High Fichtel Mountains Explained

High Fichtel
(Hohes Fichtelgebirge)
State:Bavaria, extreme west of the Czech Republic
Parent:Thuringian-Franconian Highlands
Highest:Schneeberg
Range Coordinates:50.05°N 11.85°W

The High Fichtel Mountains[1] (German: Hohes Fichtelgebirge), or High Fichtel,[2] form a mountainous and heavily forested range consisting of several mountain chains in the shape of a horseshoe, the Fichtel Mountain Horseshoe (Fichtelgebirgs-Hufeisen), that rings the Selb-Wunsiedel Plateau.

As a natural region the High Fichtel Mountains are major unit 394 within the major unit group of the Thuringian-Franconian Highlands (39), that run from the Thuringian Forest to the Fichtel Mountains.[3] Since September 2010 there is a new system for classifying the natural regions of northeast Bavaria, whereby the natural region of the High Fichtel only covers the central mountain region of the Scheeberg, Ochsenkopf and Kösseine, whilst the Waldstein ridge, the Steinwald and lower parts of the horseshoe represent special subordinate natural regions of the Fichtel Mountains.[4]

Geography

The High Fichtel Mountains begin in the northeast at the Kornberg, continue via the Waldstein, Schneeberg, Ochsenkopf and Königsheide in the southwest to the Kösseine, then over the Steinwald and Reichsforst to the Kohlwald in the southeast.

In the geomorphological division of the neighbouring Czech Republic, the Aš Hills (German: Ascher Hügelland; Czech: Ašská vrchovina), the Hazlov Hills (Haslauer Hügelland or Hazlovská pahorkatina) and the Cheb Hills (Egerer Hügelland or Chebská pahorkatina) are counted as part of the (High) Fichtel range.[5]

Geology

Geologically the mountain range consists mainly of granite. The history of its orogeny begins in the Pre-Cambrian about 750–800 million years ago – covering almost 20% of the earth's history, something which only applies to a few of the surviving ranges of the truncated Central Uplands of Germany today.

Mountains

The mountains of the High Fichtel include the following, sorted by their elevation in metres (m) above sea level (NN):

MountainHeight (m)Remarks
1,051 Highest mountain in the Fichtel range, Haberstein (923 m) on its southwestern slopes
1,024 Winter sport, chair and drag lifts, Weißmainfelsen (906 m) on the eastern slopes
972
953 Ahornfels (910 m) on southwestern slope
946
939Subpeak of Kleine Kösseine (922 m)
885
879 Burgsteinfelsen at 869.2 m, Luisenburg Kreuzfelsen (785 m) at northern foot
877 Winter sport, cross-country skiing trails
866Rock formation at the summit and Drei Brüder formation (850 m) 500 m to the southwest
863 Winter sport, drag lifts
863
85725 m high graniterock formation of Hoher Stein at northeastern foot
848
827 Winter sport, drag lift and cross-country skiing trails
813Prinzenfelsen (751 m) rock formation
798 Winter sport, cross-country skiing trails
768
767
732
731
713
710
705
692 Summit region is a nature reserve
686
685
675
Výhledy (German: Oberkunreuthberg) 656 Brunnenhaus
643 Winter sport, drag lift
Zelená hora (German: Grünberg) 637 transmission tower, viewing tower
632 observation tower
628 Dreifaltigkeitskirche Kappl
626
620 near Konnersreuth
618
616
613 near Konnersreuth

Settlements

Transport

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=GNcU427jk1AC&dq=%22high+fichtel%22&pg=PA97 From Paleozoic to Quaternary: A Field Trip from the Franconian Alb to Bohemia
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=1EVjtv1G06gC&dq=%22high+fichtel%22&pg=PT749 Travel Munich
  3. E. Meynen and J. Schmithüsen: Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands – Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen/Bad Godesberg 1953-1962 (9 issues in 8 books, updated (1960) 1:1,000,000 map with major units)
  4. Web site: Karl Heinrich Vollrath: Viola in Nordostbayern (Seite 132-133) . 2014-01-28 . 2020-07-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200713024919/http://www.regnitzflora.de/Veilchen_20_12_10.pdf . dead .
  5. http://cs.wikipedia.com/wiki/Soubor:Smrciny_CZ_I3A-1.png Smrčiny (Fichtel Mountains)