The Franconian Jura ( , , or ) is an upland in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

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 ...

. Located between two rivers, the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in the south and the Main in the north, its peaks reach elevations of up to and it has an area of some 7053.8 km². Emil Meynen,

Josef Schmithüsen Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan spe ...

: '' Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen/Bad Godesberg 1953–1962 (9 editions in 8 volumes, updated map 1:1,000,000 scale with major units, 1960). Large portions of the Franconian Jura are part of the

Altmühl Valley Nature Park The Altmühl Valley Nature Park (german: Naturpark Altmühltal) is a nature park, 2,962 km² in area, in the south German state of Bavaria. The area of the park is almost coextensive with that of the natural region major unit of the Southern ...

. The scenic meanders and gorges formed by the river

Altmühl The Altmühl (, la, Alchmona, Alcmana, Almonus)
s.v. is a river in

draw tourists to visit the region. Geologically, the Franconian Jura is the eastern continuation 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 ...

. The mountain chains are separated from each other by the

impact crater An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...

of the

Nördlinger Ries The Nördlinger Ries is an impact crater and large circular depression in western Bavaria and eastern Baden-Württemberg. It is located north of the Danube in the district of Donau-Ries. The city of Nördlingen is located within the depression, a ...

. The northern part of the Franconian Jura is known as Little Switzerland (). TrockentalOberleinleiter

References

Central Uplands Geography of Bavaria Mountain ranges of Bavaria Mountain ranges of Germany {{Bavaria-geo-stub