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The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse
Hesse

Hesse is a States of Germany of Germany with an area of 21,110 km? and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main....
, Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
 and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

Location
The Odenwald lies between the Rhine rift
Rhine rift

The Upper Rhine valley describes the Upper Rhine area on the earth's surface, while the Upper Rhine Rift is the geological formation below....
 with the Bergstraße
Bergstraße

Bergstra?e is the name of a mountainous theme routes, and the area around it, stretching across the western edge of the Odenwald in southern Hesse and northern Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany....
 and the Hessisches Ried (the northeastern section of the Rhine rift) in the west, the Main
Main

The Main is a river in Germany, 524 km long , and it is one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine. The Main flows through the States of Germany of Bavaria, Baden-W?rttemberg and Hesse....
 and the Bauland (a mostly unwooded area with good soils) in the east, the Rhine-Main Plain of the Rhine rift near Darmstadt
Darmstadt

Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
 in the north and the Kraichgau
Kraichgau

The Kraichgau is a hilly region in Baden-W?rttemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar River to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine River Plains to the West....
 in the south.






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Encyclopedia


The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse
Hesse

Hesse is a States of Germany of Germany with an area of 21,110 km? and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main....
, Bavaria
Bavaria

Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
 and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

Location


The Odenwald lies between the Rhine rift
Rhine rift

The Upper Rhine valley describes the Upper Rhine area on the earth's surface, while the Upper Rhine Rift is the geological formation below....
 with the Bergstraße
Bergstraße

Bergstra?e is the name of a mountainous theme routes, and the area around it, stretching across the western edge of the Odenwald in southern Hesse and northern Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany....
 and the Hessisches Ried (the northeastern section of the Rhine rift) in the west, the Main
Main

The Main is a river in Germany, 524 km long , and it is one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine. The Main flows through the States of Germany of Bavaria, Baden-W?rttemberg and Hesse....
 and the Bauland (a mostly unwooded area with good soils) in the east, the Rhine-Main Plain of the Rhine rift near Darmstadt
Darmstadt

Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
 in the north and the Kraichgau
Kraichgau

The Kraichgau is a hilly region in Baden-W?rttemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar River to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine River Plains to the West....
 in the south. The part south of the Neckar
Neckar

The Neckar is a 367-km long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern States of Germany of Baden-W?rttemberg, but also a short section through Hesse in Germany, a major right tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Mannheim....
 valley is sometimes called the Kleiner Odenwald (“Little Odenwald”).

The northern and western Odenwald belong to southern Hesse, with the south stretching into Baden
Baden

Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-W?rttemberg of Germany....
. In the northeast, a small part lies in Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia

Lower Franconia is one of the three Regierungsbezirks of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany .The district was formed in 1817 under the name of Untermainkreis and renamed in 1837 as Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg ....
 in Bavaria.

Geology

The Odenwald, along with many of Germany’s low mountain ranges, belongs to the Variscan
Variscan orogeny

The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Laurasia and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangea....
, which more than 300,000,000 years ago in the Devonian
Devonian

The Devonian is a geologic period of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
 ran through great parts of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. The cause of this orogeny
Orogeny

Orogeny refers to natural mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event, and a chronological event: orogenic events cause distinctive structural phenomena and related tectonic activity, affect certain regions of rocks and crust, and happen within a specific period of time....
 was the collision of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
’s and Europe’s forerunner continents.

In the Triassic
Triassic

The Triassic is a geologic period that extends from about 251 to 199 annum . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic....
, about 200,000,000 years ago, the land sank again, forming the so-called “Germanic Basin” in which the metre-thick layers of red sandstone could build up
Sedimentation

Sedimentation describes the motion of molecules in solutions or particle s in suspension in response to an external force such as gravitation, centrifugal force or electromagnetism....
. These were later covered over with layers of muschelkalk
Muschelkalk

The Muschelkalk is a sequence of sedimentary rock rock strata in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic age and forms the middle part of the Germanic Trias, that further consists of the Buntsandstein and Keuper ....
 from a broad inland sea, then followed by sediments from the Late Triassic
Late Triassic

The Late Triassic is in the geologic timescale the third and final of three epoch s of the Triassic geological timescale. The corresponding series is known as the Upper Triassic....
 (or Keuper). The South German Cuesta
Cuesta

In structural geology and geomorphology, a cuesta is a ridge formed by gently tilted sedimentary rock strata in a homoclinal structure. Cuestas have a steep slope, where the rock layers are exposed on their edges, called an escarpment or, if more steep, a cliff....
 Land thus formed.

When the land in the Odenwald was uplifted
Tectonic uplift

Tectonic uplift is a geology process most often caused by plate tectonics which increases elevation. The opposite of uplift is subsidence, which results in a decrease in elevation....
 again about 180,000,000 years ago, more than 100 m of the sedimentary layering, in parts, was eroded
Erosion

For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion 'For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion Erosion is the removal of solids in the natural environment....
 away down to the bedrock
Bedrock

File:Rockhead1.jpg.JPGIn stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated Rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth....
, as can still be seen in the western Odenwald. The bedrock here is made out of a remarkably great number of different minerals, among them gneiss
Gneiss

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of Rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic rock processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous rock or Sedimentary rock rocks....
, granite
Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
, diorite
Diorite

Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate Intrusion igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene....
, gabbro
Gabbro

Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive igneous rock chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are Intrusive, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
 in the Frankenberg pluton
Pluton

A pluton in geology is an intrusive igneous rock body that crystallized from a magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Plutons include batholiths, dike , Sill , laccoliths, lopoliths, and other igneous bodies....
, and so on. In the eastern Odenwald, the red sandstone is all that is left of the sedimentary mixture. Farther east in the Bauland, the muschelkalk deposits still overlie the Early Triassic
Early Triassic

The Early Triassic is the first of three epoch s of the Triassic period . It spans the time between 251 ? 0.4 annum and 245 ? 1.5 Ma . The Permian-Triassic extinction event spawned the Triassic period....
 layers. Furthermore, in the south near Heidelberg
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a city in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. As of 2006, over 140,000 people live within the city's area. The town of Heidelberg is an administrative district of its own....
, there is still zechstein
Zechstein

The Zechstein is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Middle to Late Permian age located in the Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of England to northern Poland....
 under the Early Triassic deposits.

Roughly 50 to 60 million years ago, volcano
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
es formed along the great geological faults. Still bearing witness to this time are the Otzberg, the Daumberg and the Katzenbuckel, all extinct volcanoes in the Odenwald. Furthermore, vulcanism with acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
ic minerals has left a legacy of rhyolite
Rhyolite

This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous rock, volcanic rock , of felsic composition ....
s near Dossenheim
Dossenheim

Dossenheim is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. It is located in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany.Dossenheim is located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route....
. Along the faults, the small rivers Gersprenz and Weschnitz have, in part, carved their courses.

At roughly the same time, the Central European plate began to tear apart so that the Upper Rhine Rift collapsed and the Hessian Depression came into being. Even as the Rhine Valley still sinks today by just under a millimetre each year, the Odenwald, relatively to that, was uplifted to the height it has today.

The Rhine Valley is part of a fracture zone reaching from the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
 to Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
. Right on the edge of the Odenwald, it is roughly 2 500 m deep, but has been filled in to its current height by river and sea sediment, for until about 20,000,000 years ago, the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
 reached far inland, across the Wetterau
Wetterau

The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter , a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German region of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains....
 Depression into the Rhine Valley.

History

About 2500 BC, there is evidence that the Linear Pottery culture
Linear Pottery culture

The Linear Pottery culture is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic, flourishing ca. 5500?4500 BC. The heaviest concentrations are on the middle Danube, the upper and middle Elbe, and the upper and middle Rhine....
 settled along the northern (Gersprenz) and southern (Neckar valley) edges of the Odenwald. About 400 BC, Celts (Gauls) settled throughout southern Germany. Almost all of the Odenwald was covered then with virgin forest
Old growth forest

Old growth forest is a type of forest that has attained great age and so exhibits unique biology features.Old growth forests typically contain large live trees, large dead trees , and large logs, as well as many other common characteristics representative of forests in general....
, and the outer edges were not settled. Germanic peoples
Germanic peoples

File:Germanische-ratsversammlung 1-1250x715.jpgThe Germanic peoples are a historical Ethnolinguistics group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European languages Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age....
 drove the Celts westwards across the Rhine to what is now France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

About AD 100, the older Odenwald line of the Neckar-Odenwald Limes
Limes

A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the Borders of the Roman Empire.The Latin language noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting Field , a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any distinction or difference....
 was built under Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 Emperor Trajan
Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
 (98-117). This stretch of the Empire’s border ran from Fort Wimpfen in the Valley (Kastell Wimpfen im Tal) northwards by way of the Forts of Neckarburken, the lesser forts of Trienz and Robern near Fahrenbach
Fahrenbach

Fahrenbach is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany....
, Fort Oberscheidental, Fort Schloßau, Fort Hesselbach, Fort Würzberg, Fort Eulbach, Fort Hainhaus and Fort Hesselbach to Fort Wörth on the Main
Main

The Main is a river in Germany, 524 km long , and it is one of the more significant tributaries of the Rhine. The Main flows through the States of Germany of Bavaria, Baden-W?rttemberg and Hesse....
. Parts of the Odenwald now lay in Roman-ruled Germania Superior
Germania Superior

Germania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a Roman province of the Roman Empire. It comprised the area of western Switzerland, the French Jura mountains and Alsace regions and south-western Germany....
.

