The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff.Elkins, T H (1972). Germany (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, p. 13. . (N.B. In German die Mittelgebirge (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das Mittelgebirge refers to a low mountain range or upland region (Mittel = "medium" and -gebirge = "range").) is one of the three major natural regions of Germany. It stretches east to west across the country. To the north lies the North German Plain or Northern Lowland; to the south, the Alps and the Alpine Foreland.
Formation The German Central Uplands, like the Scandinavian and British mountain ranges and the Urals, belong to the oldest mountains of Europe, even if their present-day appearance has only developed relatively recently. In the Carboniferous, i.e. about 350 million years ago, Variscan mountain ranges were formed in central Europe by the uplifting caused by tectonic plate collision. Immediately after their formation the erosion of the mountains began under the influence of exogenous processes during the Permian period. During the Triassic period, which began about 225 million years ago, what is now central Europe was sometimes above and sometimes below sea level. As a result, there are various layers of sedimentary rock in the Central Uplands: in most cases new red sandstone has been laid down as the terrestrial layer of rock and keuper and muschelkalk as marine sedimentary layers. The Jurassic period primarily saw the formation of limestone, whilst chalk was the main deposition from the Cretaceous period.
With the beginning of the Cenozoic era, some 70 million years ago, the process of erosion of the Hercynian mountain ranges changed. During the Tertiary, alpidic mountain building took place, in the course of which strong forces deformed the stumps of the Hercynian mountains. As these rocks were already folded, further tension led to cracks and fractures, which in turn created fault blocks. These blocks were later uplifted (forming horsts such as the Harz), or downfaulted (trough faults or graben such as the Upper Rhine Valley) or thrust over one another (tilted fault blocks such as the Ore Mountains). Thus the German Central Uplands exhibit the widest variety of forms, something that is also attributable to the erosion of sediments from the Mesozoic (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous). In some ranges the sediments have been relatively well-preserved, in others they have been carried away completely. The determining factor is the local intensity of exogenous processes.
Most important ranges The table lists the ranges peaking over 300 m above sea level widely seen as part of the Central Uplands. The coordinates are of the respective peaks. Many of the uplands overlap. The ranges are listed by height.
Mountain or hill range Highest elevation Height (m) Coordinates PrecisionWiehen Hills Heidbrink 320 ± 30″Elm Eilumer Horn 323 ± 30″Calenberg Highland Hohe Egge (Süntel) 437 ± 30″Teutoburg Forest Barnacken 446 ± 30″Siebengebirge Großer Ölberg 460 ± 1″Egge Hills Preußischer Velmerstot 468 ± 30″Kyffhäuser Kulpenberg 474 ± 1″Solling Große Blöße 528 ± 30″Kaiserstuhl Totenkopf 557 ± 1″Spessart Geiersberg 586 ± 30″Gladenbach Uplands Angelburg 609 ± 30″Habichtswald Hohes Gras 615 ± 30″Odenwald Katzenbuckel 626 ± 30″Knüll Eisenberg 636 ± 1″Kaufungen Forest Hirschberg 643 ± 30″Westerwald Fuchskaute 656 ± 30″Ebbe Mountains Nordhelle 663 ± 1″Palatine Forest Kalmit 673 ± 1″Kellerwald Wüstegarten 675 ± 10″North Palatine Highland Donnersberg 687 ± 10″Franconian Jura Hesselberg 689 ± 30″Elbe Sandstone Mountains Děčínský Sněžník 723 ± 30″Eifel Hohe Acht 746 ± 30″Hoher Meißner Kasseler Kuppe 754 ± 30″Vogelsberg Taufstein 773 ± 30″Zittau Mountains Lausche 793 ± 30″Franconian Forest Döbraberg 794 ± 30″Hunsrück Erbeskopf 816 ± 30″Elster Mountains Počátecký vrch 819 ± 30″Rothaar Mountains Langenberg 843 ± 30″Thuringian Highland Großer Farmdenkopf 869 ± 30″Taunus Großer Feldberg 882 ± 1″Rhön Wasserkuppe 950 ± 1″Thuringian Forest Großer Beerberg 983 ± 5″Swabian Jura Lemberg 1015 ± 30″Upper Palatine Forest Čerchov 1042 ± 30″Fichtel Mountains Schneeberg 1053 ± 30″Harz Brocken 1141 ± 30″Ore Mountains Klínovec 1244 ± 30″Bavarian Forest Großer Arber 1456 ± 30″Black Forest Feldberg 1493 ± 1″
See also Geography of Germany Mittelgebirge, generic German term for low mountain or high hill ranges Natural regions of Germany
References
Sources Dickinson, Robert E (1964). Germany: A regional and economic geography (2nd ed.). London: Methuen. .
External links