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The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
(east). It is continued by the
Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...
mountains, past the Rhine and by the
Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...
past the Moselle. To the south of the Nahe is a lower, hilly country forming the near bulk of the
Palatinate region The Palatinate (; ; Palatine German: ''Palz''), or the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz''), is a historical region of Germany. The Palatinate occupies most of the southern quarter of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (''Rheinla ...
and all of the, smaller,
Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...
. Below its north-east corner is
Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...
. As the Hunsrück proceeds east it acquires north-south width and three notable gaps in its southern
ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...
s. In this zone are multi-branch headwaters including the Simmerbach ending at Simmertal on the southern edge. This interior is therefore rarely higher than above sea level. Peaks and escarpments are principally: the (Black Forest) Hochwald, the Idar Forest, the Soonwald, and the
Bingen Forest The Bingen Forest () is part of the Hunsrück, a low mountain range in the Central Uplands of Germany. It is up to and is located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Location The landscape of the Bingen Forest lies on the boundary of the ...
. The highest mountain is the Erbeskopf (816 m; 2,677 ft), towards the region's south-west. Notable towns are Simmern, Kirchberg, and
Idar-Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the respons ...
, Kastellaun, and Morbach.
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Hahn Airporthahn-airport.de
retrieved 30 April 2025
() , also colloquially known and formerly officially br ...
is at the centre of the upland, equidistant between
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
,
Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
and Koblenz, co-named after the village of Hahn.
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
is still mined in the mountains. Since 2010, the region has become one of Germany's major onshore
wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...
regions. Large
wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...
s are near Ellern and Kirchberg. Nature-based tourism is widespread. In 2015, a new
national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
was inaugurated. The pedestrian Geierlay suspension bridge opened in the same year. The climate sees mists that rise most mornings. More rain than the German average is caused by a combination of an oceanic influence and relief precipitation. Culturally, the region is best known for its Hunsrückisch dialect and through depictions in the ''
Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it h ...
'' film series. The region saw great
emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
in the mid-19th century, particularly to
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
.


Geography


Location

The heart of the Hunsrück is formed by the Hunsrück Plateau and the Simmern Bowl. In the northwest the Hunsrück is bounded by the
Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...
river and in the east by the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
. Its northeasternmost tip is thus formed by the
Deutsches Eck The Deutsches Eck (, "German Corner") is the name of a promontory in Koblenz, Germany, where the Moselle, Mosel river joins the Rhine. Named after a local commandry of the Teutonic Order, it became known for a monumental equestrian statue of Wil ...
. The Nahe – on the edge of the
Bingen Forest The Bingen Forest () is part of the Hunsrück, a low mountain range in the Central Uplands of Germany. It is up to and is located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Location The landscape of the Bingen Forest lies on the boundary of the ...
, the Soonwald and the Lützelsoon – borders the mountains to the south. The Lower Naheland is not part of the Hunsrück, but belongs to the
Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...
. The Idar Forest, the Hochwald and the Wildenburger Kopf adjoin the Hunsrück to the southwest. Here the Upper Nahe Hills rise in the shadow of the Hunsrück. The Osburger Hochwald, Schwarzwälder Hochwald and the rivers
Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name * Sarr Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist * Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), E ...
and Ruwer form the western perimeter. Its southern continuation is formed by the Westrich and the
North Palatine Uplands The North Palatine Uplands (, ), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (''Pfälzer Bergland''), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palatinate region. It is part of ...
. The low mountain range is around 100 km long (SW to NE) and an average of 25 to 30 km wide (NW to SE). Its perimeter is a heavily incised peneplain with elongated ridges in the south (the ''Hochwald'', ''Idar Forest'', ''Soonwald'' and ''Bingen Forest''). The range, which begins at the Saar in the southwest and, with breaks, reaches as far as the Rhine, climbs to its highest point in the Hochwald at the Erbeskopf (816.32 m), the highest peak in the Hunsrück and in the
Rhenish Massif The Rhenish Massif, Rhine Massif or Rhenish Uplands (, : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic massif in western Germany, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France. It is drained centrally, south to north by the river Rhine and a few ...
west of the Rhine. It continues to the NE as the Idar Forest with its highest peaks, An den zwei Steinen (766.2 m) and the Idarkopf (745.7 m). Its northeasternmost part is formed by the Soonwald (highest mountain: the Ellerspring, 656.8 m), the Lützelsoon ( Womrather Höhe, 599.1 m) and the Bingen Forest ( Kandrich, 638.6 m). All these ranges form an almost unbroken belt of forest. – To the east of the Rhine the crest of the Hunsrück is continued by the
Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...
. Geomorphologically the Hunsrück bears great similarities to the
Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...
, the
Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...
and the
Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...
, which are also part of the
Rhenish Massif The Rhenish Massif, Rhine Massif or Rhenish Uplands (, : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic massif in western Germany, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France. It is drained centrally, south to north by the river Rhine and a few ...
. The Hunsrück hill road runs from west to east from Saarburg to
Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...
. A Roman military road, the so-called Via Ausonia also once ran through the mountains in an east-west direction and linked
Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
with Bingen. In many primary schools in the Hunsrück children are taught the boundaries of the Hunsrück using the following rhyme: ''"Mosel, Nahe, Saar und Rhein schließen unsern Hunsrück ein."'' ("Moselle, Nahe, Saar and Rhine enclose our Hunsrück")


