66-583: Höllberg is a mountain of the Westerwald in Hesse , Germany . This Hesse location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Westerwald The Westerwald ( German pronunciation: [ˈvɛstɐvalt] ; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate , Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia . It
132-537: A humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb ). In the lowlands of the Unterwesterwald (Lower Westerwald), summers tend to be warm to hot. Erratic convective downpours are not uncommon, yet mostly brief. Winters are mild and see a lot of precipitation, which mostly falls as rain. Snowfall occurs multiple times a year, but usually melts within hours. Thermophilic fruits like figs and peaches are hardy in this area. The mountainous areas of
198-737: A balanced climate. The Hintertaunus is divided into the Western and Eastern Hintertaunus by the Idstein Depression, which developed in the Idstein – Bad Camberg area. The Idstein depression widens towards the Lahn valley towards the Limburg Basin and is also known as the Goldener Grund in the northern area, probably because agriculture found more favorable conditions here. The relief is gently undulating,
264-690: A basalt-rich region. Wäller is another vernacular name for them. One of the 12 best-rated hiking trails in Germany is the Westerwaldsteig. The Westerwaldsteig crosses the Westerwald from east ( Herborn ) to west ( Rhine ). Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse , 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 (825 m) and Altkönig (798 m). The Taunus range spans
330-508: A low mountain range a typical agreeable climate. Economically and culturally, it belongs among Germany's best known mountain ranges. The name "Westerwald" was first mentioned in 1048 in a document from the Electorate of Trier and described at that time the woodlands ( Wald is German for "forest" or "woods") around the three churches in Bad Marienberg , Rennerod and Emmerichenhain, west of
396-522: A range of handcrafted utility ware, with hand-painted swirling floral motifs. In the eastern Westerwald (the part lying in Hesse) are found interesting limestone deposits from the most varied of geological times. Erdbach limestone from the Lower Carboniferous gave one small time period the name "Erdbachian". Near Breitscheid are found the remnants of an atoll from the subtropical Devonian sea that
462-629: A significant contribution to Wiesbaden's water supply. The largest unit of the Taunus in terms of area, the Hintertaunus unit, is mainly composed of the black rock series of the Hunsrück slate and the Singhofen layers of the lower Ems tier, often greywacke-like sandstones as well as siltstone and claystone . Younger rocks are only exposed here in small occurrences near Usingen and on the very eastern edge of
528-621: A strip of land on the Rhine's right bank and the so-called Rhine-Westerwald; the Westerwald itself lay outside the Roman-occupied area, for the Romans preferred to maintain a little-settled, most likely pathless wilderness as their border. The Westerwald's permanent settlement and thereby its territorial history began with the Chatti (Hessians) pushing their way into the area after the Romans were driven out in
594-492: A town with a medieval centre. The geologically old, heavily eroded range of the Westerwald is in its northern parts overlaid by a volcanic upland made of Neogene basalt layers. It covers an area of some 50 km × 70 km (31 mi × 43 mi), and therefore roughly 3,000 km (1,200 sq mi), making the Westerwald one of Germany's biggest mountain ranges by area. In areas of subsidence , it has in its flatter western part (Lower Westerwald)
660-415: Is a heterogeneous landscape area, but it is usually quite distinct from the surrounding landscapes and is classified as a main natural area unit group. The natural landscape is divided according to morphology , geological structure , climate and partly by the prevailing vegetation into sub-landscapes that are more uniform in themselves. The cultural landscape, i.e. the natural landscape shaped by man, shows
726-637: Is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( Rheinisches Schiefergebirge or Rhenish Slate Mountains). Its highest elevation, at 657 m above sea level, is the Fuchskaute in the High Westerwald. Tourist attractions include the Dornburg [ de ] (394 metres), site of some Celtic ruins from La Tène times (5th to 1st century BC), found in the community of the same name , and Limburg an der Lahn ,
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#1732876648317792-551: Is about 75 km long from southwest to northeast and about 35 km wide across it from northwest to southeast,it covers an area of about 2700 km . In the west, the Upper Middle Rhine Valley borders the Taunus and separates it from the western Hunsrück . In the north, the valley of the Lahn (Giessen-Koblenzer Lahntal ) with the Limburg Basin forms a very sharp scenic border to the northern Westerwald . In