About 159, the Limes was shifted about 30 km eastwards to the Miltenberg
Miltenberg

Miltenberg is a Municipalities of Germany in Franconia on the river Main.Miltenberg is famous for being a regular stop of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, a famous Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire ....
–Walldürn
Walldürn

Walld?rn is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald German districts, in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It is situated 23 km southwest of Wertheim am Main....
–Buchen
Buchen

Buchen is a town in Germany Neckar-Odenwald German districts, in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Odenwald forest, 23 km northeast of Mosbach....
-Osterburken
Osterburken

Osterburken is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald district, in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It is situated 28 km southwest of Tauberbischofsheim, 50 km northeast of Heilbronn, 90 km east of Heidelberg, 60 km southwest of W?rzburg and 30 km east of Mosbach....
 line. In 260, Roman hegemony fell. The Alamanni
Alamanni

The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic languagess located around the upper Main river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211?17 and claimed thereby to be their defeater....
 were also thrusting into the Odenwald and settling the land between the Main and Neckar, after whom came the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
. In the 5th century, the Franks, under Clovis I
Clovis I

Clovis was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Franks under one king. He succeeded his father Childeric I in 481 as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an...
, divided the land up into districts.

In the 7th and 8th centuries came Christianization
Christianization

The historical phenomenon of Christianization, the religious conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once, also includes the practice of converting native Paganism practices and culture, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar to Christian uses, due to the Christian efforts at Ch...
 by Irish
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
-Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 monks (Pirmin
Saint Pirmin

Saint Pirmin , also named Pirminius, was a monk, strongly influenced by Celtic Christianity and Saint Amand. He originated from the surroundings of Narbonne, possible of Visigoths origin....
, Boniface
Saint Boniface

Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid or Wynfrith at Crediton in the kingdom of Wessex , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century....
). On the muschelkalk lands of today’s Bauland, which favoured agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
, a broad mesh of settlements arose. The parts of the Odenwald farther in from the rivers, though, with their scant new red sandstone
New Red Sandstone

The New Red Sandstone is a chiefly United Kingdom geology term for the beds of red sandstone and associated rocks laid down throughout the Permian to the beginning of the Triassic that underlie the Jurassic Lias; the term distinguishes it from the Devonian Old Red Sandstone....
 soils remained uninhabited. Four Benedictine
Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy....
 monasteries were assigned the job of opening the empty woods up by the central Frankish power (Carolingian
Carolingian

File:Charlemagne denier Mayence 812 814.jpgThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century....
), Lorsch Abbey
Lorsch Abbey

The Imperial Abbey of Lorsch , in Lorsch, about 10 km east of Worms, Germany, was one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire....
 from the west, Fulda Monastery from the east and Mosbach Monastery from the south. Amorbach Monastery had the greatest importance for ecclesiastical, cultural and economic development in the eastern Odenwald.

In the 9th century in the southeastern Odenwald near the now more thickly settled Bauland, settlements were established. The muschelkalk-new red sandstone mineral boundary was crossed.

Name

Where the name “Odenwald” came from is an open question and still causes controversy today. Following are some theories about the name’s origin:
  • The name comes from Ode
    Ode

    Ode is a form of stately and elaborate lyric poetry. A classic ode is structured in three parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode....
     (plural in German
    German language

    German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
    : Oden), and thus the name means something like “forest of sagas” (as in “Nibelung
    Nibelung

    The German language Nibelungen and the corresponding Old Norse form Niflung is the name in Germanic and Norse mythology of the royal family or lineage of the Burgundians who settled at Worms, Germany....
     saga”); Wald is German for “forest”.
  • The name might come from Odins Wald (“Odin’s Woods”). The main problem here is that for a long time, or even always, Odin
    Odin

    Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wodanaz or *Wodanaz....
     was worshipped in southern Germany under the name Wotan (in Old High German
    Old High German

    The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
     Uuodan; compare Merseburg Incantations
    Merseburg Incantations

    The Merseburg Incantations are two Middle Ages magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. They are the only known examples of Germanic paganism preserved in this language....
    ). There is, however, a community 80 km to the west in the Nordpfälzer Bergland whose name is Odenbach
    Odenbach

    Odenbach is a municipality in the Kusel , in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
    , and whose mediaeval
    Middle Ages

    File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
     name is known to have been Odinbach.
  • A further theory holds that there is a link between the name Odenwald and the Roman
    Ancient Rome

    Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
     administrative unit Civitas Auderiensium, which among other things included the range’s northern reaches and might have been named after a tribe called the Auderienses.
  • It has been postulated that there may be a link with the name Euterbach, a brook that rises in the Odenwald, so that the range’s name would mean “Wooded Range of the Euterbach”. This, of course, at once raises the question of where the name “Euterbach” itself came from.
  • There could be some kinship with the word öde, not in the currently understood meaning in German of “desert”, but rather in the meaning “thinly settled”.
  • A derivation from Odem (for Atem, German for “breath”) could refer to the wind, which was believed to be any god’s breath.


