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The is a mountain within the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
state of Hesse. It is a large plateau formation at an elevation of and is the highest peak in the
Rhön Mountains The Rhön Mountains () are a group of low mountains (or ''Mittelgebirge'') in central Germany, located around the border area where the states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia come together. These mountains, which are at the extreme southeast end o ...
. Great advances in sailplane development took place on the mountain during the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
, driven by annual contests. Near the summit there is still an airfield used by gliding clubs and pilots of light aircraft.


Etymology

The German name is derived from ''Wasenkuppe, Asenberg'' or ''Weideberg'' and means ''Pasture mountain''.


Geography

The Wasserkuppe lies in the administrative district
Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...
north of
Gersfeld Gersfeld is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the Fulda River, in the Rhön Mountains, southeast of Fulda. It belonged to the abbey-principality of Fulda before secularisation in 1803. It then belonged to the ...
. Other villages nearby are
Poppenhausen Poppenhausen is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Schweinfurt (district), Schweinfurt in Bavaria, Germany. It consists of the following six localities: Hain, Kronungen, Kützberg, Maibach, Pfersdorf, Poppenhausen. Ref ...
( west - south west) and
Wüstensachsen Ehrenberg is a municipality in the Fulda (district), district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. Geography The municipality is located in the centre of the wildlife park "Hessische Rhön" in a level of 450 up to 900 meters and approx. 30 km from F ...
( east, part of
Ehrenberg, Hesse Ehrenberg is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. Geography The municipality is located in the centre of the wildlife park "Hessische Rhön" in a level of 450 up to 900 meters and approx. 30 km from Fulda. Most of its ...
). It is part of the
Rhön Biosphere Reserve The Rhön Biosphere Reserve includes the entire central area of the Rhön Mountains, a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia. Aim In 1991 the Rhön was recognised at international level by UNESCO as a biosph ...
. The Wasserkuppe sources the spring of the river
Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...
(the western source of the Weser) and the river Lütter which joins the Fulda after . The other peaks near the Wasserkuppe are Abtsrodaer Kuppe (north,  NN), (east,  NN) and Pferdskopf (south west,  NN).