Mountains and hills

The following table lists the highest mountains and hills of the Hunsrück by sub-range (Osburger and Schwarzwälder Hochwald, Idar Forest, Haardt Forest, Soonwald, Bingen Forest and Lützelsoon) and height in metres above sea level (NN):


Flora and fauna

Despite, in places, intensive agricultural or timber use, the Hunsrück remains a landscape with a
biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
, because many elements of the landscape can only be extensively utilised or even not used at all.


Flora

The plant world of the Hunsrück is rich and varied. In the Soonwald there are over 850 species of
fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
s and flowers. The traditional forest monocultures are increasingly giving way, especially as a result of
windthrow In forestry, windthrow refers to trees uprooted by wind. Breakage of the tree bole (botany), bole (trunk) instead of uprooting is called windsnap. Blowdown refers to both windthrow and windsnap. Causes Windthrow is common in all forested ...
damage, to mixed woods, supporting a greater variety of plant species.


Fauna

Although the Hunsrück is not classified as a bird reserve, it is home to a wide variety of bird species:
woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...
s,
birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...
and song birds may be seen at all times of the year. Even the rare and shy black stork nests in the forests. The Hunsrück is rich in mammals;
red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...
, roe deer and
wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
are intensively hunted. Larger predators include a few examples of European wildcat or even the
Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four wikt:extant, extant species within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe to Cent ...
.
Red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
, European badgers and
pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and parts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red Lis ...
s are more commonly encountered. The best known mammal in the Hunsrück has become the barbastelle. It achieved notoriety when the presence of this rare species of bat delayed construction on the runway extension at Hahn Airport. In the numerous wet areas,
amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
s, like the
fire salamander The fire salamander (''Salamandra salamandra'') is a common species of salamander found in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant ...
, and
insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s have found ideal habitats. Meanwhile, in areas covered by
dry grassland The key characteristic of dry grasslands is that they have low-growing plants, causing the area to be quite open. They also have a mottled structure, which leads to a biome with sunny or semi-shaded areas. On top of that, their soil is relatively ...
or scree, numerous
reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
s like the
slowworm The common slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a species of legless lizard native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple, steelworm, and hazelworm. The "blind" in blindworm refers to the lizar ...
and smooth snake have found a home. The
viper Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipe ...
does not occur in the Hunsrück.


