Hessian Uplands Attractions Hessisches Bergland
The Hessian Uplands - once the territory of a Germanic tribe, the Chatti - have the most varied topography in the whole of the German Central Uplands. They extend from the river Werra in the east to the Rhine between Mainz and Koblenz in the west and from Karlshafen on the Weser in the north to the Neckar at Heidelberg in the south. They are broken up into numerous valley areas and small ranges of hills, which reach their greatest height in the Rhön, with the Gross Wasserkuppe (950 m/3,120ft). To the west are the Westerwald and the Taunus, in the Rhenish Uplands. Between the Main, the Rhine plain and the Neckar is the Odenwald, the southern part of which lies in Baden-Württemberg. To the east is the Hessian depression, which extends from the Main between Frankfurt and Hanau by way of the fertile Wetterau (between the Taunus and the Vogelsberg) and the Lahn valley between Giessen and Marburg to the rivers Schwalm and Fulda (continuing in the Weser valley), and the Hessian Uplands proper.
Habichtswald
To the west of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe extends the Habichtswald, a basalt plateau some 4km/2.5mi long and broad, reaching its highest point in the Hohes Gras (615 m/2,018ft) and falling away steeply on all sides.
The most northerly part of the Hessian Uplands is the Reinhardswald.
The most northerly part of the Hessian Uplands is the Reinhardswald.
Hainagebirge
The Hainagebirge, outlying the Rhenish Uplands, reaches a height of 675 m/2,215ft in the Kellerwald. It is a densely forested area with deeply indented valleys, in one of which is the great Eder Dam.
Knüllgebirge
To the west of the Fulda and north of the Vogelsberg is the little Knüllgebirge, a grass-covered basaltic plateau reaching its highest point in the Eisenberg (636 m/2,087ft) and falling steeply down on the south.
Meissnerland
Extending between the Werra and the Fulda in the Hessian Uplands to their junction at Münden, is the Meissnerland, a region of varied topography within which are the Ringgau to the east, the Hoher Meissner (750 m/2,460ft) in the middle and the Kaufunger Wald to the north, reaching its highest point in the Bilstein (640 m/2,100ft).
Seulingswald
To the north of the Rhön lies the Seulingswald, a wooded upland region of sandstone extending to the Hönebach pass between the rivers Werra and Fulda, which here come within 16km/10mi of one another.
Vogelsberg
Northeast of the Taunus in the Hessian Uplands, and separated from it by the Wetterau, rises the Vogelsberg, a flat-topped cone some 50km/30mi in diameter which was originally a much higher volcano. The old lava flows, the line of which can still be traced in the valleys radiating from the hill, form the largest mass of basalt in Germany. The summit area consists of the unpopulated Oberwald, a tract of forest (mainly beech and oak) at a height of over 600 m/2,000ft, rising to 772 m/2,533ft in the Taufstein.
From the Vogelsberg the ridge of hills runs east to the Rhön, the northern part of which is in Thuringia and the southern part in Bavaria.
From the Vogelsberg the ridge of hills runs east to the Rhön, the northern part of which is in Thuringia and the southern part in Bavaria.