Aeronautical development

Students from the Darmstadt University of Technology, then known as ''Technische Hochschule Darmstadt'', began flying
glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
s from the Wasserkuppe as early as 1911, but interest in
gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...
in Germany increased greatly after 1918 when the Treaty of Versailles restricted the production or use of powered aircraft in the nation. From 1920 onwards, annual gliding competitions were held, leading to records being set and broken for height, distance and duration of unpowered flight. In 1922 became the first glider pilot to use an updraft rising along a mountain slope to stay aloft for a lengthy period.Deutsches Museum web-site
/ref> He then founded the world's first glider pilot school at the Wasserkuppe. The first competition was organised by
Oskar Ursinus Carl Oskar Ursinus (11 March 1877 – 6 July 1952) was a pioneer of German aviation and is remembered mainly for his contributions to sailplane designs and the sport of gliding. He has been nicknamed the ''Rhönvater'' ("Rhön father") because ...
,Reitsch, H., 1955, The Sky My Kingdom, London: Biddles Limited, Guildford and King's Lynn, who also built the first clubhouse on the Wasserkuppe in 1924 to replace the shipping containers that enthusiasts were using as accommodation up to that point. By 1930, the competition had become an international event, drawing pilots from all over Europe and even the United States. Also in 1924 'Rhönvater' (Rhön father) Oskar Ursinus convinced the then secretary of air transport for the ministry of transportation to turn the new gliding club into a state funded research organization. This started the
Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) or Rhön-Rossitten Society was a German gliding organization, the first one in the world that was officially recognised. The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft was mainly responsible for establishing gliding as a spo ...
and as a result, the Wasserkuppe now had a gliding school, workshops for building gliders and a funded research facility.
Alexander Lippisch Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of tailless aircraft, delta wings and the ground effect, and a ...
was appointed as the managing director of the new society. Virtually every German aeronautical engineer and test pilot of note during the 1920s and 1930s spent time building, testing, and flying aircraft at the Wasserkuppe, including the
Günter brothers Gunter or Günter may refer to: * Gunter rig, a type of rig used in sailing, especially in small boats * Gunter Annex, Alabama, a United States Air Force installation * Gunter, Texas, city in the United States People Surname * Chris Gunter ( ...
, Wolf Hirth, the
Horten brothers Walter Horten (born 13 November 1913 in Bonn; died 9 December 1998 in Baden-Baden, Germany) and Reimar Horten (born 12 March 1915 in Bonn; died 14 March 1994 in Villa General Belgrano, Argentina), sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were ...
, Robert Kronfeld, Hans Jacobs, Heini Dittmar, Alexander Lippisch,
Willy Messerschmitt Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (; 26 June 1898 – 15 September 1978) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Rethel, he designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which became the most importan ...
, Hanna Reitsch,
Peter Riedel Peter Riedel (August 1905 – November 6, 1998) was a German gliding champion, and was Air Attaché for the Nazism, Nazi government in Washington, D.C., before and during World War II. Between 1977 and 1985 he published the definitive history ...
, and
Alexander Schleicher Alexander Schleicher (May 22, 1901 – April 26, 1968) was a German pioneer of sailplane design. The company that he founded and which bears his name - Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co - is today one of the world's leading sailplane manufacture ...
.
Beverley Shenstone Beverley Strahan Shenstone MASc, HonFRAes, FAIAA, AFIAS, FCAISI, HonOSTIV (10 June 1906 – 9 November 1979) was a Canadian aerodynamicist often credited with developing the aerodynamics of the Supermarine Spitfire elliptical wing. In his lat ...
, who was later a key part of the design team for the Spitfire, flew gliders at Wasserkuppe in 1930. This period saw great advances in new technologies such as
flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...
s and rocket-powered flights. In the 1930s the "Ehrenhalle" (Hall of Honor) was constructed in the Lilienthal Haus, with heavy bronze doors opening into a large hall with a stained glass window. The centerpiece is a larger-than-life bronze figure of Otto Lilienthal lying on an (empty) tomb. It is a memorial to all pilots who have died in aviation accidents. The inscription on the memorial is Lilienthal's famous last words: "Opfer müssen gebracht werden" roughly meaning: "Sacrifices must be made." In Nazi Germany, gliding activities became largely controlled by the state, and for Hitler Youth pilots and their instructors, proficiency in gliding was viewed as the first step towards the '' Luftwaffe''. Sailplane research was also nationalised under the '' Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug'' (DFSGerman Research Institute for Sailplane Flight). Following World War II, a US Air Force base, radar station, and
surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
station were established there but when restrictions on German aviation were lifted in 1951, gliding soon returned to the Wasserkuppe where it has remained popular since. Beginning in the 1970s, the newer sport of hang gliding has also found a home there. Following the reunification of Germany and demise of the Soviet Union, the surveillance and radar installations were removed in the 1990s. In 1970, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first competition, the ''Deutsches Segelflugmuseum'' (German Sailplane Museum) was opened on the plateau, with
Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...
a guest of honour at the ceremony. The museum gained a new building in 1987. The Wasserkuppe is also the home of the ''Oldtimer Segelflugclub'' (OSC – Oldtimer Gliding Club), dedicated (as its name suggests) to flying vintage sailplanes. Next to the long tradition of sailplanes the Wasserkuppe has become a sports and weekend centre offering a wide selection of activities. Paragliding as well as Snowkiting is offered. In winter the area is used by skiers and snowboarders.


See also

*
RRG Fafnir The RRG Fafnir, named after the legendary dragon, was a single seat German high performance glider designed by Alexander Lippisch. It won the Rhön competition in 1931 and made several outstanding flights as well as setting a fashion for gull w ...
*
RRG Professor The RRG Professor was a very early soaring glider and the first to use a variometer for finding thermals. It was designed by Alexander Lippisch in Germany, first flying in 1928. The Professor was widely built by both flying clubs and factories ...
*
RRG Urubu Obs The RRG Urubu Obs (the Urubu is an Argentinian Vulture), often known just as the RRG Obs, was a one-off, large, two or three seat glider designed for meteorological observations by Alexander Lippisch in Germany and first flown in 1932. Design ...
*
Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) or Rhön-Rossitten Society was a German gliding organization, the first one in the world that was officially recognised. The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft was mainly responsible for establishing gliding as a spo ...
*
Stratobowl The Stratobowl is a compact natural depression within the limits of Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota, south-west of Rapid City. In 1934–1935 it housed a stratospheric balloon launch site, initially known as Stratocamp, sponsored by ...
, a similar bowl-shaped natural landform in the United States, associated with historic aviation activity


References


External links

*
''Oldtimer Segelflugclub'' (in German)

''Pilot school at the Wasserkuppe'' (in German)

hourly updated Webcam picture of the Airfield at the Wasserkuppe (EDER) taken from pilot schools webpages
{{Authority control Gliding in Germany Mountains of Hesse Mountains and hills of the Rhön Mountains under 1000 metres