Hohloh
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The Hohloh is a mountain, , on the eastern main ridge 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 ...
in
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 betwee ...
. It lies near the village of Kaltenbronn in the borough of
Gernsbach Gernsbach () is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Murg, east of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest. Twin towns are Baccarat in France and Pergola, Marche in Italy. The town is the hist ...
, a town in the county of
Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was a ...
in the German state of
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 ...
. Its summit is the highest point in the borough of Gernsbach and the eastern chain of the Northern Black Forest, the ridge between the rivers Murg and Enz. A
mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...
runs northeast of the summit plateau between the two river valleys passing over the
saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...
of Schwarzmiss (). Characteristic of the Hohloh is its flat
bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsandst ...
'' kuppe'' with its
observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...
, the Hohloh Tower (''Hohlohturm'') and a
raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation ( omb ...
and bog lakes on the
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 ...
which are protected.


Geography


Location

The Hohloh lies within the
Central/North Black Forest Nature Park The Central/North Black Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord) is located in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It covers an area of 3,750 square kilometre, km2 and was founded in December 2000. As of 2018, it is the third- ...
, mainly on the forest estates of the Gernsbach hamlet of Kaltenbronn, which is situated 2 kilometres east of the summit. On the western edge of the plateau, parts of the mountainside belong to the villages and municipalities of Reichental,
Weisenbach Weisenbach is a municipality in the district of Rastatt in 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 ...
, Langenbrand and Gausbach, which lie in the valley of the Murg. Since the municipal reforms in Baden-Württemberg in the 1970s, Kaltenbronn and Reichental have been part of the municipality of
Gernsbach Gernsbach () is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Murg, east of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest. Twin towns are Baccarat in France and Pergola, Marche in Italy. The town is the hist ...
, Langenbrand and Gausbach belong to
Forbach Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est. It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it const ...
(all in the county of Rastatt). The forests of Kaltenbronn belong administratively to the western Murg valley, although they are east of the main crest. The boundary between the Eberstein or Old
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
Murg valley (''
Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
'' of Gernsbach) and the
Old Württemberg Old Württemberg (german: link=no, Altwürttemberg) was the princely territory of Württemberg prior to the imperial treaty or ''Reichsdeputationshauptschluss'' of 1803, as opposed to the New Württemberg which followed and which acquired a lar ...
Enz valley ( Oberamt Wildbad) did not run along the watershed of the Hohloh, but about two or three kilometres east of it. The entire Hohloh region thus lay in Baden.


Natural region grouping

According to the
Handbook of the 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 ...
the Hohloh is part of the major unit group of the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is ...
(no. 15), of the Grinden Black Forest and Enz Heights (''Grindenschwarzwald und Enzhöhen'') major unit (no. 151), the Enz Heights (''Enzhöhen'') sub-unit (no. 151.1) and ''Enzmissen'' natural region (no. 151.11). Towards the east the countryside descends into the natural region of ''Enzriedel'' (151.10), to the southwest into the sub-unit of the Grinden Black Forest (''Grindenschwarzwald'') (151.0) and natural region of Grinden of the Middle Murg Valley (''Grinden des mittleren Murgtals'') (151.02) and to the northwest into the major unit of the Northern Riverine Black Forest (''Nördlicher Talschwarzwald'') (152), sub-unit of the Bühlertal Forest (''Bühlertaler Wald'') (152.1) and natural region of the Murg Forest (''Murgwald'') (152.11).


Hills and high points

The Hohloh is . Its flat summit dome or '' kuppe'' is the highest point on the eastern mountain chain of the Northern Black Forest, the ridge between the valleys of the Murg and Enz. Its opposite number is 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 essenti ...
, the highest point on the western mountain chain. On many maps, an elevation of is given; this is the height of the nearby site of the Hohloh Tower.