Legends and mythology

In the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied

The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poetry in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Sigurd at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Gudrun's revenge....
 (see also Nibelung
Nibelung

The German language Nibelungen and the corresponding Old Norse form Niflung is the name in Germanic and Norse mythology of the royal family or lineage of the Burgundians who settled at Worms, Germany....
) the dragon slayer Siegfried
Sigurd

Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Volsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving and the G?k Runestone ....
, on a hunting trip (instead of a failed campaign) leading from the Burgundian
Burgundian

Burgundian can refer to any of the following:*Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now know as Burgundy ....
 city of Worms into the Odenwald, is murdered by Hagen von Tronje
Hagen (legend)

Hagen or H?gni is a Burgundian warrior in tales about the Burgundian kingdom at Worms, Germany. Hagen is often identified as a brother or half-brother of King Gunther ....
. Since no exact spot for this deed has been handed down, countless communities, especially in the Hessian Odenwald, are squabbling over the right to call themselves “Siegfried’s Murder Site”. Even Odenheim, a constituent community of Östringen
Östringen

?stringen is a town in Northern Karlsruhe district in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. ?stringen is twinned with Abergavenny, South Wales....
, south of the Odenwald, claims this right.

Topography


Mountains



Over 600 m
  • Katzenbuckel (626 m; lookout tower), Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis
    Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis

    Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis is a district in the north of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Main-Tauber-Kreis, Hohenlohe , Heilbronn , Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, and the district Odenwaldkreis in Hesse....
    , Baden-Württemberg
    Baden-Württemberg

    Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
  • Neunkircher Höhe (605 m; Kaiserturm [tower]), Bergstraße district, Hesse
    Hesse

    Hesse is a States of Germany of Germany with an area of 21,110 km? and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main....


Over 450 m
  • Hardberg (593 m), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Stiefelhöhe (589 m), Hesse/Baden-Württemberg border
  • Tromm (577 m; lookout tower), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Krehberg (576 m; with Krehberg transmitter), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Königstuhl (567.8 m; observatory
    Observatory

    An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed....
    , funicular railway), Heidelberg
    Heidelberg

    Heidelberg is a city in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. As of 2006, over 140,000 people live within the city's area. The town of Heidelberg is an administrative district of its own....
    , Baden-Württemberg
  • Krähberg (555 m), Odenwaldkreis
    Odenwaldkreis

    The Odenwaldkreis is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Darmstadt-Dieburg, Miltenberg ,Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis and Kreis Bergstra?e....
    , Hesse
  • Kinzert (554 m), Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis
    Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis

    Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis is a district in the north of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Main-Tauber-Kreis, Hohenlohe , Heilbronn , Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, and the district Odenwaldkreis in Hesse....
    , Baden-Württemberg
  • Weißer Stein (550 m; lookout tower), Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
    Rhein-Neckar-Kreis

    Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bergstra?e, Odenwaldkreis, Neckar-Odenwald, Heilbronn , Karlsruhe , district-free Speyer, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and district-free Mannheim and Heidelberg....
    , Baden-Württemberg
  • Hohe Warte (548 m), Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg
  • Spessartskopf (547 m), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Falkenberg (546 m), Odenwaldkreis, Hesse
  • Waldskopf (538 m), Gorxheimertal
    Gorxheimertal

    Gorxheimertal is a community in the Kreis Bergstra?e in Hesse, Germany. It is in the Odenwald and the Rhine Neckar Area....
    -Trösel, Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Das Buch (535.30 m; near Lindenfels), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Wagenberg (535 m), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Eichelberg (526 m; lookout tower), Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg
  • Götzenstein (522 m), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Melibokus („Malschen“) (517.40 m), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Morsberg (517 m), Odenwaldkreis, Hesse
  • Felsberg (514 m; with Felsenmeer), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Knodener Kopf (511.20 m), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Wannenberg (482 m), Miltenberg district
    Miltenberg (district)

    Miltenberg is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Aschaffenburg, the districts of Aschaffenburg and Main-Spessart, and the states of Baden-W?rttemberg and Hesse ....
    , Bavaria
    Bavaria

    Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
  • Daumberg (462 m), Gorxheimertal-Trösel, Bergstraße district, Hesse


Over 300 m
  • Heiligenberg (445 m), Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg
  • Knorz (404 m; near Lautern), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Otzberg (367 m; with Veste Otzberg), Darmstadt-Dieburg
    Darmstadt-Dieburg

    Darmstadt-Dieburg is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Offenbach , Aschaffenburg , Miltenberg , Odenwaldkreis, Bergstra?e, Gro?-Gerau , and the district-free city of Darmstadt, which it surrounds....
    , Hesse
  • Auerberg (339.70 m; with Schloss Auerbach), Bergstraße district, Hesse
  • Breuberg (306 m; with Breuberg Castle), Odenwaldkreis, Hesse


Bodies of water


Flowing water
Countless streams rise in the Odenwald, the longest of which are the following:

  • Weschnitz (60 km), tributary to the Rhine
  • Mümling (50 km), tributary to the Main
  • Gersprenz (47 km), tributary to the Main
  • Lauter (43 km), tributary to the Rhine
  • Erf (40 km), tributary to the Main
  • Elz (Elzbach) (34 km), tributary to the Neckar
  • Finkenbach (20.5 km), joins the Ulfenbach in Hirschhorn, runs to the Laxbach, tributary to the Neckar
  • Ulfenbach (19.1 km), joins the Finkenbach in Hirschhorn, runs to the Laxbach, tributary to the Neckar
  • Grundelbach, (10 km), flows from Trösel to Weinheim
  • Modau (?? km), tributary to the Rhine
  • Mud (24 km), tributary to the Main
  • Steinach (22 km), tributary to the Neckar


