The Seulingswald (also called the Sillingswald) is a

hill range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in the German

Central Uplands The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (german: die MittelgebirgeN.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ...

which reaches heights of up to . It is part of the

Fulda-Werra Uplands The Fulda-Werra UplandsAigner, Andreas, Josef Stini and Hans Mortensen. ''Annals of geomorphology'', Gebr. Brontraeger, 1996, p. 298. (german: Fulda-Werra-Bergland) are a major natural regional unit (no. 357) in the East Hesse Highlands (major unit ...

in the

East Hesse Highlands The East Hesse Highlands (german: Osthessisches Bergland) describes a heavily wooded range of hills lying mainly in the German state of Hesse, but also extending a little way into Lower Saxony to the north, Thuringia to the east and Bavaria to the s ...

within the

Hessian A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse. Hessian may also refer to: Named from the toponym *Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire **Hessian (boot), a style of boot **Hessian f ...

county of

Hersfeld-Rotenburg Hersfeld-Rotenburg is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Werra-Meißner, Wartburgkreis, Fulda, Vogelsbergkreis, Schwalm-Eder. History In 1821, districts were created in Hesse, including the districts H ...

; small ridges extend into the

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

n county of

Wartburgkreis Wartburgkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the districts Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Gotha, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, and the districts Fulda, Hersfeld-Rotenburg and W ...

. It is a

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

range and one of the largest contiguous woodland areas in Hesse.

Geography

Location

The Seulingswald is located between the settlements of

Ronshausen Ronshausen is a municipality and a ''Luftkurort'' (“air spa”) in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The community lies in the valley of the Ulfe, which in Bebra empties into the Fulda. It lies in th ...

to the north and

Wildeck Wildeck is a municipality in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying right at the boundary with Thuringia, 54 km southeast of Kassel. Geography Location The community lies partly in the middle Werra valley, in th ...

to the northeast (both in Hesse), Großensee and

Dankmarshausen Dankmarshausen is a village and former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town of Werra-Suhl-Tal Werra-Suhl-Tal is a town and a municipality in the Wartburgkreis distri ...

to the east-northeast (both in Thuringia),

Heringen Heringen (Werra) is a small town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany lying right at the boundary with Thuringia. Geography Location The nearest major towns and cities are Bad Hersfeld (28 km to the west), Eisenach ...

to the east,

Friedewald Friedewald is a municipality in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous countr ...

to the south,

Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southeast ...

to the southwest,

Ludwigsau Ludwigsau is a municipality in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. With an area of 112 km² it is Hesse's biggest community by land area. Geography Location The community lies on the Fulda River, Fulda in the triangle ...

to the west and

Bebra Bebra () is a small town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Bebra lies some south of Kassel on the Fulda. The town is easy to find on most maps thanks to its prominent location on the ''Fuldaknie'' ...

to the northwest (all in Hesse). To the north, on the other side of the Ulfe valley, are the

Richelsdorf Hills The Richelsdorf Hills (german: Richelsdorfer Gebirge) is the name given to a landscape in the German Central Uplands. The terrain is up to high and forms a landscape characterised by mining ( copper shale, cobalt, nickel) in the county of Hersfeld- ...

. To the east the little hill range borders on the

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the t ...

. Small-scale east-northeastern spurs descend on the far side of Hessian Kleinensee to the River

Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...

near Thuringian Großensee. In the south the nearest streams are the Fulda and Werra on the heights of Friedewald before their confluence. This delineates the southern boundary of the Seulingswald, which transitions here into the Kuppen Rhön. To the west, on the far side of the

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 ...

, is the

Knüll The Knüllgebirge or simply Knüll is a small mountain range in the northern part of Hesse, Germany, approximately south of Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It i ...

Natural regions

The Seulingswald forms an eponymous

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 ...