858-676: Is also the inspiration for the South Korean military song, "Our Nation Forever". In recent years it has become somewhat controversial in Germany due to its origins during the National Socialist era, with the German military ceasing performances of it in 2017. The standard German term for a Westerwald dweller is Westerwälder ( IPA: [ˈvɛstɐvɛldɐ] ; plural: same), but they are also popularly known as Basaltköpp (“Basalt Heads”), as they are said to be thickheaded, and they live in
924-538: Is centred on Höhr-Grenzhausen . Exports, particularly to Italy, are also important (more than one million metric tons each year). In the mid 16th century, potters from Raeren in Belgium migrated into the Westerwald, bringing with them some of their moulds . This type of pottery was taken to the New World and was found in the early Chesapeake settlements. Today one finds not only highly crafted moulded vases and mugs but also
990-656: Is composed of pure, mostly black mudstone and embedded sandstone banks and occurs in stratigraphically different positions in the Upper Siegen and in the Ems. The bulk of the Hunsrück Slate is attributed to the Elm Lower Stage . It is known for its exceptionally well-preserved fossils and is locally well suited for use as roofing slate . . In the western Hintertaunus, the almost sand-free Hunsrück slate can be easily separated from
1056-462: Is the Fuchskaute in the High Westerwald, meaning "fox hollow". Many peaks and crests exceed the 600-metre level. Sorted by elevation above sea level, these are some of the Westerwald's highest elevations: The following are the Westerwald's rivers and streams: Weiher is a German word meaning "pond". Through prehistoric finds it can be determined that the Celts settled in the Westerwald and were using
1122-431: Is why the climate here is rougher than in the upstream landscape areas - it is colder on average, it rains and, in particular, it snows more. The turbulent relief offers little space for settlements and agricultural use. On the mostly shallow and fertile soils , which developed from acidic rock , there is mainly forest here. The Vortaunus is more inconsistent than the main ridge, it is morphologically more fragmented and
1188-526: The Autobahnen A ;3 ( Cologne – Frankfurt ), A 45 ( Dortmund – Aschaffenburg ) and A 48 . The most notable railway is the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line with minor stops at Montabaur and Limburg an der Lahn. The High Westerwald is served by Siegerland Airport for private use and special touristic charters, south of Burbach . Geologically , the Westerwald is part of
1254-665: The Bunte Schiefer are greenish-grey or strikingly violet in color due to finely distributed hematite . Agnaths (jawless fish) found in the Bunte Schist are from the Gedinne (Lochkovian); just like the formation of the rock , they show a deposit of the colorful slate in rivers or lakes . The rocks of the colorful slate are found on the Großer Feldberg , where they were mined in tunnels to extract roofing slate (slate tunnel below
1320-701: The Eschbacher cliffs near Usingen are such a quartz vein ( Härtling ) exposed by erosion . This vein, also known as the Usinger quartz vein, can be traced over a length of about 12 km, making it one of the longest German quartz veins after the Bavarian Pfahl. The northwestern part of the Eastern Hintertaunus (Langhecker Lahntaunus) , which leads to the Weilburger Lahntalgebiet, belongs geologically to
1386-580: The Lahnmulde and is rich in magmatism . of mineral resources from the Middle Devonian such as iron in the form of red ironstone with up to 50 percent iron content, or river ironstone with up to 35% iron, as well as silver ore , roofing slate and diabase . The ore was mined in numerous mines here, as in the Montan area Lahn-Dill area ; some have been converted to visitor mines. The Mining that operated from
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#17328766483171452-585: The Oberwesterwald (Upper Westerwald) and Hoher Westerwald (High Westerwald) feature a much colder climate and are more prone to extreme weather, such as extreme wind gusts during extratropical cyclones . Summer days are pleasantly warm and rarely become hot due to a cool breeze, while winters are cold and rich in snow. The area is home to a number of ski areas . District seats in the Westerwald are: Altenkirchen (Altenkirchen district), Montabaur (Westerwaldkreis) and Neuwied (Neuwied district). Furthermore,
