The Ellwangen Hills (german: Ellwanger Berge) are a

hill ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

, up to , in the counties of

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

and

Ostalbkreis The Ostalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Schwäbisch Hall, Ansbach, Donau-Ries, Heidenheim, Göppingen and Rems-M ...

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 ...

. The name of the range comes from the town of

Ellwangen Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen (Jagst), in common use simply Ellwangen () is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated about north of Aalen. Ellwangen has 25,000 inhabitants. ...

. The hills are known nationally especially because of the eponymous motorway services on the A 7.

Geography

Location

The Ellwangen Hills belong to the

Keuper Uplands The Keuper Uplands (german: Keuperbergland or, more rarely ''Keuperwaldberge'') are part of the South German Scarplands and cover an area of about 3,200 square kilometres. The following regions belong to the Keuper Uplands (from southwest to nort ...

and lie about 65 kilometres northeast of the city of Stuttgart and around 67 kilometres (both

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...

) east-southeast of the city of Heilbronn between the Haller Plain to the north, the Franconian Heights and the Virngrund to the east, the Härtsfeld to the south, the Frickenhofer Höhe to the southwest and the

Limpurg Hills The Limpurg Hills (german: Limpurger Berge) are a hill range, up to , in the Swabian-Franconian Forest in the counties of Schwäbisch Hall and Ostalbkreis in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The majority of the region belonged formerly to ...

to the west. They are situated south of Frankenhardt, west of Rosenberg and

, northwest of Hüttlingen, east of

Adelmannsfelden Adelmannsfelden is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district. Geography Adelmannsfelden is located in the landscape Ellwangen Hills in the Natural region Swabian-Franconian Forest. Municipality division ...

Bühlerzell Bühlerzell is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Schwäbisch Hall (district), Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. References

Schwäbisch Hall (district) Württemberg {{SchwäbischHall-geo-stu ...

and

Bühlertann Bühlertann is a municipality in the district of Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Euro ...

and southeast of Obersontheim and

Vellberg Vellberg is a town in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located 10 km east of Schwäbisch Hall, and 15 km southwest of Crailsheim Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württember ...

Hills

The highest point of the Ellwangen Hills is the summit of the Schönberg at 569.2 m, which is 1.7 kilometres north-northeast of Neuler- Gaishardt. The hill has a rather uneven plateau to the south of the summit which is about 100 metres wide and around 700 metres long, over 560 m metres high. The Schönberg is entirely wooded which means there are no views from the top. The next highest point is the '' Hohenberg'', 568.9 m, at the eastern foot of which is the village of Rosenberg-Hohenberg. The hilltop forms a steep, ''

kuppe A ''Kuppe'' is the term used in German-speaking central Europe for a mountain or hill with a rounded summit that has no rock formation, such as a tor, on it. A range of such hills is called a ''Kuppengebirge''. In geology the term also refers to ...

'' that rises roughly 50 metres above the surrounding area and has a plateau measuring about 300 metres from west to east and is 100 metres wide. Apart from its western hillside, the whole ''kuppe'' is treeless and offers views over much of the Ellwangen Hills, to the south as far as the

Albtrauf The term Albtrauf (Alp escarpment) refers to the northwest facing escarpment of the Swabian Alps, situated in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is the most distinctive stepped slope within the alpine region of the South German Scarplands, leadi ...

. Several footpaths meet on the ''kuppe'': from Burgberg to the north,

Bühlerzell Bühlerzell is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Schwäbisch Hall (district), Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. References

Schwäbisch Hall (district) Württemberg {{SchwäbischHall-geo-stu ...

to the west, Orrotsee to the east and from

to the southeast. There s a

pilgrimage church A pilgrimage church (german: Wallfahrtskirche) is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims. Pilgrimage churches are often located by the grave ...

, St. James, on the top and there is a Way of the Cross on the path climbing up from the village. For many years a branch of the Way of St. James also ran here, coming from

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the ...

over the castle hill to the church and then on to

Abtsgmünd Abtsgmünd is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district. Abtsgmünd is located at the confluence of two streams, the Lein and the Kocher. Famous locals include Patrick Benedict Zimmer who was born in the ...

-Wöllstein heading for Switzerland.

References

{{Authority control Regions of Baden-Württemberg Forests and woodlands of Baden-Württemberg Schwäbisch Hall (district) Ostalbkreis Natural regions of the Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains