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18-536: The tower is located in the east of the Palatinate Forest, within the nature park itself, on the Steigerkopf ( 613.6 m above  sea level (NHN) ), whose summit, including the tower site, belongs to an exclave of the municipality of Gommersheim . The octagonal tower is 13 metres high and was built of hewn bunter sandstone . The body of the structure is in two parts. The massive lower section has

36-408: A perron that leads to a platform about 5 metres above the ground. Inside the narrower upper section of the tower, which is accessed from the platform from a door and has narrow, embrasure -like windows, is an internal staircase. The observation platform on the roof of the tower is protected by railings. Depending on the height of the surrounding trees, the views may be restricted. The Schänzel Tower

54-717: A response to the evolution of the Alps to the south. It remains active to the present day. Today, the Rhine Rift Valley forms a downfaulted trough through which the river Rhine flows. The Upper Rhine Plain was formed during the Early Cenozoic era, during the Late Eocene epoch. At this time, the Alpine Orogeny , the major mountain building event that was to produce the Alps , was in its early stages. The Alps were formed because

72-577: Is a major rift , about 350-kilometre-long (220 mi) and on average 50-kilometre-wide (31 mi), between Basel in the south and the cities of Frankfurt / Wiesbaden in the north. Its southern section straddles the France–Germany border . It forms part of the European Cenozoic Rift System , which extends across Central Europe . The Upper Rhine Graben formed during the Oligocene , as

90-767: Is estimated to be ~2. To both the east and west of the Rhine Plain, two major hill ranges have formed that run the length of the basin. To the west, in France, these hills are known as the Vosges mountain range and in the east, in Germany, the hills comprise the Black Forest . These ranges exhume the same types of rocks in their cores, including deep crustal gneiss . Both ranges correspond to uplifts of more than 2,500 metres, much of which has since been eroded. This uplift has occurred because of

108-593: Is the responsibility of the Naturpark Pfälzerwald e.V. founded on 20 July 1982. The members of the organisation are those districts and towns on whose territory the nature park is located as well as the Palatinate Regional Association and numerous sports clubs and environmental groups. Many business are involved in the work of the nature park which enables the independence of individual functional and regional interests to be guaranteed. The aim of

126-568: The Palatinate Forest on the western and the Odenwald on the eastern side. The extension induced by the formation of the Alps was sufficient to thin the crust and provide suitable dilational conduits for magmatic and volcanic activity to occur. This resulted in the emplacement of mafic dykes , which follow the general structural trend of the extensional faults. In addition, isolated volcanoes such as

144-689: The Kaiserstuhl were formed. The Kaiserstuhl (literally "Emperor's Chair") is a cluster of volcanic hills to the northwest of Freiburg, within the Rhine Graben. The highest point of this small, isolated volcanic centre is the Totenkopf (557 metres). Volcanic activity was most prevalent in the Miocene epoch, some 15 million years ago. Today, the Kaiserstuhl volcano is extinct. In 1356, the Basel earthquake occurred in

162-670: The Rhine , a contingent of Prussian soldiers opposed them without success on the slopes of the Steigerkopf. Because the Prussians had built a small fieldwork ( Schanze ) on the mountainside, the Steigerkopf became known locally as the Schänzel ; whence the name of the tower. 49°17′49.4″N 8°1′34.4″E  /  49.297056°N 8.026222°E  / 49.297056; 8.026222 Palatine Forest Nature Park The Palatinate Forest Nature Park ( German : Naturpark Pfälzerwald ) lies in

180-562: The Rhine Plain. It was perhaps the most destructive earthquake ever in northwest Europe , destroying the city of Basel and flattening buildings as far as 200 km away. It was the most significant historic seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe. Its epicenter was between Waldkirch and St. Peter in Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald . However, it remains disputed whether the fault that ruptured to cause this earthquake

198-525: The brave Prussian warriors who died a hero's death here for the German Fatherland fighting the French invasion army on 13 July 1794" ( Dem Andenken der tapferen preußischen Krieger, welche im Kampfe gegen das französische Invasionsheer am 13. Juli 1794 hier den Heldentod für das deutsche Vaterland starben ). When French Revolutionary troops conquered that part of Electoral Palatine on the left bank of

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216-410: The continents of Europe and Africa collided. It is thought that because the collision was irregular , the initial contact between the two continents resulted in the formation of dilational (extensional) structures in the foreland basin to the north of the Alps. The result was substantial crustal thinning, forming a major extensional graben and causing isolated volcanic activity. The stretch factor

234-660: The former landscape conservation area of the German Wine Route , which runs from the eastern edge of the nature park to the Rhine plain . Based on the current state regulations dated 22 January 2007 the nature park has 16 core zones, which are under special protection: 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 )

252-409: The isostatic response associated with the formation of an extensional basin. As a consequence, the highest mountains exist immediately adjacent to the margin of the basin, and become increasingly low outwards. The boundaries between the hill ranges and the Rhine Graben are defined by major, normal fault zones. The northern section of the Rhine Plain is equally framed by somewhat lower mountain ranges,

270-462: The organisation is to develop in a coherent way the nature park and the biosphere reserve of the same name and to look after and preserve its uniqueness and beauty as well as its pan-regional value as a recreation area. The headquarters of the park association has been based in Lambrecht since 1997. The Palatinate Forest Nature Park is divided into 3 regions based on their landscape: It also includes

288-592: The south of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and borders on France . The nature park covers an area of 177,100 hectares (684 sq mi) and some 76% of its area is under the woods of the Palatinate Forest , the largest contiguous forest region in Germany. Together with parts of northern Alsace and Lorraine , it forms the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve and has an impressive Bunter sandstone landscape. The park

306-571: Was erected in 1874 a result of Germany's nationalistic fervour after her victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. In 1894 it was dedicated to the Prussian soldiers who suffered a defeat at this location during the Battle of Trippstadt on 13 July 1794, a hundred years earlier, including the death of the Prussian commander, General Theodor Philipp von Pfau  [ de ] : "...in memory of

324-793: Was part of the Rhine Valley extensional system, or simply one of the many thrust faults that make up the Alps to the south. Doubts have been raised over the adequacy of the seismic evaluation and design of the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant , built in the Rhine Plain close to the faults. Located below the plain, the Upper Rhine aquifer – one of the largest in Europe – holds an estimated 45,000 km (11,000 cu mi) of fresh water and supplies some 3 million people in France and Germany, supplying 75% of their drinking water and 50% of

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