History


Prehistory

Finds such as
stone axe Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...
s indicate that the Hunsrück has been settled since the New Stone Age. Older discoveries, which prove that the area was either settled or crossed during the Old Stone Age, are rare.
Middle Palaeolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...
(ca. 200,000–400,000 B.C.) surface finds from Weiler bei Bingen are an exception. By contrast the
Gravettian The Gravettian is an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years BP. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by   ...
(ca. 30,000–20,000 B.C.) sites in Heddesheim (in the municipality of Guldental) and Brey (in the municipality of
Rhens Rhens () is a municipality in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km south of Koblenz. Rhens was the seat of the former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective muni ...
) are the first settlements in the area around the Hunsrück. Other significant sites include the rather more recent Old Stone Age site of
Nußbaum Nußbaum (or ''Nussbaum'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach Dist ...
near Bad Sobernheim and the encampment of Late Palaeolithic deer hunters in Boppard, which was first discovered in 2001 by the ARRATA Archaeology Society. In 2014, Late Palaeolithic rock carvings similar to those from southern France and Spain were found in the Hunsrück. They were portraits of animals, especially horses, about 25,000 years old carved into a 1.2 m² slab of slate. The oldest witnesses from the New Stone Age are dated to no later than the
Middle Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wi ...
, relics of the so-called Rössen culture (whose sites include Biebernheim and Reckershausen). The majority of finds, especially of stone axes date, however, to the
Late Neolithic In the Near Eastern archaeology, archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding th ...
and belong to the Michelsberg culture. Up to 2007, numerous oval stone axes were discovered, especially in the Fore-Hunsrück ( Morshausen, Beulich and Macken). Likewise, finds of flint arrowheads point to a Late Neolithic (''inter alia'' at
Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...
) and very Late Neolithic ( Hirzenach) settlement. Other finds from the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
prove that there was continual settlement (especially documented by graves and grave goods). A greater process of settlement took place in the Early
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
(
Hallstatt period The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to ...
) with the Laufeld culture and in the La Tène period (5th– 1st century B.C.) with the Hunsrück-Eifel culture, which has been linked with the
Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
. Examples of this culture include the coach grave of Bell, the Waldalgesheim prince's grave, the circular rampart of Otzenhausen, the Pfalzfeld obelisk, the upland settlement of Altburg in the Hahnenbach valley and the numerous fields of
tumuli A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...
. At that time, the Hunsrück was the tribal area of the
Treveri The Treveri (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Treweroi'') were a Germanic peoples, Germanic or Celts, Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle (river), Moselle in modern day Germany from around 150 BCE, if not ea ...
.


Roman period

Between about 50 BC and AD 400 the Romans opened up the Hunsrück by building a dense network of roads. The best known relic of this is the Via Ausonia. Numerous finds of Roman farms (
Villa Rustica Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...
), settlements, like the ''
vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...
'' Belginum, and military structures point to an almost total settlement of the region by the Romans.


Frankish period

The final years of the 4th century saw the decline and fall of the
Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...
. The
Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...
conquered the Roman territories and began to divide them up. This was the start of the great western and central European empire of Francia. In the mid-8th century this was divided into '' gaus'' under
Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...
rule. The northern part of the present Hunsrück foreland belonged to the Trechirgau, the southern part to the Nahegau. The Trechirgau was managed by the so-called Bertholds, the Nahegau by the Emichones. The capital of the Trechirgau, ''Trigorium'', was in Treis