(no. 357.20) within sub-unit Solztrotten and Seulingswald (357) which in turn is part of the major unit of the

(no. 35), which is part of the major unit group of the

(no. 35). Its east-northeastern ridges fall within the major unit of the

Salzungen Werra Upland The Salzungen Werra Upland (german: Salzunger Werrabergland) is a natural region in Germany that forms part of the East Hesse Highlands in the German states of Hesse and Thuringia. Location The Salzungen Werra Upland lies on either side of the ...

(359), and the subunit of the Salzungen-Herleshausen Werra Valley (359.1) and the natural region of the Berka Basin (359.12).

Hills

The

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

s of the Seulingswald include the following – sorted by height 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 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 ...

(NHN):

Spoil tip A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. These waste materials are typically composed of shale, as well as smaller quant ...

: *

Monte Kali Monte Kali and Kalimanjaro are local colloquial names for the spoil heap or spoil tip that towers over the town of Heringen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of a number of sites where the K+S chemical company dumps sodium chloride (common table salt ...

(530 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg Hills and high points: * Toter Mann (480.3 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Gnishecke (470.8 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Stangenrück (465.7 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Schwalbenkopf (454.7 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Siebertsberg (449.1 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Hornungskuppe (444.1 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg/Wartburgkreis * Hermesberg (444.7 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg/Wartburgkreis * Kornberg (435.1 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Roteberg (434.4 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Plessenberg (402 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Wackenbühl (419.0 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Kimmenberg (416.4 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Kirchenkopf (398.6 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Waltersberg (388 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Schwarzenberg (381.8 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Großer Steinkopf (375.4 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Höneberg (354.7 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Heiligenberg (Seulingswald) (317.3 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg/Wartburgkreis * Hoher Berg (314.7 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Burbachsrück (340.5 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Gellenberg (340.4 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Wolfberg (334.7 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Hagelsberg (326.9 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Auf'm Berg (324.6 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Spießberg (300.5 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Obersberg (299.6 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg * Lerchenberg (Seulingswald) (287.5 m), Wartburgkreis * Schottenberg (271.1 m), Hersfeld-Rotenburg

Protected areas

In the central area and extended to the west-northwest of the Seulingswald is the

protected landscape Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

of ''Seulingswald'' ( CDDA-No. 378688; designated in 1979; 30,2656

km² Square kilometre ( International spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square kilometer (American spelling), symbol km2, is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. 1 km2 is equ ...

). In large parts of the forested areas is the ''Seulingswald''

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(FFH No. 378688; 23.2315 km²). Near the Ulfe is the natural woodland reserve of ''Goldbachs- und Ziebachsrück'' which has an area of 31 ha.

History

On 27 September 1944 there was a major air battle over the Seulingswald between the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

, known as the

Kassel Mission The Kassel Mission on 27 September 1944 was also known as the ''air battle over the Seulingswald''. The mission aimed to destroy the factories in Kassel of the engineering works of Henschel & Sohn which built tracked armoured vehicles (the "Tiger ...

, which saw extremely high losses.

Transport and hiking

The Seulingswald is crossed by the A4 motorway roughly in a northeast-southwest direction. At the junction of ''

'' it passes over the B27 federal highway which runs from the west of the region northwards towards Bebra. There the ''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...

'' 3251 branches of the B 27 and passes north of the Seulingswald heading east through

to Hönebach on the Thuringian state border. The

E6 European long distance path The E6 European long distance path or E6 path is one of the European long-distance paths from the northwest tip of Finland through Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria to the Adriatic coast in Slovenia. A second section starts again in Greece to ...

runs between Hönebach and

, in places running parallel to the motorway.

Footnotes and references

Werner Röll: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme: Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 126 Fulda.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg, 1969. →&nbs
Online map
(pdf; 4.2 MB) The Toter Mann ( m) is the highest natural hill of the Seulingswald, but it is lower than the spoil tip of

on the eastern edge of the region (c. m). List prepare using DVD ''Hessen 3D'' () and ''Thüringen 3D'' ({{ISBN, 978-3-935603-79-9) ''Steckbrief des Totalreservates Goldbachs- und Ziebachsrück''
at naturwaelder.de