1518-692: The Red Cross ). Quartzite sandstones are embedded in them, from which the Brunhildis rock on the summit of the Großer Feldberg consists. The Hermeskeil layers are exposed below the Großer Feldberg and consist of mudstones, weakly consolidated micaceous sandstones and quartzites of the Lower Siegen (Lower Pragian). They are covered by several 100 m thick layers of Taunus quartzite (Middle Siegen, Pragian/Emsian). The very weather-resistant rock forms many summits of
1584-522: The districts of Hochtaunuskreis , Main-Taunus-Kreis , Rheingau-Taunus , Limburg-Weilburg , and Rhein-Lahn . The range is known for its geothermal springs and mineral waters that formerly attracted members of the European aristocracy to its spa towns . The car line Ford Taunus is named after it. The Taunus is the southeastern part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains . The low mountain range
1650-486: The stratigraphic sequences Graue Phyllite , Bunte Schiefer , Hermeskeilschichten and Taunusquarzit . The Lower Devonian sub-layer only appears in two small outcrops, metavolcanites of the type found in the Anterior Taunus rocks. The Graue Phyllite consist of slates and sandstones . They contain impressions of Upper Silurian brachiopods and corals and were deposited in shallow water . The clay slates of
1716-496: The "Neues Westerwaldlied" ("New Westerwald Song") by songwriter Ulrik Remy, "Ich bin aus 'm Westerwald" ("I am from the Westerwald") and "Das schönste Mädchen vom Westerwald" ("The Loveliest Girl from the Westerwald") by Karl-Eberhard Hain and Jürgen Hardeck, made well known by De Höhner , Die Schröders and other groups. The "Westerwaldlied" is also sung by the Chilean Armed Forces and is known as "Himno de la Sección". It
1782-411: The 17th to the 20th centuries has now ceased. In the eastern Taunus between Idstein in the west and Usingen in the east, from the late Middle Ages to the early 20th century, there was a large number of pits in which there was mining of varying intensity on post-varistic, i.e. only after the varistic orogeny ore veins formed in the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous. The last active lead and silver ore mine,
1848-466: The 3rd century. Placename endings such as –ar, –mar and –aha ("Haigraha" = Haiger ) stemming from the Migration Period ( "Völkerwanderung" ) can still be found now. These lie around the forest's outer edges in basins and dales whose soils and climate were favourable to early settlers, and include, for instance, Hadamar , Lahr and Wetzlar . From the 4th to the 6th century, the settlements from
1914-572: The Dill, also belong to the Westerwald, whereas the mountains reaching up to 680 m (2,230 ft) near the Haiger Saddle ( Haiger Sattel ) and east of Siegen are counted as part of the Rothaargebirge . The Westerwald is divided by elevation into these three regions: The climate of the region vastly qualifies as oceanic (Köppen climate classification: Cfb ), while higher altitudes experience
1980-612: The Electorate of Trier were all prominent landlords. Political relations were simplified until the 16th century. Among the four greater powers' spheres of influence (Mainz, Cologne, Trier, Hesse), the House of Nassau managed to expand and strengthen its hold on its territory on the Dill between Siegen and Nassau . After the Napoleonic upheavals, Nassau had to share broad swathes of the Westerwald with
2046-800: The Eppstein slates of the Silurian and the Lower Devonian Lorsbach slates . At the very southern edge and in a small deposit near Mühlbach in the east of the Vordertaunus unit, limestones are exposed that are attributed to the Middle Devonian . To the north of the Vordertaunus is the Taunuscrest, also known as the High Taunus, which mainly consists of Lower Devonian clastic rocks . It is composed of
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2112-594: The Giessen Nappe, which lies flat today, on rocks from the Hintertaunus and the Lahn Mulde is of even greater extent. Their rocks are not otherwise found in the Taunus, they must have been deposited south of the Vortaunus and were thrust at least 25 km over the Taunus and Hintertaunus, possibly significantly more due to large-scale considerations. In addition to the deformation of the layers, these are clearly metamorphic in
2178-592: The Heftrich pit with the Hannibal and Hasdrubal tunnels, was closed around 1924. Exploration drilling carried out by the Hessian State Office for Soil Research in the 1980s no longer provided any indication of deposits worth building. Due to its hardness, the Taunus quartzite was often mined in the past, currently only one quarry near Köppern is in operation. Some limestone and diabase quarries are still in operation in
2244-586: The Hintertaunus in the Oberkleen area. The geology of the Hintertaunus is not as well known as that of the Vortaunus and Hochtaunus in the south or that of the Lahnmulde in the north due to the often monotonous sandy and slate rocks that form only a few continuous reference horizons and provide hardly any index fossils . The Hunsrück slate refers to a rock facies occurring mainly in the Hunsrück and Hintertaunus, which
2310-530: The Hintertaunus is generally more open. The landscape of the Hintertaunus is more inconsistent because of its different elevations. This is clearly evident in the eastern Hintertaunus. Here, for example, there is a high-altitude landscape with dense forest cover, a harsher climate and poor soil in the Pferdskopf-Bergland ; but also the Usinger basin , a gently undulating, open basin landscape with fertile soil and
2376-489: The Lahn, the Taunus natural region has a share in the Lahn trough and the Giessen nappe . The Vordertaunus Unit is a narrow zone of weakly metamorphic rocks such as phyllites, greenschists and sericite gneisses .[5] They are appear greenish through chlorite and epidote . The starting products of these rocks were mudstones and volcanic rocks . The rock strata occurring in the Vordertaunus are divided from north to south into
2442-626: The Lahn-Dill-Bergland (another low mountain range), north of the Taunus and east of the Middle Rhine and stretches more or less southwards from Siegen and Burbach , southwestwards from Haiger , northwestwards from Weilburg , northwards from Limburg an der Lahn , northeastwards from Koblenz , eastwards from Linz am Rhein , southeastwards from Wissen and southwards from Betzdorf . In its centre lie Bad Marienberg and Hachenburg . Clockwise,
2508-864: The Lahn-Dill-Kreis, the Mayen-Koblenz district, the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis and the Limburg-Weilburg district each have shares of the Westerwald. If Sieg is taken as the Westerwald's northernmost limit, then the Rhein-Sieg district likewise belongs here, at least in parts (for example the Siebengebirge and the communities of Eitorf and Windeck ). The Westerwald and its outer edges are crossed by stretches of Bundesstraßen 8 , 42, 49 , 54 , 62 , 255, 256, 277, 413 and 414, over which there are connections to
2574-412: The Lahnmulde and Dillmulde typical rocks of this time such as Schalstein , Massenkalk and deck diabase absent here. The greywacke occurring here and at other places in the eastern Hintertaunus cannot or can hardly be distinguished from the Carboniferous Kulm greywacke and are considered by some scientists to be the remains of the ' Viewed 'Giessen Ceiling . The strata of the Taunus were formed in
2640-447: The Rhenish Massif, and likewise represents a heavily eroded remnant of a great Variscan mountain system which in the Mesozoic characterized a great deal of Europe. The Devonian bedrock is covered by volcanic masses from the Tertiary , particularly basalt and tuffs . Economically important, besides slate, limestone and clay quarrying , were, and still are, iron and its processing industry between Rheintal (Unkel, Linz) and
2706-460: The Taunus ridge ( Altkönig , Kleiner Feldberg , Glaskopf ), but also individual rock elevations (such as the Hohle Stein ). The Celtic ring walls and the rubble heap on the "White Wall" on the Altkönig consist of Taunus quartzite. The fractured groundwater of the Taunus quartzite is of local interest for water extraction. They are dammed by the underlying Hermeskeilschichten and pumped through groundwater tunnels. Four such groundwater tunnels make
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2772-434: The Trier and Cologne mission, this area underwent Christianization. Trier advanced up the Lahn, Cologne to the Rhine and Sieg. Trier-Lorrainian and Lower Rhine influences were nevertheless brought into the Westerwald. Among the witnesses to the art of building at that time is the monastery church at Limburg- Dietkirchen , in its oldest parts. After many changes in ownership between the Ottonian and Salian noble families, it
2838-421: The Upper Westerwald, bypassing the High Westerwald, seeing it as nothing more than a trackless wooded wilderness, after which they eventually came up against the Rhine in the 2nd century. Even in the time when the Celts found themselves having to avoid the Germanic invaders by moving to the west, the Romans were also pushing in from the Rhine's left bank to the southwest. However, the Romans only managed to seize
2904-428: The Vordertaunus – the latter clearly decreases to the north. In later uplift phases between the Late Jurassic and the Tertiary , cross-fractures were applied perpendicular to strike. The rift valley of the Idstein Depression divides the Hintertaunus into an eastern and western part, while the Limburg Basin divides the Lahn Mulde as it sinks. Some of the fractures are now filled with quartz . The free-standing rocks of