Middle Ages to French period

The ''Hundesrucha'' is mentioned for the first time in a 1074 deed from Ravengiersburg Abbey. In the Middle Ages, the Hunsrück was territorially fragmented between the counts Palatine of the Rhine, the archbishops of
Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
, the counts of Sponheim and the successors of the Emichones (the Wildgraves, the Raugraves and the counts of Veldenz). There were also a number of smaller dominions. Due to the multitude of dominions, many castles and customs stations were built, mainly between 11th to mid 14th century, which still shape the landscape today. In 1410 the Principality of Simmern emerged as a territory ruled by a side line of the counts Palatine. In the following years, Simmern became the most important residence of a noble family in the Hunsrück. Under Duke John II the town achieved supra-regional importance for a short time. After the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
,
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
of France made reunification demands on several principalities in the Palatinate, the Hunsrück and the Eifel. He had his troops invade and thus precipitated the
Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...
. In 1689 Kirchberg, Kastellaun, Simmern and the town and castle of Stromberg were set on fire. Then came the chaos of war, which led to the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
and which ended in 1713. In the following years, trade and commerce grew. In the Hunsrück the first industry was set up by the families of Hauzeur, Pastert and Stumm. They ran mining, processing and ore smelting businesses. These, in turn, spurred the manufacture of implements for the house, farming and handicrafts: ovens, pans, boilers, weights, spades, nails, hammers, anvils, looms, spinning wheels and ammunition (cannonballs and shells weighing from 2 to 30 pounds). Leaders in the iron processing industry were the family of Stumm. Their progenitor, Christian Stumm, was a
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
in Rhaunensulzbach. Two of his sons were important entrepreneurs. Johann Nikolaus Stumm (1668-1743) was a smeltery owner and his sons, Johann Ferdinand, Friedrich Philipp and Christian Philipp Stumm, bought the Neunkirchen ironworks on 22 March 1806, part of today's Saarstahl AG. Johann Michael Stumm (1683-1747) was the founder of an organ building workshop. The notorious robbers, Johannes Bückler (known as '' Schinderhannes'') and Johann Peter Petri (''Black Peter'') brought insecurity to the Hunsrück in the late 18th century. In 1792, as a result of the French Revolution and the seizure of power by
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, French troops once again invaded the territories west of the Rhine and annexed them during the French period. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, most of the Hunsrück was reallocated at the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
to
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
's
Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...
. Parts of today's
Birkenfeld Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde), like-named ''Verbandsge ...
and the northern Saarland belonged to the Oldenburg Principality of Birkenfeld until 1937.


Prussia era and emigration

The economic situation in the Hunsrück became serious during the years 1815-1845. A poor harvest in 1815 was followed by the
year without a summer The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer because of severe climate abnormalities that caused average global temperatures to decrease by . Summer temperatures in Europe were the coldest of any on record between 1766 and 2000, resultin ...
in 1816; grain prices rose rapidly and 1817 became a year of famine. In September 1822, the Brazilian government sent Georg Anton Schäffer to Germany to recruit
mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
and
colonists A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...
. He arrived in 1823, as a representative of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil, and visited the
Hanseatic cities The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
,
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
and many of the German courts. This mission sparked the first major wave of German emigrants to
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. Many of them were recruited by Schäffer from the Hunsrück, the northern and western parts of present-day
Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...
and the Western Palatinate. The first immigrants from the Hunsrück settled in 1824 in what is now the Brazilian state of
Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
, near the city of São Leopoldo. Not until 1830 did the number of emigrants to Brazil begin to fall. The 1840s in Europe were marked by inflation,
crop failure Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
s and a degree of social unrest, so that again (especially in 1846 and 1861) many people in Hunsrück decided to leave in two more waves of emigration, especially to
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. In August 1846, it was announced in
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
, that free passage to Brazil would no longer be possible. At this time there were over 800 people waiting there. Prussia refused to give any assistance to the impoverished and helpless emigrants. They were transported from France in three warships to
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
and settled in the villages of Stidia and Sainte-Léonie. Most of their descendants returned to France after the
Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
in 1962.Algerian emigration in regional history
at www.auswanderung-rlp.de.
As a result of the increasing neglect and deprivation of parts of the population in Germany during the era of
industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...
, an Inner Mission association was founded at the initiative of the Simmern pastor, and later superintendent, Julius Reuss, in Simmern, with the aim of building a rescue centre in the Hunsrück for children living in poverty. In 1851, an area between Simmern and Nannhausen, the ''Schmiedel'', was acquired. There, the first building was erected as a "mother house" (''Mutterhaus'' or ''domus materna''), which opened on 13 September 1851 with a householder and twelve boys. Even today, the head offices of the ''Schmiedel'' organization remain on the site.


German Reich

After the
Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
of 1870/1871 and the foundation of the
German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...
under
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
's leadership, the so-called ''
Gründerzeit The (; ) was a period of Economic history of Europe (1000 AD–present), European economic history in mid- and late-19th century German Empire, Germany and Austria-Hungary between Industrialization in Germany, industrialization and the great P ...
'' began. Its success did not impact the Hunsrück until later, which is why many job seekers and even entire families went looking for work in the
Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...
and migrated there. The Protestant pastor, later Prussian Landtag MP, Richard Oertel, founder of the Hunsrück Farmers' Union in 1892, and Albert Hackenberg, acting pastor in Hottenbach from 1879 to 1912, successfully worked to improve the economic, social and technological conditions in the Hunsrück region. They achieved this through the creation of dairy cooperatives, postal agencies and, in particular, through
adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...
.


