The Höllental (, ) in the

Franconian Forest View to Döbraberg The Franconian Forest''Franconian Forest''
at www.britannica.com. Acce ...

(''Frankenwald'') is nature reserve located in the

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 ...

n region of

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 ...

in southern

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 ...

Description

The Höllental is a protected

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

within the Franconian Forest. The Selbitz River runs through this narrow valley and, at the end, marks the border between the states of

and

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. From the end of 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 ...

until the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

in 1989 the border here was closed. The Hölle Valley can be visited from Hof and

Naila Naila is a town in the Hof district of Bavaria, Germany. It lies in the Franconian Forest. Naila is from the larger city of Hof, on both banks of the Selbitz river. History The earliest documentation of Naila was recorded on 9 January 1343. ...

. On the western banks of the Selbitz is the ''Höllentalstraße'', a private road that is closed to motor vehicles. It can however be used by cyclists and walkers. The valley has numerous walking trails. One of these paths, the ''Röhrensteig'' east of the Selbitz, follows the course of the pressurised water pipes of an old electricity station, that today still uses water from the Selbitz. It is dammed by a small weir. Points of interest include an outcrop of fossilised

pillow lava Pillow lavas are lavas that contain characteristic pillow-shaped structures that are attributed to the extrusion of the lava underwater, or ''subaqueous extrusion''. Pillow lavas in volcanic rock are characterized by thick sequences of discontinu ...

(''Kissenlava'') on one of the steep sides of the walk and the

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

rock. There are several mineral springs near the village of Hölle at the entrance to the Hölle Valley. The mineral water from these springs is marketed under the name ''Höllensprudel''. The Marxgrün-Blankenstein railway, also known as the Hell Valley railway or ''Höllentalbahn'', used to run through the valley. The long-distance path, the Franconian Trail or '' Frankenweg'' also runs through the Höllental and intercepts the

Rennsteig The () is a ridge walk as well as a historical boundary path in the Thuringian Forest, Thuringian Highland and Franconian Forest in Central Germany. The long-distance trail runs for about from and the valley in the northwest to and the ...

trail at the end of the valley near Blankenstein.

Places of interest

* Hirschsprung * ''König David'' (King David) viewing platform * ''Jungfernsteg'' footbridge * ''Teufelssteg'' footbridge (demolished after being damaged by a falling tree) * Electricity station with weir, ''Röhrensteig'' pipe walk, water tower, water fountains and operating building at Schweizerstil * Railway bridge by the electricity station * Nature reserve information centre at the exit to the valley at Lichtenberg station

Mineral water

The mineral water sources are marketed by the firm of ''Kohlensäurewerk Hölle Dr. Fritz Wiede GmbH & Co.''. Originally only the carbonic acid from the mineral water was given to breweries. Later the mineral water was bottled for consumption. The production of carbonic acid has since stopped and the manufacture of drinks has considerable expanded. Mineral water from the Hölle Valley is sold under various trade names e.g. * Höllensprudel * Eichensteiner Mineralwasser * Vivre * Deit

Sources

* Herta Vogel: ''Das Höllental.'' 1989, Ackermann Verlag Hof; Heft 1 der Schriftenreihe FRANKENWALD – BAYERNS GRÜNE KRONE des Frankenwaldvereins e.V.

External links

Höllental-Flyer
- {{DEFAULTSORT:Hollental (Franconian Forest) Franconian Forest Valleys of Bavaria Hof (district)