2970-426: The Westerwald is bordered by the following river valleys: the Rhine between Koblenz and Linz , the Sieg as far as Betzdorf, the Heller , the Dill and from its mouth near Wetzlar , the Lahn up to Lahnstein . Geomorphologically , the Westerwald belongs to the Rhenish Massif, which forms the greater part of that range's eastern half on the Rhine's right bank. Likewise, the Gladenbach Uplands , lying east of
3036-481: The Westerwald's north and southwest edges even gave two Lower Devonian layers, with their colourful slates, their names. The upper mountain layers are formed of volcanic strata made of basalt containing tuffs. In a few areas, slate and clay have long been quarried, the latter notably in the so-called Kannenbäckerland , but also in a few other places where the clay is worked into the salt- glazed grey Westerwald Pottery with cobalt blue decoration. The pottery industry
3102-402: The bays of the foothills divide it more. Hintertaunus is the name given to the area north of the Hoher Taunus up to the Lahn valley . The landscape here is lower and less mountainous than in the southern Taunus. Between the valleys, some of which are quite deep, there are pronounced plateaus (leveled areas) with heavy agricultural use. Since mostly only the slopes of the valley are forested,
3168-407: The characteristics of rolling hills. Typical for the economy of the Upper Westerwald, some 40% of which is actually wooded, are traditional slate mining, clay quarrying , diabase and basalt mining, pottery and the iron ore industry, and among other things mining in the Siegerländer Erzrevier (roughly "Siegerland Ore Grounds"). Despite its relatively slight elevation, the Westerwald has for
3234-432: The course of the Variscan Orogonese foliated , scaled and in the southwest-northeast strike saddles and troughs folded. The folds are predominantly northwestvergent . Widespread to the northwest, the rock series were thrust onto younger ones. Thus, at the fault zone of the Taunuskamm overthrust , the entire length of the southern Taunus nappe-like was thrust over rocks of the Younger Lower Devonian. The overthrust of
3300-488: The east, the Giessen Basin (southernmost part of the West Hessian Uplands ) with Dießenbach and Kleebach border to the north, the Wetterau with Wetter and Nidda to the south of the slate mountains; in the south, the Rheingau and the Main-Taunus foothills form natural borders. The last three landscapes are part of the Rhine-Main lowlands. On the southern edge are the towns of Rüdesheim am Rhein , Wiesbaden , Hofheim am Taunus and Bad Homburg vor der Höhe at
3366-423: The following structure in terms of land use, the location and distribution of settlements and the course of traffic routes. In the south are the more wooded and higher parts, namely the Vordertaunus (naturally also called Vortaunus) and the Hohe Taunus (around Taunus main ridge ), where in the Feldberg massif the highest heights not only of the Taunus but of the entire Rhenish Slate Mountains are reached. That
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#17328766483173432-409: The governance of the Lordship or County of Beilstein. The Westerwald lies mostly southwest of the three-state common point shared by Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia in the districts of Altenkirchen , Lahn-Dill , Limburg-Weilburg , Neuwied , Rhein-Lahn , Rhein-Sieg , Westerwaldkreis and partly in Siegen-Wittgenstein . It is found south of the Rothaargebirge , southwest of
3498-428: The iron ore deposits in the so-called Hallstatt times ( Iron Age , roughly 750 to 500 BC). In all likelihood they came into the area from the Hunsrück . From La Tène times come the Celtic ringwall-girded defensive and sheltering castles which may be found on, among other peaks, the Malberg. Already by La Tène times, Germanic peoples were thrusting in from the east and from the Sieg valley. They came about 380 BC into
3564-416: The junctions with the valleys of the Upper Rhine and Main ; the towns of Bad Nauheim and Butzbach are on the eastern edge at the junction with the Wetterau ; in the north on the Lahn the towns of Wetzlar , Weilburg , Bad Ems and Lahnstein border on the Hintertaunus ; in the west in the Middle Rhine is, among other things, Lorch at the seam (each in an anti-clockwise direction). The Taunus
3630-427: The lower Wied, pumice gravel in the Neuwied Basin, various mineral springs and, once, brown coal mining. The whole Westerwald region lay under a tropically warm arm of the sea in the Palaeozoic (600 to 270 million years ago). This sea deposited layers of sediments many kilometres thick into the Variscan geosyncline , which were heavily folded in the orogeny that followed. The towns of Siegen and Koblenz on
