The Moselle Eifel (german: Moseleifel) forms the southeastern strip of the

East Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

to the left of the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

from the city of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

downstream as far as

Moselkern Moselkern is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Cochem. Geograp ...

; in the southeast it does not reach as far as the Moselle Valley. It lies exclusively within the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

and is a truncated

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, roughly half of which is forested.

Geography

Location

The Moselle Eifel runs in a southwest to northeast direction, northwest along the Moselle river, sometimes away from the river, between Trier-Ehrang, at the confluence of the

Kyll The Kyll (), noted by the Roman poet Ausonius as ''Celbis'',Ausonius, ''Mosella'', v. 359 is a river in western Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate), left tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Eifel mountains, near the b ...

and the Moselle, and

at the confluence of the

Elzbach The Elzbach (also: ''Elz'') is a small river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, a left tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Eifel, near Kelberg. The Elz flows through Monreal and past Eltz Castle. It flows into the Moselle in Moselkern, in ...

with the same

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

tributary. The hills of the Moselle Eifel are lower than those of the adjacent and very ancient

Volcanic Eifel The Volcanic Eifel or Vulkan Eifel (german: Vulkaneifel) is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of this volcanic field are its typical explosion crater la ...

to the north and only exceed in a few places, reaching a maximum of at Schafstall near

Bremm Bremm is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to ...

. On the far, southeastern side of the Moselle Valley with its many

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

s and well known

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s rises the somewhat higher hill range of the

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...

Natural region grouping

The Moselle Eifel forms a major

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

unit (270) within the major unit group of the

(no. 27) die Haupteinheit ''Moseleifel'' (270) and has the

BfN 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' ...

no. 27001. It is divided as follows: 270 Moselle Eifel (''Moseleifel'', 790.0552 km²) * 270.0 Eastern Moselle Eifel (''Östliche Moseleifel'', 269.3467 km²) ** 270.00 Elz Valley (''Elztal'', 26.7871 km²) ** 270.01 Kaiseresch Eifel Perimeter (''Kaisersescher Eifelrand'', 104.1525 km²) ** 270.02 Gevenich Upland (''Gevenicher Hochfläche'', 138,4071 km²) * 270.1 Lower Ueßbach Valley (''Unteres Ueßbachtal'', 20.6023 km²) * 270.2

Kondelwald The Kondelwald, also known as the Kondel, is a forest, about 2,500 hectares in area and up to , that forms part of the Moselle Eifel. It lies within the counties of Bernkastel-Wittlich and Cochem-Zell in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ...

(24.8771 km²) * 270.3 Öffling Upland (''Öfflinger Hochfläche'', 136.6507 km²) * 270.4 Middle Lieser Valley (''Mittleres Liesertal'', 25.7156 km²) * 270.5 Southern Volcanic Eifel (''Südliche Vulkaneifel'', 164.1671 km²) ** 270.50 Daun-Manderscheid Volcanoes (''Daun-Manderscheider Vulkanberge'', 83.5247 km²) ** 270.51 Daun Maar Region (''Dauner Maargebiet'', 80.6424 km²) * 270.6 Wittlich Hedge Land (''Wittlicher Heckenland'', 105.9256 km²) ** 270.60 Naurath Horst (''Naurather Horst'', 19.8545 km²) ** 270.61 Arenrath Upland (''Arenrather Hochfläche'', 15.2233 km²) ** 270.62 Littgen Upland (''Littgener Hochfläche'', 70.8478 km²) * 270.7 Meulenwald (42.7701 km²) The Moselle Eifel lies between these major natural regional units looking downstream along the Moselle: in the direction of the Eifel: * 260 Mosel-Saar-Gau and East Luxembourg Gutland (''Ostluxemburger Gutland'') – the southwestern part of the Moselle Eifel, from Trier-Ehrang to

Binsfeld Binsfeld near Wittlich in the Eifel is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Nearby is the American S ...