Topography

The summit region of the Hohloh is formed by a broad
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 ...
. In the west the plateau is bounded mainly by steep slopes with a pre-alpine character in the valley of the Murg which, like the plateau, lie on the bunter sandstone
platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...
. Below a height of about 640 metres, this is succeeded by the
basement A basement or cellar is one or more Storey, floors of a building that are completely or partly below the storey, ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, ...
and fertile soils on Forbach Granite, recognisable by a step in the landscape with a spring horizon, the transition from coniferous to mixed beech forest and the onset of grassy valleys. To the east, facing the Enz valley, the relief energy is markedly lower, the mountainsides are gentler, the boundary of the plateau less clear. The Hohloh region is drained, corresponding to the large-scale direction of dip of the bunter sandstone, predominantly into the eastern valleys (the Kegeltal valley, where the mountain pass over the Schwarzmiss runs, and the Rombach valley), long side valleys of the Great Enz. To the north the main chain heads for the Langmartskopf (Langmahd), Teufelsmühle and the
Dobel Dobel is a municipality in the district of Calw in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. History Dobel became a possession of the Duchy of Württemberg in 1527 after purchasing rights to the town over the last two hundred years, and it was assigned to ...
, to the south it transitions to the Breitloh region, followed by the Toter Mann, the
Schramberg Schramberg is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Black Forest, 25 km northwest of Rottweil. With all of its districts (Talstadt, Sulgen, Waldmössingen, Heiligenbronn, Schönbron ...
and the village of Besenfeld.


Nature


Plateau and raised bogs

On the southern part of the plateau is the Hohlohmiss, a ''
misse The Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is a series of experiments mounted externally on the International Space Station (ISS) that investigates the effects of long-term exposure of materials to the harsh space environment. ...
'' with
raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation ( omb ...
s and several
bog pond A bog pond (german: Moorauge) is a waterbody in the middle of a raised or kettle bog, formerly also in percolating mires (''Durchströmungsmooren''). It is also called a bog pool, bog eye, raised bog kolk, bog kolk or just kolk. Bog ponds owe t ...
s, including the Great and Little Hohlohsee. Like the neighbouring Wildseemoor, these are
biogenic A biogenic substance is a product made by or of life forms. While the term originally was specific to metabolite compounds that had toxic effects on other organisms, it has developed to encompass any constituents, secretions, and metabolites of p ...
and not
geomorphological Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or ...
landforms. They have developed since the last ice age about 10,000 years ago due to the high rainfall on the acidic '' klebsands'' of the upper conglomerate horizon of Middle Bunter. Due to their outstanding ecological importance, the Hohlohmiss and Wildseemoor have been protected as part of the Kaltenbronn Nature Reserve.


Reserves

The Hohlohseemoor south of the Hohloh summit has been 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 o ...
since 1940. Since 2000, the ''Hohlohsee bei Kaltenbronn'' Nature Reserve together with the Wildseemoor and surrounding ''
bannwald ''Bannwald'' is a German word used in parts of Germany and Austria to designate an area of protected forest. Its precise meaning has varied by location and over time. Etymology The word ''Bannwald'' is a combination of ''Bann'' (English ''ban'' ...
'' and ''
schonwald A ''Schonwald'' is the term used in the German state of Baden-Württemberg for a protected woodland area, in which economic usage of the forest is permitted, but under certain restrictions. The term is not used in other German-speaking regions or ...
'' have been part of the Kaltenbronn Nature Reserve and Protected Forest which covers an area of 17.5 km². On the mountain there are parts of the
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 ...
of the Middle Murg Valley (''Mittleres Murgtal''), CDDA No. 323009; 1940; 76.1 km²); the reserves being excluded from it. The nature reserve is part of the fauna-flora habitat region of ''Kaltenbronner Enzhöhen'' (FFH-No. 7316-341; 10.4244 km²). In addition there are elements of the Northern Black Forest bird reserve (''Vogelschutzgebiet Nordschwarzwald'', VSG No. 7415-441; 360.4511 km²) on the mountain. The Kaltenbronn region with the Hohloh was considered for inclusion in the Black Forest National Park, established in 2014,c.f. PricewaterhouseCoopers & ö:Concept: ''Gutachten zum potenziellen Nationalpark im Nordschwarzwald.'' Gutachten zu Händen des Ministeriums für Ländlichen Raum und Verbraucherschutz des Landes Baden-Württemberg. Berlin, April 2013. but was not eventually included.


Usage


Hohloh Tower and transmitter

At the northern end of the summit plateau, at a height of , is the Hohloh Tower (''Hohlohturm''), officially the Emperor William Tower (''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Turm''), an
observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...
, from which there are often wide views in the Northern Black Forest. It stands about 200 metres north of the summit and on the edge of the steep slope where a better view of the Murg Valley to the northwest may be had. As early as 1853 the Kaltenbronn Forestry Department directed the construction of an observation tower that, as well as having long-distance views into the Murg and Rhine valleys as well as of Württemberg and Hohenzollern in favourable weather, and even of the
Bernese Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=BerneseAlps.jpg , photo_caption=The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau , country= Switzerland , subdivision1_type= Cantons , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders_on= , ...
, about 250 kilometres away. A few years later a wooden tower with a
toposcope A toposcope, topograph, or orientation table is a kind of graphic display erected at viewing points on hills, mountains or other high places which indicates the direction, and usually the distance, to notable landscape features which can be seen f ...
was built, which was accessible until 1895. In 1897 the
Black Forest Club The Schwarzwaldverein (Black Forest Club or Black Forest Association) was founded in Freiburg im Breisgau ( Germany) in 1864, making it the oldest German hiking and mountaineering club. The Schwarzwaldverein has almost 90,000 members in 241 l ...
had a new tower built of bunter sandstone from the local area (work started on 10 May and it was completed on 12 August), which was 22.2 metres high at that time. Due to the height to which the trees had grown, it was raised in 1968 by a further 6.4 metres to the present 28.6 metres. This extra section can be seen from inside the tower: in the area of the old top of the tower the material of the
newel A newel, also called a central pole or support column, is the central supporting pillar of a staircase. It can also refer to an upright post that supports and/or terminates the handrail of a stair banister (the "newel post"). In stairs having str ...
changes from sandstone ashlars to
Béton brut ''Béton brut'' () is a French term that translates in English to “raw concrete”. The term is used to describe concrete that is left unfinished after being cast, displaying the patterns and seams imprinted on it by the formwork.''Exposed concr ...
. The staircase has 158 steps. The observation platform is at a height of roughly 1,012 m. Today the tower is managed by the Gernsbach branch of the Black Forest Club and owned by the state of Baden-Württemberg. On 21 October 2010 a licensing agreement was made between the Black Forest Club and the Forest Commission of Baden-Württemberg, prior to that its use was not regulated legally. The views reach from the
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...
to the southwest, over the Palatine Forest to the northwest, the
Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
to the north as far as the Jurassic crags of the
Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...
. In very good visibility the Feldberg in the
Southern Black Forest The Southern Black Forest (german: Südschwarzwald) is the highest part of the Black Forest, an area heavily transformed by ice age glaciation south of a line roughly from Freiburg im Breisgau to Donaueschingen. The term High Black Forest is no ...
and several peaks of the
Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...
can be made out on the southern horizon; to the north occasionally the
Großer Feldberg The Großer Feldberg ('Great Field Mountain') is, at a height of 879.5 metres, the highest elevation of the Taunus mountains, and of the entire Rhenish Massif. It is situated in the Hochtaunuskreis district in Hesse, Germany. The Feldberg/Taunu ...
in the
Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m). The Taunus range spa ...
may be seen. The panorama was improved further in the 1990s as a result of hurricanes Vivian,
Wiebke Wiebke is a feminine German given name. Notable people with the name include: *Wiebke von Carolsfeld (born 1966), German-Canadian film director and editor *Wiebke Drenckhan (born 1977), German physicist *Wiebke Eden (born 1968), German writer *Wie ...
and
Lothar Lothar is a Danish, Finnish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish masculine given name, while Lotár is a Hungarian masculine given name. Both names are modern forms of the Germanic Chlothar (which is a blended form of ''Hlūdaz'', meaning "fame", a ...
which destroyed large areas of trees on the summit plateau. Between the tower and the summit, on the site of a former military
radio relay Radio stations that cannot communicate directly due to distance, terrain or other difficulties sometimes use an intermediate radio relay station to relay the signals. A radio relay receives weak signals and retransmits them, often in a different di ...
installation is now a civilian
transmission mast Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-mad ...
and transmitter site that enables
mobile telephony Mobile telephony is the provision of telephone services to phones which may move around freely rather than stay fixed in one location. Telephony is supposed to specifically point to a voice-only service or connection, though sometimes the l ...
in the remote highlands.


