The Rheydter Höhe is a '' Trümmerberg'' in the

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

district of Pongs in the south of the city. Locally the hill, which is made of rubble, is known as ''Monte Clamotte'' ("Mount Rubble") or ''Rheydter Müllberg'' (the "Rheydt Rubbish Tip"). The

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

of the small hill is high, making it the highest point in the borough. Measuring 64 m from foot to summit, it is also the highest ''Trümmerberg'' 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 to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The ''Rheydter Höhe'' ("Rheydt Hill") was created in 1945 from rubble left behind by the

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

of the towns of Mönchengladbach and

Rheydt Rheydt () is a borough of the German city Mönchengladbach, located in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 1918 and then again from 1933 (due to a split from Mönchengladbach arranged by Joseph Goebbels, who was born there) through 1975 it ...

, which left 65% of the two towns in ruins. During the 1950s, great quantities of domestic rubbish were dumped on the ''Trümmerberg''. In order to enable plants and trees to grow, a layer of

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

, between one and two metres thick, laid over the household rubbish. During the 1990s, this resulted in poison gas emissions from the rubble, of which nothing can be seen today. However, about 30 metres below the plateau, which doubles as a viewing point, individual pieces of plastic bags can be seen on the sides of the footpath, which have been exposed by rainwater over time. At the northern foot of the ''Trümmerberg'' is a water

play park A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

, a

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

and the

municipal forest with barbecue sites, a

minigolf Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of poi ...

course, a café and facilities for other activities. The road of ''Dahlener Straße'' (one of the main transport axes of the town, linking Rheydt with

Rheindahlen Rheindahlen (called ''Dalen'' from the Early Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period around 1700, and ''Dahlen'' until 1878) is a town in the western and largest borough of the city of Mönchengladbach in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

) and the A 61 motorway run south and west of the Rheydter Höhe respectively.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rheydter Hohe Mountains under 1000 metres Mountains and hills of North Rhine-Westphalia Mönchengladbach