* 277 Kyllburg Forest Eifel (''Kyllburger Waldeifel'') – middle section of the Moselle Eifel, from Niederkail to Waldkönigen * 276 Limestone Eifel (''Kalkeifel'') – middle section of the Moselle Eifel, near Waldkönigen * 271 Eastern High Eifel (''Östliche Hocheifel'') – northern part of the Moselle Eifel, from Waldkönigen to Reudelsterz * 291

Middle Rhine Basin The Middle Rhine Basin (german: Mittelrheinische Becken) is the central landscape region of the Middle Rhine in Germany and, along with the Limburg Basin, forms one of the biggest intra-montane lowland regions within the Rhenish Massif. The basin i ...

(''Mittelrheinisches Becken'') – northern part of the Moselle Eifel, from Reudelsterz to

the direction of and along the Moselle: * 250 Middle Moselle Valley (''Mittleres Moseltal'') – southwest to northwest part of the Moselle Eifel, from Trier-Ehrang to Moselkern

Hills and viewing points

The hills and viewing points left of the Moselle Valley include the following (in downstream order) – with heights in

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

s (m) above sea level (NHN) (unless otherwise stated:) * Rothenberg (365.3 m), near

Ürzig Ürzig is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality lies surroun ...

* Fieberberg (ca. 400 m), near the river bend at

Traben-Trarbach Traben-Trarbach on the Middle Moselle is a town in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and a state-recognized climatic spa (''Luftkurort''). The city lies in the ...

* Hill on which

Arras Castle Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of t ...

stands (250.6 m) and the Barl (282.5 m), near the river bend at Kaimt/Barl *

Calmont (hill) The Calmont, also called the Calmond, between Bremm and Ediger-Eller in the county of Cochem-Zell in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is a steep hill on the heights above the Moselle river to a height of . It lies within the Moselle ...

(380.6 m) und Schafstall (423.0 m), near the river bend at

* Klottenberg and Ellerberg (352 and 385 m) *

Eltz Castle Eltz Castle (german: Burg Eltz) is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle between Koblenz and Trier, Germany. It is still owned by a branch of House of Eltz who have lived there since the 12th century. Eltz Castle along with B� ...

(143.9 m), near Wierschem Further inland towards the Volcanic Eifel are the: * Eickelslay (390 m), with a panoramic view * Falkenley (413.7 m), near

Bad Bertrich Bad Bertrich is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Ulmen, who ...

, north of the

* Asberg (354.8 m), near Salmrohr

Description

The region is a popular holiday area and part of the

Middle Moselle The Middle Moselle or Central Moselle (german: Mittelmosel) refers to the approximately 120-kilometre-long section of the river Moselle, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany from the city of Trier to Zell. The subsequent section of t ...

wine growing region. This is characterised by a large number of small, prestigious vineyards that are family-owned. As a result of the relatively steep Moselle Valley the Moselle Wine Road, while the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

only travels along the valley as far as the first river bend at

Zell Zell may refer to: Places Austria * Zell am See, in Salzburg state * Zell am Ziller, in Tyrol * Zell, Carinthia, in Carinthia * in Upper Austria: ** Bad Zell ** Zell am Moos ** Zell an der Pram ** Zell am Pettenfirst Germany * Zell im Fichtelgebi ...

and then ascends the hill upland.

References and footnotes

Otmar Werle: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme: Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 148/149 Trier/Mettendorf.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg 1974. →&nbs
Online-Karte
(PDF; 4,5 MB) Heinz Fischer, Richard Graafen: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme: Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 136/137 Cochem.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg 1974. →&nbs
Online-Karte
(PDF; 5,6 MB) Heinrich Müller-Miny, Martin Bürgener: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme: Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 138 Koblenz.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg 1971. →&nbs
Online-Karte
(PDF; 5,7 MB) Landschaftssteckbrief

, auf bfn.de Berghöhe – diverse Erhebungen laut unbekannte / nicht recherchierte Quelle

Literature and external links

* General map of Germany 1:200,000, Sheet 12
''Moseleifel Touristik''
at moseleifel-touristik.de {{Authority control Hill ranges of Germany Regions of the Eifel Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate