The Kermeter is an upland region, up to , which is part of the Rureifel within the

North Eifel The North Eifel (german: Nordeifel), the northern part of the Eifel, a low mountain range in Germany and East Belgium, comprises the following six sub-regions: * Venn Foreland, *Hohes Venn, *Rur Eifel, *Limestone Eifel, * Our Valley and *High Eifel. ...

in the districts of

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a people ...

and

Euskirchen Euskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating back over 700 years, having been granted to ...

in the southwestern part of the state of

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 ...

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 ...

. The Kermeter ridge is covered by a forest, some 33 km² in area, that is one of the largest contiguous,

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forests in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

. Since 1 January 2004 it has formed the core zone of the

Eifel National Park The Eifel National Park (german: Nationalpark Eifel) is the 14th national park in Germany and the first in North Rhine-Westphalia. The park was founded in 2004, and is classified as a "national park in development". Eifel National Park is par ...

Location

The Kermeter lies on the territory of the three Eifel parishes of

Heimbach Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhin ...

Simmerath Simmerath is a municipality in the district of Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 20 km south-east of Aachen, near the border to Belgium. The administrative area was expanded in 1972 and includes the foll ...

and

Schleiden Schleiden is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the Eifel hills, in the district of Euskirchen, and has 12,998 inhabitants as of 30 June 2017. Schleiden is connected by a tourist railway to Kall, on the Eifel Railway between Col ...

. It is bordered to the north and west by the

Rur Reservoir The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...

(around ) and thus by the

Rur The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...

valley near

, to the southwest by the Obersee (a pre-basin of the Rur Dam), and in the south by the

Urft Reservoir The Urft Dam (german: Urfttalsperre) is a 58.50 metre high dam in the southwestern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was built in 1905. The dam impounds the River Urft in the district of Euskirchen to create the Urft Reser ...

(at around ) and thus the

Urft Kall is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approximatively 20 km south-west of Euskirchen Euskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in N ...

valley. In the southwest the Kermeter transitions into

Wolfgarten Wolfgarten is a village in the north of the borough of Schleiden in the Eifel mountains in the county of Euskirchen (district), Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The village has a population of about 195. Location Wolfgar ...

and

Gemünd Gemünd is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Eu ...

in the direction of the upper reaches of the Rotbach. The highest point in the Kermeter is an unnamed rounded summit () near Wolfgarten, on which the fire service and observation tower, the Wolfgarten Fire Watchtower (''Feuerwachtturm Wolfgarten''), stands (a list of other Kermeter hills is given

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor *Bottom (disambiguation) Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...

Landscape and nature

The Kermeter covers an area of 3,592 hectares, of which about 3,300 hectares is a single forested area (the so-called ''Kermeter-Hochwald'' or Kermeter High Forest). Beech woods dominate the shaded, damp northern slopes (24%), in places with trees that are over 200 years old. Oak woods hold sway on the drier, southern slopes (26%), interrupted by rocky outcrops (''Felsheide''). At the start of the 21st century almost half the forest area still consisted of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

trees, a consequence of reforestation measures after 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 opposin ...

. However it is planned that in the long term the spruce stock will be reduced in favour of deciduous woods.

Hills

Amongst the hills and high points of the Kermeter are the following, according to the '' Deutsche Grundkarte'' and sorted by height in metres above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

: * Unnamed summit near

(527.8 m), Euskirchen district; highest hill in the Kermeter; with 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 ...

and the Wolfgarten Fire Watchtower (''Feuerwachtturm Wolfgarten'') * Hellberg (525.8 m) * Wildbretshügel (525.3 m), Euskirchen district; good views of the

* Theissenberg (522.4 m), Euskirchen district * Verbrannter Berg (515.5 m); with the Verbrannter Berg ancient forest (''Urwald Verbrannter Berg'') * Winterberg (Wolfgarten) (503.4 m); with Kermeterstollen below its western hillside * Mauelter Berg (502.4 m); with fire watchtower (incl. transmitter) and hunting lodge * Honigberg (495 m), Kreis Düren district * Schweizer Berge, slate formation on the southern outskirts of the Urftsee lake (max. 482.2 m) * Böttenbachsberg (466.6 m) * Weidenauer Berg (453.3 m), Kreis Düren district * Adamsberg (443.8 m) * Altenberg (423.0 m); near

Mariawald Abbey Mariawald Abbey (german: link=no, Abtei Mariawald) was a monastery of the Trappists (formally known as the Cistercians of the Strict Observance), located above the village of Heimbach, in the district of Düren in the Eifel, in the forests ar ...

* Griesberg (421.3 m); near

* Winterberg (southern Kermeter) (404.8 m) * Hohenberg (363.7 m) * Tonsberg (333.3 m); with ruined castle (cultural monument)

Location

Landscape and nature

Hills

External links

Further reading