First and Second World War

The
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the Occupation Period and
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
also had a serious impact on the economy of the Hunsrück and its inhabitants, but there were not the political tensions that arose in many places in the German Reich. A pioneer of
industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...
in the Hunsrück was entrepreneur, Michael Felke. In 1919 he founded the Felke Möbelwerke, a company that produced and sold furniture in Central Europe until the late 1990s. It was one of the first major employers in the region. In 1938 and 1939, the German army became interested in the Hunsrück region as a strategic deployment route to the German-French border and the
Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...
, building the Hunsrück Highway, 140 kilometres long, in just 100 days. Supply depots and airfields were built in the woods on both sides of the road. In the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and post-war period, two places in the Hunsrück rose to notoriety:
Hinzert concentration camp Hinzert was a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, from the border with Luxembourg. Between 1939 and 1945, 13,600 political prisoners between the ages of 13 and 80 were imprisoned at Hinzert. Many were in trans ...
and Bretzenheim POW camp, the so-called "Field of Misery".


Cold War to the present

In 1946, most of the Hunsrück became part of the new state of
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
, with small elements around Nonnweiler going to the Saarland. During the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
until the early 1990s, the Hunsrück was home to numerous military airfields, ammunition dumps, command positions and missile sites. The most famous were Hahn Air Base, Pferdsfeld Air Base, the Börfink Command Bunker and the Pydna Missile Base. In 1986/87, as a result of the NATO Double-Track Decision, 96
cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...
s, fitted with
nuclear warhead A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...
s, were to be stored at Pydna. On 11 Oct 1986, on the market place in Bell, what was probably the largest demonstration in the Hunsrück's history took place. Around 200,000 people, 95% of whom were not from the Hunsrück, peacefully protested against the deployment of the missiles. At the end of the day the "Hunsrück Declaration" was read out which called for a reversal of the security policy. This did not happen, however, the Cold War ended two years later anyway, and the missile based was closed on 31 August 1993, the land being acquired by the Kastellaun garrison authority. Likewise the US airbase at Hahn was transferred in 1993 to the German authorities and became a civilian facility,
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Hahn Airporthahn-airport.de
retrieved 30 April 2025
() , also colloquially known and formerly officially br ...
. The airport has expanded steadily since that time. In the early 1980s, the film director Edgar Reitz shot the first part of his trilogy ''
Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it h ...
'' in the Hunsrück, a large part of it in Woppenroth, also known as ''Schabbach''. In 2012, Reitz returned to the Hunsrück for the shooting of his film '' Die andere Heimat - Chronik einer Sehnsucht'' in the village of Gehlweiler. The film focuses on the
Vormärz ' (; English: ''pre-March'') was a period in the history of Germany preceding the 1848 March Revolution in the states of the German Confederation. The beginning of the period is less well-defined. Some place the starting point directly after ...
era in the mid-19th century and the waves of emigration from the Hunsrück to Brazil.


