The Pleß is a mountain, , in the county of

Schmalkalden-Meiningen Schmalkalden-Meiningen is a '' Landkreis'' in the southwest of Thuringia, Germany. Its neighboring districts are (from the northwest clockwise) the districts Wartburgkreis, Gotha, Ilm-Kreis, the district-free city Suhl, the district Hildburghaus ...

in the Salzungen Werra Highland in the German state of

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 ...

Location

The Pleß is generally seen as the northeasternmost mountain of the Anterior Rhön, but is counted by the ''Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde'' as part of the adjacent

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 ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

of the Salzung Werra Upland to the northeast. The Thurigian State Office for Geology and the Environment (''Thüringer Landesanstalt für Umwelt und Geologie'') sees it as part of the Rhön. Geologically it was clearly formed as part of the volcanism of the Rhön, but is surrounded by the

bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

of the Werra Upland. Among the nearest municipalities are

Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wartburgkreis district. Geography Location Bad Salzungen is situated on the river Werra, east of Tiefenort and south of Eisenach. Divisions In July 2018 the form ...

to the north.

Breitungen Breitungen (official name: ''Breitungen/Werra'') is a municipality in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Werra, southeast of Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It i ...

to the east-northeast, the nearby

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: Plants and animals * ''Rosa'' (plant), the genus of roses * Rosa (sea otter), a sea otter that has become popular on the internet * Rosa (cow), a Spanish-born cow People * Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) * San ...

to the south and

Urnshausen Urnshausen is a village and a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Dermbach Dermbach is a municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany ...

to the southwest. Seen from the

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German language, German ) is a mountain range in the southern parts of the Germany, German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorg ...

which is somewhat further east it is on the left (east-southeast) next to the mountains of Baier, Dietrichsberg (Dietrich) and Öchsenberg (Öchsen).

Description

The Pleß is of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic volcanic origin. At the summit of the Pleß is a viewing tower from which the mountains of the

and the Rhön, the valley of 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 to ...

and the castle of

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

can be seen.

History

The original name of the Pleß was the ''Bleßberg''. However, because there were two Bleßbergs in the Duchy of

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen ( ; ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, located in the southwest of the present-day Germany, German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ern ...

, an "upland" Bleßberg in the vicinity of

Eisfeld Eisfeld is a town and a municipality in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, 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 n ...

and this "lowland" one - which often led to confusion – the name was changed at the behest of Duke George II at the end of the 19th century to Pleßberg. A short time later, the suffix "-berg" was dropped. As early as the 19th century the Pleßhaus (north of the summit) and a viewing tower were built. In

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

the mountain was declared an out-of-bounds area as part of the Bad Salzungen Training Area which extended mainly to the north of the mountain. The Pleßhaus was used as accommodation for the soldiers. Later, a barracks was built on the Pleß, but it stood empty and slowly decayed. Even the viewing tower was demolished. Keen locals began the preservation of the Pleßhaus. The new Pleßhaus was rebuilt at the Jägerstein. The inn there bears the name ''Seeblick'' today. Following the gradually withdrawal of the ''

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

'' during the 1990s, it became possible to walk in the area again. In March 1996 the municipality of Breitungen purchased the area of the Pleßberg and has since had its own ''

Hausberg {{italic title ''Hausberg'' (lit.: "house mountain", plural: ''Hausberge'') is German for a prominent mountain or hill in the immediate vicinity of a village, town or city, usually located on its municipal territory, but outside the built up are ...

''. In the wake of that, some time later a new observation tower was built on the Pleß.

Gallery

Pless.jpg, The Pleß seen from Dolmar Pless-Rhoen.jpg, View of the Pleß and Stoffelskuppe (left) from the south Aussichtsturm Pleß.jpg, The new viewing tower on the Pleß Pleß-Rhön.JPG, The Pleß seen from the

References

Maps