleichberg, are a small, inselberg-like mountain range, up to , in the southwestern part of the German state of Thuringia. They rise just east of the little ancient town of Römhild ...

east of

Römhild Römhild () is a town in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 14 km west of Hildburghausen, and 21 km southeast of Meiningen. On 31 December 2012, it merged with the former municipalities Gleichamberg, H ...

in the landscape of

Grabfeld The Grabfeld is a region in Germany, on the border between Bavaria and Thuringia. It is situated southeast of the Rhön Mountains. Its highest elevation is 679 metres high in the little Gleichberge mountain range. The Grabfeld gave its name to t ...

and the county of

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen (IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra river ...

in the German state of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. It was formed in the

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

volcanic field of the Heldburger Gangschar and is the highest point today of that formation. With an isolation of well over 20 kilometres and a

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of just under 300 metres, the Großer Gleichberg is one of the most striking mountains in

. In the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

period from 1968 to 1991 there was a military out-of-bounds area at the summit with a radio and radar station belonging to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. In 1942 it had been declared a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

; today the Großer Gleichberg is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

. At the summit there is a former ein ehemaliger TV converter that broadcast television to southwest Thuringia and those areas of Bavaria near the border, but now just acts as a mobile phone transceiver.

Basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

used to be mined in two quarries on the Großer Gleichberg: the Gleichamberg Quarry (''Gleichamberger Steinbruch'') and the Römhild Quarry (''Römhilder Steinbruch''). The Römhild Quarry was operated from 1901 to 1968 and the ruins of its stonebreaking yard are still visible (as at: 2013). The Gleichamberg Quarry operated from 1897 to 1981 and employed up to 140 workers (in 1927). There is also a cableway with which basalt was transported in coal drams to the basalt works at the station in Römhild and to Gleichamberg. In the forest settlement (''Waldhaussiedlung''), on the saddle between the two Gleichberge, there is a "corner station" (''Winkelstation'') where the Römhild Cableway (''Römhilder Seilbahn'') changed direction. It was also a sawmill. During the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, from August 1943 to March 1945, there was a

forced labour camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

in the Römhild Quarry in which up to about 400 "defaulting

foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

" forced labourers were interned. The prisoners had to work in the basalt quarry or in the basalt works by Römhild Station. In addition they were used to build bunkers and fortifications in

Mendhausen Mendhausen is a classic Frankish village and a former municipality in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. Since December 31, 2012, it has been part of the town of Römhild. Geography Mendhausen is located in the southwest o ...

and sometimes employed in handicrafts and trades in Römhild and the surrounding area. It has been estimated that at least 500 prisoners died in the camp or during its evacuation march in 1945. These include 25 to 92 prisoners who were unable to walk and were shot in a sand cave on the eastern side of the Großer Gleichberg. The cave entrance was subsequently blown up and the mass grave discovered in late January 1947. According to official death lists, by the end of March 1944, 44 prisoners had been buried in the lower forest cemetery on the eastern slopes of the Großer Gleichberg, 64 prisoners had been interred at the upper cemetery and a further 61 prisoners at the municipal cemetery where there is a monument in a commemorative grove.Gert Stoi: ''Das Arbeitserziehungslager Römhild 1943-1945 — Dokumentation eines Verbrechens.'' Salier Verlag; 2009. 272 pages.

Way of Remembrance

Großer-Gleichberg-Weg-des-Gedenkens.jpg, Way of Remembrance Großer-Gleichberg-Unterer-Friedhof.jpg, Lower Cemetery () Großer-Gleichberg-Gedenkstele.jpg, Memorial stele () Großer-Gleichberg-Oberer-Friedhof.jpg, Upper Cemetery () Großer-Gleichberg-Sandstollen.jpg, Sand Gallery ()

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosser Gleichberg Mountains under 1000 metres Mountains of Thuringia Hildburghausen (district)