3696-474: The metavolcanic sequence, the Eppstein slate and the Lorsbach slate. The oldest sedimentary rocks of the Taunus are the phyllites of Bierstadt from the lower Ordovician era, known only from a borehole in Wiesbaden , with an age of about 480 million years determined by the evidence of spores . The volcanic rocks of the metavulcanite unit are younger, they could be dated to the Upper Ordovician and Silurian using uranium-lead dating . They are overlaid by
3762-501: The newly minted power Prussia . A sovereign Duchy of Nassau existed until it was annexed by Prussia in 1866. Nowadays, the Westerwald is shared among three German federal states: Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. The Westerwald is also internationally known in songs, above all in folksongs , and particularly the "Westerwaldlied" ("Westerwald Song"), as well as "Westerwald-Marsch" ("Westerwald March"), "Westerwald, du bist so schön" ("Westerwald, you are so lovely"),
3828-416: The part of the Lahnmulde that belongs to the Taunus. In addition, there are countless smaller quarries to supply the local population with building blocks. The Roman Limes was built across the Taunus. The Saalburg , a restored Roman castellum, now houses a museum. After the fall of the Limes (in 259/260 AD), the Alamanni settled in the range and for this reason there are some Alemannic cemeteries in
3894-413: The royal court at Herborn . Only since the mid 19th century has the name come into common usage for the whole range. The High Westerwald has since the Middle Ages formed the heart of the Herrschaft zum (also vom or auf dem ) Westerwald ("Lordship over the Westerwald"). This comprised the three court districts of Marienberg , Emmerichenhain and Neukirch . The Lordship later fell under
3960-420: The sandy rocks of the Singhofen layers, in the east, rocks in the Facies of the Hunsrück slate recede. Transposed volcanic tuffes and ashes , the so-called porphyroides , are integrated into the Singhofen layers, they can be traced in some cases over several tens of kilometers. The Middle Devonian to Lower Carboniferous of the Usinger Mulde is only about 250 m thick and strongly tectonically disturbed, in
4026-416: The soil is fertile due to the high proportion of loess and the climate is milder due to the basin location. The Taunus (main unit group 30) is subdivided in terms of natural space as follows: The Taunus is geologically divided from south to north into the units Vordertaunus unit (also northern phyllite zone or metamorphic southern edge zone), Taunus ridge unit and Hintertaunus unit. Finally, south of
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#17328766483174092-437: The southern foothills of the Taunus ( Eschborn ). This area of the Taunus became part of the Frankish confederation of Germanic tribes after the Battle of Tolbiac around 500 AD. In past centuries the Taunus became famous among aristocrats for its therapeutic hot springs . Certain towns in the area, such as Bad Homburg vor der Höhe with its Kurpark , have geothermal spas that were formerly renowned. Other spa towns in
4158-564: The time of the taking of the land arose in formerly pathless areas, taking endings such as –ingen and –heim , like Bellingen and Bladernheim ; these lie on the broad, raised plains in the Upper Westerwald. The Franks built their old settlements on the edge of the Westerwald in the central areas of their districts, to build up slowly and permanently strongholds in the interior. There arose places with names ending in –rode, –scheid, –hahn, –berg, –tal and –seifen . Once clearing settlements had been established and logging for iron ore smelting
4224-408: Was here 380,000,000 years ago. Parts of this limestone formation are worked in open-pit mining ; near Enspel , a " fossil conservation area" has been instituted, in which institutes from several colleges conduct research and excursions. A few karst caves are of interest to spelaeology and bring about the temporary disappearance and reappearance of the Erdbach. The Westerwald's highest mountain
4290-400: Was in the end the Counts of Sayn, Diez and Wied who managed to take hold of extensive landholdings. Particular importance was achieved by the Counts of Laurenburg, who later called themselves the Counts of Nassau . In the east, the Landgraves of Hesse put it about that they could beat the Archbishopric of Mainz on the battlefield. Moreover, the Counts of Wied, the Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein and
4356-403: Was under way, the widespread destruction of the forest began. Between the 6th and 9th centuries came settlement expansion from the old settlements towards the edges, a process still witnessed in placename endings such as –hausen, –hofen, –kirch, –burg or –tal . The last settlement period in the Westerwald began in the 10th century and ended about 1300. Through Carolingian policy and therefore
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