Standing water
There are a few bodies of standing water in the Odenwald, among which are the following:
  • the Marbach Reservoir
  • the Eutersee


Political divisions

Heidelberg

Districts (with district seats)

  • Bergstraße district (Heppenheim
    Heppenheim

    Heppenheim is the seat of Kreis Bergstra?e in Hesse, Germany, lying on the Bergstra?e on the edge of the Odenwald....
    )
  • Darmstadt-Dieburg
    Darmstadt-Dieburg

    Darmstadt-Dieburg is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Offenbach , Aschaffenburg , Miltenberg , Odenwaldkreis, Bergstra?e, Gro?-Gerau , and the district-free city of Darmstadt, which it surrounds....
     (Dieburg
    Dieburg

    Dieburg is a town in southern Hessen, Germany. It was formerly the seat of the district of Dieburg, but is now part of the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg....
    , administration in Darmstadt
    Darmstadt

    Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
    -Kranichstein)
  • Main-Tauber-Kreis (Tauberbischofsheim
    Tauberbischofsheim

    Tauberbischofsheim is a Germany town in the north-east of Baden-W?rttemberg on the river Tauber with a population of about 13,000. It is the capital of the Main-Tauber district....
    )
  • Miltenberg district
    Miltenberg (district)

    Miltenberg is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Aschaffenburg, the districts of Aschaffenburg and Main-Spessart, and the states of Baden-W?rttemberg and Hesse ....
     (Miltenberg
    Miltenberg

    Miltenberg is a Municipalities of Germany in Franconia on the river Main.Miltenberg is famous for being a regular stop of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, a famous Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire ....
    )
  • Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis
    Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis

    Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis is a district in the north of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Main-Tauber-Kreis, Hohenlohe , Heilbronn , Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, and the district Odenwaldkreis in Hesse....
     (Mosbach
    Mosbach

    Mosbach is the capital of the Neckar-Odenwald district in the north of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany, about 58 km east of Heidelberg. Its geographical position is 49.21'N 9.9'E....
    )
  • Odenwaldkreis
    Odenwaldkreis

    The Odenwaldkreis is a Kreis in the south of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Darmstadt-Dieburg, Miltenberg ,Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis and Kreis Bergstra?e....
     (Erbach
    Erbach im Odenwald

    Erbach is the district seat of the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany....
    )
  • Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
    Rhein-Neckar-Kreis

    Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bergstra?e, Odenwaldkreis, Neckar-Odenwald, Heilbronn , Karlsruhe , district-free Speyer, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and district-free Mannheim and Heidelberg....
     (Heidelberg
    Heidelberg

    Heidelberg is a city in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. As of 2006, over 140,000 people live within the city's area. The town of Heidelberg is an administrative district of its own....
    )


District-free cities
Independent city

An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity.Independent cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other nation-state....
 

  • Darmstadt
    Darmstadt

    Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
  • Heidelberg
    Heidelberg

    Heidelberg is a city in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. As of 2006, over 140,000 people live within the city's area. The town of Heidelberg is an administrative district of its own....


Transport and tourism

The Odenwald is known as a leisure destination easily accessible from the urban areas of Mannheim
Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in Germany. With 327,318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-W?rttemberg after the capital Stuttgart....
 and Frankfurt
Frankfurt

is the largest city in the German States of Germany of Hesse and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000....
. It is known for its clean thin air and was once known for its health sanitariums. There are many marked hiking paths through the rural areas. Wild blueberries
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
, strawberries
Strawberry

Fragaria is the name of a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits....
 and mushroom
Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem , a cap , and gills on the unde...
s are to be found in the forests.

Roads

The planned extension to the Odenwaldautobahn, that is, the A 45
Bundesautobahn 45

is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Dortmund in the west with Hanau in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen and Siegen....
 (Dortmund
Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the States of Germany of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 587,830 makes it the largest city in the region, 7th-largest in Germany, and 34th-largest in the European Union....
–Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg is a large town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg , but is the administrative seat....
), was never realized. Nevertheless, all these Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße

Bundesstra?en are Germany and Austrian federal highways. The main distinguishing characteristic between German Bundesstra?en and the world-famous Autobahnen is that there is a general 100 km/h speed limit on federal highways, as opposed to the "recommended" limit of 130 km/h in unmarked sections of the motorways....
n run through the Odenwald:
  • B 27: Mosbach
    Mosbach

    Mosbach is the capital of the Neckar-Odenwald district in the north of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany, about 58 km east of Heidelberg. Its geographical position is 49.21'N 9.9'E....
     - Buchen
    Buchen

    Buchen is a town in Germany Neckar-Odenwald German districts, in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Odenwald forest, 23 km northeast of Mosbach....
     - Tauberbischofsheim
    Tauberbischofsheim

