The Höllental (English translation: ''Hell Valley'') in the

Franconian Forest View to Döbraberg The Franconian Forest''Franconian Forest''
at www.britannica.com. Acce ...

(''Frankenwald'') is a picturesque part of the

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...

n region of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

in southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Description

The Höllental is a protected

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 ...

within the Franconian Forest. The Selbitz River runs through this narrow valley and, at the end, marks the border between the states of

and

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 lar ...

. From the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

until the reunification of Germany in 1989 the border here was closed. The Hölle Valley can be visited from Hof and Naila. On the western banks of the Selbitz is the ''Höllentalstraße'', a private road that is closed to motor vehicles. It can however be used by cyclists and walkers. The valley has numerous walking trails. One of these paths, the ''Röhrensteig'' east of the Selbitz, follows the course of the pressurised water pipes of an old electricity station, that today still uses water from the Selbitz. It is dammed by a small weir. Points of interest include an outcrop of fossilised

pillow lava Pillow lavas are lavas that contain characteristic pillow-shaped structures that are attributed to the extrusion of the lava underwater, or ''subaqueous extrusion''. Pillow lavas in volcanic rock are characterized by thick sequences of discont ...

(''Kissenlava'') on one of the steep sides of the walk and the

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

rock. There are several mineral springs near the village of Hölle at the entrance to the Hölle Valley. The mineral water from these springs is marketed under the name ''Höllensprudel''. The Marxgrün-Blankenstein railway, also known as the Hell Valley railway or ''Höllentalbahn'', used to run through the valley. The long-distance path, the Franconian Trail or '' Frankenweg'' also runs through the Höllental and intercepts the Rennsteig trail at the end of the valley near

Blankenstein Blankenstein is a village and a former municipality in the district Saale-Orla-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Rosenthal am Rennsteig Rosenthal am Rennsteig is a municipality in the district Saa ...

Places of interest

* Hirschsprung * ''König David'' (King David) viewing platform * ''Jungfernsteg'' footbridge * ''Teufelssteg'' footbridge (demolished after being damaged by a falling tree) * Electricity station with weir, ''Röhrensteig'' pipe walk, water tower, water fountains and operating building at Schweizerstil * Railway bridge by the electricity station * Nature reserve information centre at the exit to the valley at Lichtenberg station

Mineral water

The mineral water sources are marketed by the firm of ''Kohlensäurewerk Hölle Dr. Fritz Wiede GmbH & Co.''. Originally only the carbonic acid from the mineral water was given to breweries. Later the mineral water was bottled for consumption. The production of carbonic acid has since stopped and the manufacture of drinks has considerable expanded. Mineral water from the Hölle Valley is sold under various trade names e.g. * Höllensprudel * Eichensteiner Mineralwasser * Vivre * Deit

Sources

* Herta Vogel: ''Das Höllental.'' 1989, Ackermann Verlag Hof; Heft 1 der Schriftenreihe FRANKENWALD – BAYERNS GRÜNE KRONE des Frankenwaldvereins e.V.

External links

Höllental-Flyer
- {{DEFAULTSORT:Hollental (Franconian Forest) Franconian Forest Valleys of Bavaria Hof (district)