Transport, hiking and sport

About 930 metres northeast of the summit of the Hohloh and 800 metres northeast of the Hohloh Tower on the northeastern edge of the summit plateau is the Schwarzmiss saddle (), over which the ''
Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...
'' 76b runs between
Hilpertsau Hilpertsau is a village in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is administratively part of the town of Gernsbach in the Rastatt district. Geography The village is located south of Gernsbach in the Murg Valley. History The first documented men ...
on the Murg and Sprollenhaus on the Great Enz. Both on the Schwarzmiss as well as below it (for example in the hamlet of Kaltenbronn) are several hikers'
car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...
s. They are starting points for walks, mountain bike tours and ''
loipe A cross-country skiing trail or ''loipe''From german: Loipe or ''Langlaufloipe'', pl. –''n'', ''loipe'' is a loanword in English-language travel guides, referring to cross-country ski trails in Europe. It is a Germanization of the Norwegian word ...
s. There are public bus services to Schwarzmiss and Kaltenbronn from the Murg and Enz valleys. The Black Forest ridgeways of West Way and
Middle Way The Middle Way ( pi, ; sa, ) as well as "teaching the Dharma by the middle" (''majjhena dhammaṃ deseti'') are common Buddhist terms used to refer to two major aspects of the Dharma, that is, the teaching of the Buddha.; my, အလယ် ...
as well as the E1 European long distance path run via Kaltenbronn and the Hohloh past the Hohlohsee and Hohloh Tower. The Hohlohseemoor is accessible on a
board walk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...
. The long distance ski trails on the ridge run north to the
Dobel Dobel is a municipality in the district of Calw in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. History Dobel became a possession of the Duchy of Württemberg in 1527 after purchasing rights to the town over the last two hundred years, and it was assigned to ...
(15 km from Schwarzmiss) and Wildbad-Sommerberg (12.5 km), to the south as far as Besenfeld (16 km). At Kaltenbronn there is a downhill ski slope with
drag lift A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-c ...
s. The Old Wine Road (''Alte Weinstraße''), a historical cart track from the lower to upper Murg Valley runs along the ridge of the Hohloh. It bypassed the gorge-like Middle Murg Valley which, until the 18th century, was only accessible on a mule track.


References

Heinz Fischer: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme: The natural region units on Sheet 169 Rastatt.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg 1967. →&nbs
Online map
(pdf; 4.4 MB)
Friedrich Huttenlocher, Hansjörg Dongus: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme: Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 170 Stuttgart.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg 1949, überarbeitet 1967. →&nbs
Online map
(pdf; 4.0 MB)
Hubert Intlekofer: ''Geschichte des Kaltenbronn'', p. 11 (see section on
Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
).
Landesarchivdirektion Baden-Württemberg, Landkreis Rastatt und Landesmedienzentrum Baden-Württemberg (publ.): ''Kreisbeschreibungen des Landes Baden-Württemberg – Der Landkreis Rastatt''. Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Stuttgart, 2002. Vol. 2, , p. 80 ''Verordnung des Regierungspräsidiums Karlsruhe und der Forstdirektion Freiburg über das Natur- und Waldschutzgebiet „Kaltenbronn“''
dated 22 December 2000, retrieved 9 August 2015
Hubert Intlekofer: ''Geschichte des Kaltenbronn'', S. 31 (siehe Abschnitt Literatur). Turmdaten – siehe: A) ''Kunst- und Kulturdenkmale im Landkreis Rastatt und in Baden-Baden'', herausgegeben vom Landkreis Rastatt und der Stadt Baden-Baden. Konrad-Theiss Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2002, , S. 225. B) Inschrift über dem Turmeingang. C) Informationsplatte auf der Aussichtsplattform.


External links

{{commons category
Gernsbacher Alpenblick – Photos of the Hohloh
Mountains under 1000 metres Bogs of Baden-Württemberg Mountains and hills of Baden-Württemberg Mountains and hills of the Black Forest Rastatt (district)