    Tauberbischofsheim is a Germany town in the north-east of Baden-W?rttemberg on the river Tauber with a population of about 13,000. It is the capital of the Main-Tauber district....
  • B 38: Reinheim
    Reinheim

    Reinheim is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 14 km southeast of Darmstadt....
     - Groß-Bieberau
    Groß-Bieberau

    Gro?-Bieberau is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 15 km southeast of Darmstadt....
     - Brensbach
    Brensbach

    Brensbach is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany....
     - Reichelsheim
    Reichelsheim

    Reichelsheim is the name of two communes in Hesse, Germany*Reichelsheim *Reichelsheim ...
     - Fürth - Mörlenbach
    Mörlenbach

    M?rlenbach is a community in the Kreis Bergstra?e in southern Hesse, Germany....
     - Birkenau
    Birkenau (Odenwald)

    Birkenau in the Odenwald is a community in the Kreis Bergstra?e in southern Hesse, Germany. Its nickname is Das Dorf der Sonnenuhren ? ?The Sundial Village?....
     - Weinheim
    Weinheim

    Weinheim is a town in the north west of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in Germany with 43 000 inhabitants, approximately 15 km north of Heidelberg and 10 km northeast of Mannheim....
  • B 45: Groß-Umstadt
    Groß-Umstadt

    Gro?-Umstadt is a city in the Bundesland Hesse in Germany. It is near Darmstadt and Frankfurt and at the northern border of the Odenwald and is on the edge of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region....
     - Höchst
    Höchst im Odenwald

    H?chst im Odenwald is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany....
     - Bad König
    Bad König

    Bad K?nig is a town and resort in the central Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 29 km southeast of Darmstadt....
     - Michelstadt
    Michelstadt

    Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg....
     - Erbach
    Erbach

    The German term Erbach may refer to:*Erbach, Rhineland-Palatinate*Erbach an der Donau, town in Baden-W?rttemberg*Erbach im Odenwald, town in Hesse...
     - Beerfelden
    Beerfelden

    Beerfelden is a town in the Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km northeast of Heidelberg. The region around Beerfelden has for Tourism reasons been dubbed the Beerfelder Land....
     - Eberbach
    Eberbach

    Eberbach can refer to:* Eberbach-Seltz , a Commune in France of the Bas-Rhin d?partement in France.* Eberbach Abbey, a Cistercian monastery in Germany....
  • B 47: Bensheim
    Bensheim

    Bensheim is a town in the Kreis Bergstra?e in southern Hesse, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstra?e and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain....
     - Lindenfels
    Lindenfels

    Lindenfels is a town in the Kreis Bergstra?e in Hesse, Germany....
     - Reichelsheim
    Reichelsheim

    Reichelsheim is the name of two communes in Hesse, Germany*Reichelsheim *Reichelsheim ...
     - Michelstadt
    Michelstadt

    Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg....
     - Amorbach
    Amorbach

    Amorbach is a town in the Miltenberg , County Unterfranken, Bavaria, Germany. Amorbach has about 4100 inhabitants . Amorbach lies at the border of the Bavarian Odenwald and celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2003....
  • B 426: Darmstadt
    Darmstadt

    Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
     - Mühltal
    Mühltal

    M?hltal is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 6 km southeast of Darmstadt....
     - Ober-Ramstadt
    Ober-Ramstadt

    Ober-Ramstadt is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 9 km southeast of Darmstadt. As of 2006, its population was 15,196....
     - Reinheim
    Reinheim

    Reinheim is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 14 km southeast of Darmstadt....
     - Otzberg
    Otzberg

    Otzberg is a municipality in south Hesse. Otzberg consists of seven villages: Habitzheim, Hering, Lengfeld with Zipfen, Nieder-Klingen, Ober-Klingen and Ober-Nauses, and Schloss-Nauses....
     - Groß-Umstadt
    Groß-Umstadt

    Gro?-Umstadt is a city in the Bundesland Hesse in Germany. It is near Darmstadt and Frankfurt and at the northern border of the Odenwald and is on the edge of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region....
     - Höchst
    Höchst im Odenwald

    H?chst im Odenwald is a community in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany....
     - Breuberg
    Breuberg

    Breuberg is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km east of Darmstadt, and 20 km southwest of Aschaffenburg....
     - Obernburg
    Obernburg

    Obernburg am Main is a town in the Miltenberg , Bavaria, Germany....
  • B 460: Heppenheim
    Heppenheim

    Heppenheim is the seat of Kreis Bergstra?e in Hesse, Germany, lying on the Bergstra?e on the edge of the Odenwald....
     - Fürth - Mossautal
    Mossautal

    Mossautal in the Odenwald is a community and a state-recognized health resort in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany....
     - Hüttenthal


Furthermore, the Nibelungenstraße and the Siegfriedstraße run through the Odenwald, partly along the roads listed above.