Sights and attractions

* Baybach valley and Waldeck Castle *
Birkenfeld Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde), like-named ''Verbandsge ...
: museum of the local history society; Birkenfeld Castle was the '' residenz'' of the Wittelsbach line of Palatinate-Birkenfeld; residenz ''
schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...
'' of the grand dukes of Oldenburg * Bundenbach: ''Herrenberg'' roofing slate pit, Celtic settlement * Dhaun Castle: medieval knight's castle * Dickenschied: where the
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...
Paul Schneider worked and is buried *
Dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...
: ruins of one of the Sponheim family castles; church with ceiling murals by Johann Georg Engisch * Emmelshausen: Ehrbach Gorge, Baybach valley, Hunsrück Railway * Erbeskopf ''(part of
Deuselbach Deuselbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. ...
)'': ''Hunsrückhaus'' Museum, highest mountain in the Hunsrück * Feilbingert: ''Schmittenstollen'' show mine * Fischbach (Nahe): Historic copper mine (open to visitors) * Gemünden: Gemünden Castle, Koppenstein Castle * Hattgenstein: observation tower * Hermeskeil: steam engine museum, Firefighting Museum and
aviation museum An aviation museum, air museum, or air and space museum is a museum exhibiting the history and cultural artifacts, artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual, replica or accurate reproduction aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, Ph ...
* Herrstein: historic town centre * Hinzert: memorial to the victims of Nazism at
Hinzert concentration camp Hinzert was a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, from the border with Luxembourg. Between 1939 and 1945, 13,600 political prisoners between the ages of 13 and 80 were imprisoned at Hinzert. Many were in trans ...
*
Idar-Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the respons ...
: German Gemstone Museum, Rock church, Gemstone show mine and much more. * Kastellaun: castle ruins and old US nuclear missile base of Pydna * Kempfeld: Wildenburg Castle and wildlife park on the Wildenburger Kopf * Kirchberg: market place, St. Michael's Market (Thursday after St. Michael's Day) * Krummenau: refuge of the famous '' Schinderhannes'' * Leisel: Heiligenbösch church and Roman baths * Morbach: telephone museum, Hinzerath: Baldenau Castle, Wederath: Belginum archaeological park, Weiperath: timber museum and Hunolstein: Hunolstein Castle * Neuerkirch: Cultural History Museum, agricultural implements and machines, old handicraft skills, their products and village life and culture of bygone times * Otzenhausen: Hunnenring, a
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
fortification * Pfalzfeld: Flammensäule * Ravengiersburg: "Hunsrück Cathedral" from the 12th/13th century * Rhaunen: Protestant church with the oldest surviving Stumm organ dating to 1723, village with historic buildings from various style periods * Sargenroth: the Nunkirche with fresco in the tower, Nunkircher Market (early September) * Schneppenbach: Schmidtburg, extensive
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
ruins above the Hahnenbach stream * Schwollen: Sauerbrunnen (fountain) *
Seesbach Seesbach is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea t ...
: Gateway to the Soonwald, Semendis Chapel (murals by Bishop Willigis) Rock formation in the centre of the village dating to the last
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
, RC parish church, Schinderhannes' Cave * Siesbach: Roman gravesite * Simmern: Schinderhannes Tower, local history museum in Simmern Castle, Hunsrück Museum, Simmern * Spabrücken: RC church with the "Black Mother of God of the Soon" (''Schwarzer Mutter Gottes vom Soon''), active monastery, ''Gräfenbacher Hütte'' with remains of a free-standing furnace for Soonwald ore * Stipshausen: "Hunsrück Baroque" church and Stumm organ * Stromberg: Stromburg Castle, home of the deutschen Michel * Sulzbach: home of the Stumm organ-building family with a large Stumm organ, the last one made by Johann Michael Stumm * Trollbach valley: rock landscape between Rümmelsheim Castle Layen and Münster-Sarmsheim along the Trollbach * Woppenroth: the village which was one of the main locations for the films ''
Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it h ...
'' and '' Heimat 3'' by Edgar Reitz. From Woppenroth one can reach the Hahnenbach valley and the Hellkirch * Züsch: Züscher Hammer Mill, a former hammer mill once driven by water power


In popular culture

The German television drama series ''
Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it h ...
'', directed by Edgar Reitz, examined the 20th-century life of a small fictional village in the Hunsrück. The electronic music festival Nature One is held at the Pydna missile base in Kastellaun.


Gallery

Image:Hunsrueck01.jpg, A typical view of the Hunsrück countryside Image:Baldiunseck1.jpg, Balduinseck ruins near Buch Image:Rauschenburg mermuth.jpg, Rauschenburg ruin near Mermuth Image:Burg Baldenau.jpg, Baldenau Castle Image:Ehrenburg aus der Vogelperspektive.jpg, Ehrenburg castle IMage:Ehrbachklamm (6).JPG, Ehrbachklamm


References


External links


Photos of HEIMAT- und HEIMAT3 - film locations at Hunsrück/Germany
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunsruck Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland Rhenish Massif Mountain ranges of Rhineland-Palatinate Central Uplands Natural regions of the Central Uplands Late Neolithic