The Franconian HeightsBavarian State Chancellery, ''Information about Bavaria'', 1981, p. 11. () are a hill ridge, up to , in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

South Germany Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...

Location and boundaries

The Franconian Heights lie in the west of

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

on either side of the border between Bavaria in the east (with the districts of Neustadt a.d.Aisch-Bad Windsheim and

Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

) and Baden-Württemberg in the west (

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 N ...

and a small area of the

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

). The larger part lies in Bavaria; the markedly smaller southwestern element is in Baden-Württemberg. It includes the southern part of the so-called Crailsheim Hardt (''Crailsheimer Hardt''), which extends in an arc around the town of

Crailsheim Crailsheim () is a town in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall (district), Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's mai ...

from the ramp of the A 6 northeast of

Satteldorf Satteldorf is a municipality in the district of Schwäbisch Hall (district), Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Satteldorf is located on the Hohenloher level on the Jagst, a right tributary of the Neckar, about 4 km ...

in the north as far as Jagst near Stimpfach in the south, where it transitions into the

Virngrund The Virngrund (also called the Firngrund) is a historical landscape in the counties of Ostalbkreis and Schwäbisch Hall in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. it is forested in many places and up to . Geography Location Historic lands ...

. It also includes the little basin of the upper ''Zwergwörnitz'' to the southeast, near Kreßberg. The Franconian Heights, whose plateau has a

hill country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

character in places, lie south of the somewhat lower hills of the

Steigerwald The Steigerwald () is a hill region up to in the Bavarian-Franconian part of the South German Scarplands between Würzburg and Nuremberg. It is part of the Keuper Uplands, and within it, it is continued to the north-northeast and right of the ...

, east of the Hohenlohe Plain and northeast of the

Ellwangen Hills The Ellwangen Hills () are a hill ridge, up to , in the counties of Schwäbisch Hall and Ostalbkreis in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The name of the range comes from the town of Ellwangen. The hills are known nationally especially ...

, and not quite half way on a line from

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, east of Rothenburg.

Geology

Geologically, the Franconian Heights belong to the

Keuper Uplands The Keuper Uplands ( 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 northeast): the Kleiner Heu ...

, which run through both the Franconian Keuper-Lias Land and through the adjacent Swabian Keuper-Lias Land to the southwest, and is also surrounded by lias country. Its northern continuation is the

, up to 499 m high, which transitions into the Haßberge (up to 512 m) on the far side of the

River Main The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...

. Its southern continuation, the

Swabian-Franconian Forest The Swabian-Franconian Forest (, also ''Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald'') is a mainly forested, deeply incised upland region, 1,187 km² in area and up to , in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg. It forms natural region major unit number 108 w ...

, runs from the southern boundary of the Heights, mainly westwards, and is a little higher, climbing to 586 m. On its western side, the Franconian Heights end in a steep scarp (also called the ''Trauf''), and in the east, descends to the plains. The dominant rock type is (

keuper The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolomite, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Lat ...

-)sandstone; the soils are relatively sandy. Old quarries, such as those in Obergailnau near Wettringen bear witness to the former importance of this rock for house construction in the region.

Nature park

The Franconian Heights Nature Park covers most of the region, but not its southern part. In addition, it extends westwards near Rothenburg and as far as the

Sulzach Sulzach is a river of Bavaria, Germany. It flows into the Wörnitz near Wittelshofen. See also *List of rivers of Bavaria A list of rivers of Bavaria, Germany: A * Aalbach * Abens * Ach * Afferbach * Affinger Bach * Ailsbach * Aisch * Aiter ...

north of

Feuchtwangen Feuchtwangen is a city in Ansbach district in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in Bavaria, Germany, with around 12,000 residents and an area of 137 km², making it the biggest city in the Ansbach district by population and area. In 20 ...

, well beyond the ridge itself.

Settlements

The towns and villages of the region include: * Burgbernheim * Colmberg *

with subdistricts east of the Jagst * Diebach * Dombühl *

Fichtenau Fichtenau is a community of several villages, in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the ...

with its subdistrict of Wäldershub * Kreßberg * Marktbergel * Markt Erlbach *

Obernzenn Obernzenn is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim in Bavaria in Germany. Personalities * Johann Michael Zeyher (1770-1843), Baden director of the theater * Johann Appler (1892-1978), NSDAP ...

and its eastern subdistricts *

Schillingsfürst Schillingsfürst is a municipality in the district of Ansbach, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 12 km southeast of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and 23 km west of Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Ba ...

Schnelldorf Schnelldorf is a municipality in the district of Ansbach in Mittelfranken in Bavaria in Germany. It neighbours to Feuchtwangen Feuchtwangen is a city in Ansbach district in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in Bavaria, Germany, wit ...

* Stimpfach with several villages *

Trautskirchen Trautskirchen is a municipality in the district of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim in Bavaria in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ...

* Wettringen * Wörnitz

Transport

The Franconian Heights are crossed by the A 6 and A 7 motorways, which meet in the valley of the Wörnitz at the Feuchtwangen/Crailsheim intersection. The ramp on the A 6 after the Crailsheim exit which is still on the Hohenlohe Plain up to the western ''Trauf'' or edge of the Heights, clearly shows the morphological border. A rest stop on the A 6 about 10 km east of the motorway intersection is named after the landscape.

References

Emil Meynen, Josef Schmithüsen (eds.): ''

Handbook of the Natural Region Divisions of Germany The ''Handbook of Natural Region Divisions of Germany'' () was a book series resulting from a project by the former German Federal Institute for Regional Studies ('' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde'') to determine the division of Germany into natu ...

.'' Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen/Bad Godesberg, 1953–1962 (9 issues in 8 books, updated 1:1,000,000 with major units, 1960).

External links

* Landscape fact file by the

BfN The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (, ''BfN'') is the German government's scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government's departmental research agencies an ...

*
Frankenhöhe
(boundaries do not cover the entire Franconian Heights, because the upper Altmühl valley is excluded) *

(only in the northwest of the Franconian Heights) {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Bavaria Mountain and hill ranges of Baden-Württemberg Regions of Bavaria Regions of Baden-Württemberg Schwäbisch Hall (district) Ostalbkreis Natural regions of the South German Scarplands