Railways

  • Odenwaldbahn from Darmstadt
    Darmstadt

    Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
     or Hanau
    Hanau

    Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt....
     by way of Wiebelsbach-Heubach to Eberbach
    Eberbach (Baden)

    Eberbach is a town in Germany, in northern Baden-W?rttemberg, located 33 km east of Heidelberg. It belongs to the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis....
    , opened in 1882, since December 2005 run with modern Itino
    Bombardier Itino

    Bombardier Itino is diesel multiple unit manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. It has two or three cars and is capable of 140 km/h. 40 units have been built and seventeen more are on order....
     trains
  • Weschnitztalbahn from Weinheim
    Weinheim

    Weinheim is a town in the north west of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in Germany with 43 000 inhabitants, approximately 15 km north of Heidelberg and 10 km northeast of Mannheim....
     to Fürth
    Fürth, Hesse

    F?rth is a community and a state-recognized recreational resort in the Kreis Bergstra?e in Hesse, Germany....
    , opened in 1895
  • Überwaldbahn from Mörlenbach
    Mörlenbach

    M?rlenbach is a community in the Kreis Bergstra?e in southern Hesse, Germany....
     by way of Wald-Michelbach
    Wald-Michelbach

    Wald-Michelbach is a community in the Kreis Bergstra?e in Hesse, Germany.Through Wald-Michelbach runs the now disused ?berwaldbahn ....
     to Wahlen, opened in 1901, abandoned in 1996
  • Schellekattel from Hetzbach to Beerfelden
    Beerfelden

    Beerfelden is a town in the Odenwald in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km northeast of Heidelberg. The region around Beerfelden has for Tourism reasons been dubbed the Beerfelder Land....
    , opened in 1904, abandoned in 1954
  • Odenwaldexpress (locally known as the Entenmörder – “Duck Murderer”) from Mosbach
    Mosbach

    Mosbach is the capital of the Neckar-Odenwald district in the north of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany, about 58 km east of Heidelberg. Its geographical position is 49.21'N 9.9'E....
     to Mudau
    Mudau

    Mudau is a municipality in the Neckar-Odenwald German districts, Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. it has 5,099 inhabitants....
    , former 1000 mm narrow-gauge railway
    Narrow gauge

    A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of or less....
    , opened in 1905, abandoned in 1973, since 1980 right-of-way has been converted into a cycling path
  • Neckartalbahn from Heidelberg
    Heidelberg

    Heidelberg is a city in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. As of 2006, over 140,000 people live within the city's area. The town of Heidelberg is an administrative district of its own....
     by way of Eberbach
    Eberbach (Baden)

    Eberbach is a town in Germany, in northern Baden-W?rttemberg, located 33 km east of Heidelberg. It belongs to the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis....
     and Mosbach to Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld
    Bad Friedrichshall

    Bad Friedrichshall is a town in the Heilbronn in Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Jagst and the Kocher into the Neckar, 10 km north of Heilbronn....
    , opened in 1879
  • Neckarelz–Osterburken line, opened in 1866 as part of the Baden Odenwaldbahn
  • Madonnenlandbahn from Seckach
    Seckach

    Seckach is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany....
     to Miltenberg
    Miltenberg

    Miltenberg is a Municipalities of Germany in Franconia on the river Main.Miltenberg is famous for being a regular stop of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, a famous Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire ....
  • Gersprenztalbahn from Reinheim
    Reinheim

    Reinheim is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 14 km southeast of Darmstadt....
     to Reichelsheim
    Reichelsheim

    Reichelsheim is the name of two communes in Hesse, Germany*Reichelsheim *Reichelsheim ...
    , opened in 1887 and abandoned by 1963


Sightseeing

The Odenwald is home to a great many historic castles and palatial residences.

  • In Hainstadt, Hesse (a constituent community of Breuberg
    Breuberg

    Breuberg is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in Hesse, Germany, 28 km east of Darmstadt, and 20 km southwest of Aschaffenburg....
    ) in the Mümling valley is a quarry
    Quarry

    A quarry is a type of open-pit mining from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone....
     which has been turned into a climbing
    Climbing

    Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations....
     facility by the Odenwälder Kletterfreunde (“Odenwald Climbing Friends”). There is also a climbing path secured by wire cables. The Odenwald Climbing Friends take care of the paths. The quarry also lies in the DAV’s (Deutsche Alpenverein e. V. – a mountain climbing club) Darmstadt
    Darmstadt

    Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
     Section feeder area.
  • Beneath the 514 m-high Felsberg and north of Lautertal
    Lautertal, Hesse

    Lautertal is a community in the Kreis Bergstra?e in the Hesse Odenwald in Germany that came into being with the merger of several former communities....
    -Reichenbach is found a Felsenmeer – literally “cliff sea” – consisting of many weathered stones strewn about the ground which have fallen down from the cliff after having come loose from erosion. The Romans
    Ancient Rome

    Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
     used it as a stone quarry.
  • In Eberstadt, a constituent community of Buchen
    Buchen

    Buchen is a town in Germany Neckar-Odenwald German districts, in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Odenwald forest, 23 km northeast of Mosbach....
    , one of southern Germany’s most important dripstone cave
    Dripstone cave

