The High Black Forest (german: Hochschwarzwald) is a touristic and geographical region in the south-west of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, primarily in the Southern Black Forest.

History of the name

The term ''Hochschwarzwald'' originally became well known thanks to tourism. Winter sports and climatic spa resorts in the highlands of the Black Forest used it in advertising even before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Since the 1920s the term also found its way into literature about the region, albeit with variations in terms of its actual boundaries.Rudolf Metz: ''Zur naturräumlichen Gliederung des Schwarzwalds.'' In: ''Alemannisches Institut'' (publ.): Alemannisches Jahrbuch 1959, Schauenburg, Lahr 1959, pp. 23–26 Whilst some authors used the term just to describe the area around the Feldberg massif, others equated it to the whole of the Southern Black Forest and still others used it to refer to the highest part of the Central Black Forest southeast of the Elz valley (regions around the

Kandel Kandel () is a town in the Germersheim district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France and approximately 18 km north-west of Karlsruhe, and 15 km south-east of Landau. Kandel is twinned with the small Lancashir ...

and the highlands of St. Peter and St. Märgen), sometimes as far as the Hünersedel north of the Elz. Even the highland areas of the

Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region. Geography The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north b ...

around the

Hornisgrinde The Hornisgrinde, 1,164 m (3,820 ft), is the highest mountain in the Northern Black Forest of Germany. The Hornisgrinde lies in northern Ortenaukreis district. Origin of the name The name is probably derived from Latin, and essential ...

and the

Kniebis The Kniebis is a 970 -metre-high mountain ridge in the Black Forest and the name of a village to the south which is a dispersed settlement. The Kniebis mountain rises in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Transport The Kniebis lies on the ...

have used the term in tourist advertising. In addition, official Baden and Württemberg geology publications of the 1930s described the higher regions of the Northern Black Forest as the ''Hochschwarzwald'' in contrast with the sunken blocks on its perimeter along the fault lines and the

tectonically Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

less uplifted Central Black Forest. In its 1955 edition, the

Handbook of Natural Region Divisions of Germany The ''Handbook of Natural Region Divisions of Germany'' (german: Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands) was a book series resulting from a project by the former German Federal Institute for Regional Studies ('' Bundesanstalt für La ...

divides the Black Forest into six major units, the southwesternmost being designated as No. 155 ''Hochschwarzwald'' with an area of 1271.2 km². In addition to the southern centre of uplifted terrain of the Black Forest that peaks in the Feldberg it also includes the deeply incised valleys that radiate away to the south and west as well as the Weitenau Foothills (''Weitenauer Vorberge''). On the renaming of the old county of Neustadt/Schwarzwald to Hochschwarzwald (1956–1973) and the present county of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald the term was also adopted by administrative units. One of the fact files of the

Bundesamt für Naturschutz The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (german: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, ''BfN'') is the German government's scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government's ...

also uses the name: number 15500 ''Hochschwarzwald (Südlicher Schwarzwald)'' with an area of 1550 km². It covers those areas of the Black Forest roughly south of a line from

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

to Neustadt.Bundesamt für Naturschutz
Landschaftssteckbrief 15500 Hochschwarzwald (Südlicher Schwarzwald)
retrieved 20 November 2013 In the natural region fact files issued by the state of Baden-Württemberg the Hochschwarzwald (No. 155) extends northwards as far as the Elz and covers an area of 1990 km².

Literature

* Roland Weis, Harald Riesterer: ''Der Hochschwarzwald. Von der Eiszeit bis heute.'' Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2009, .

References

External links

Website
{{coord missing, Baden-Württemberg Natural regions of the Black Forest Regions of Baden-Württemberg

History of the name

Literature

See also

References

External links