    Dripstone caves are a type of cave, mostly in limestone, called so for the typical Dripstones, hanging from their ceiling, which have been formed by Speleothem from water dripping down....
    s was discovered in 1971. It is open to the public.
  • Around the Katzenbuckel runs the Kristall-Lehrpfad (“Crystal Teaching Path”), which graphically shows the volcanic development in the Odenwald.
  • From Höchst im Odenwald snakes the Obrunnschlucht (gorge) as a romantic fairytale path towards Rimhorn with many model buildings (palaces, castles and mills) along the valley.
  • The Odenwald is threaded with a network of more than 10 000 km of hiking trails.
  • Because the highways have so many curves, the Odenwald is a popular outing destination for motorcyclists.


Music

About the Odenwald quite a few songs have been written:
  • Es steht ein Baum im Odenwald (“There Stands a Tree in the Odenwald”)
  • Tief im Odenwald (“Deep in the Odenwald”)
  • Der Bauer aus dem Odenwald (“The Farmer from the Odenwald”)
  • Es regt sich was im Odenwald (“Things Are Stirring in the Odenwald”)


See also

  • Hessian dialects
  • Historical territorial allegiances: Electoral Palatinate | Archbishopric of Mainz
    Archbishopric of Mainz

    The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780?82 and 1802....
     | Landgraviate of Hesse
    Landgraviate of Hesse

    The Landgraviate of Hesse was a Landgrave of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a unity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided between the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse....
     | Grand Duchy of Hesse
    Grand Duchy of Hesse

    The Grand Duchy of Hesse was a former state that existed in modern-day Germany. It was formed in 1806 after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire as a result of the actions of Napoleon, who then elevated the former Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt to the level of grand duchy....
     | People's State of Hesse | Baden
    Baden

    Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-W?rttemberg of Germany....


Further reading


Monographs and anthologies
  • Marco Lichtenberger: Saurier aus dem Odenwald. Jens Seeling Verlag. Frankfurt 2007. ISBN 3-938973-04-8
  • Winfried Wackerfuss (publisher): Zu Kultur und Geschichte des Odenwaldes. 2. unveränderte Auflage 1982. Breuberg-Bund, Breuberg-Neustadt 1982. ISBN 3-922903-01-0
  • Otmar A. Geiger: Sagenhafter Odenwald. Ein Führer durch das Reich der Nibelungen zwischen Worms und Würzburg. Schimper, Schwetzingen 2000. ISBN 3-87742-152-0
  • Georg Bungenstab (publisher): Wälder im Odenwald - Wald für die Odenwälder. Dokumente aus 150 Jahren Eberbacher Forstgeschichte. Staatliches Forstamt Eberbach, Eberbach 1999, 288 S.
  • Heinz Bischof: Odenwald. 3., überarbeitete Auflage. Goldstadtverlag, Pforzheim 2004. ISBN 3-89550-313-4
  • Thomas Biller/Achim Wendt: Burgen und Schlösser im Odenwald. Ein Führer zu Geschichte und Architektur. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2005. ISBN 3-7954-1711-2
  • Andreas Stieglitz: Wandern im Odenwald und an der Bergstraße. Aus der Reihe DuMont aktiv. DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2005. ISBN 3-7701-5015-5.
  • Seipel, Herbert Stephan: Faszination Odenwald. Eine Bilderreise zur Kulturgeschichte des Odenwaldes. Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2004. ISBN 978-3-89735-140-0
  • Keller, Dieter/Keller, Uwe/Türk, Rainer: Der Odenwald zwischen Himmel und Erde. Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2003. ISBN 978-3-89735-187-5


Periodicals
  • Breuberg-Bund (publisher): Beiträge zur Erforschung des Odenwaldes und seiner Randlandschaften. Breuberg-Bund, Breuberg-Neustadt 1977 ff.
  • Breuberg-Bund (publisher): Der Odenwald. Vierteljahreszeitschrift des Breuberg-Bundes mit Beiträgen zur Geschichte, Volkskunde, Kunstgeschichte und Geographie des Odenwaldes und seiner Randlandschaften. Breuberg-Bund, Breuberg-Neustadt 1953 ff.
  • Kreisarchiv des Odenwaldkreises (publisher): Gelurt. Odenwälder Jahrbuch für Kultur und Geschichte. Odenwaldkreis, Erbach 1994 ff.
  • Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Geschichts- und Heimatvereine im Kreis Bergstrasse (publisher): Geschichtsblätter Kreis Bergstraße. Laurissa, Lorsch 1971 ff.


The Odenwald in Literature
  • Adolf Schmitthenner: Das deutsche Herz. 3. Auflage. Stadt Hirschhorn, Hirschhorn, 1999. ISBN 3-927409-00-6 (first edition 1927)
  • Werner Bergengrün: Das Buch Rodenstein. 3. Auflage. Insel, Frankfurt am Main 2002. ISBN 3-458-33493-9 (first edition 1908)


External links