North Palatine Uplands
North Palatine Uplands | |
---|---|
The North Palatine Uplands around Münchweiler in Donnersbergkreis | |
Highest point | |
Peak | Donnersberg |
Elevation | 686.5 m (2,252 ft) |
Dimensions | |
Length | 70 km (43 mi) |
Geography | |
State | Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland |
Range coordinates | 49°35′0″N 7°40′0″E / 49.58333°N 7.66667°E / 49.58333; 7.66667 |
Parent range | North French Scarplands |
Geology | |
Orogeny | low mountains |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Naturraumkarte_Nordpfaelzer_Bergland.png/330px-Naturraumkarte_Nordpfaelzer_Bergland.png)
The North Palatine Uplands (German: Nordpfälzer Bergland), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (Pfälzer Bergland), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palatinate region. It is part of the Saar-Nahe Uplands.
Geography
Location
The North Palatine Uplands lie – roughly stated – between St. Wendel in the state of Saarland to the west and three towns belonging to Rhineland-Palatinate: Alzey to the east, Kaiserslautern to the south and Bad Kreuznach to the north, although these towns are not actually within the region itself. The North Palatine Uplands thus links the landscapes of the Palatine Forest, Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park, Naheland and Rheinhessen.
To the northwest its boundary with Naheland is not always clear. A rough guide is the heavily folded ridge north of the Glan river with a height different of as much as 300 metres in place.
The North Palatine Uplands fall mainly within the districts of Kusel and Donnersbergkreis. To a lesser extent it also falls within parts of Kaiserslautern, St. Wendel, Birkenfeld and Bad Kreuznach.
Hills
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Donnersberg_von_Steinbach.jpg/220px-Donnersberg_von_Steinbach.jpg)
The North Palatine Uplands is characterised by numerous mountains, hills and valleys which lend the area sharp variations in height from about 200 to over 600 m above sea level (NN). The highest point is the Donnersberg which, at 687 m is also the highest mountain in the Palatinate. The following is a list of prominent mountains and hills in the Uplands, sorted by height in metres above sea level (NHN):
- Donnersberg (686.5 m)[1]
- Trautzberg (603.9 m)[2]
- Füsselberg (595.1 m)[2]
- Weiselberg (569.5 m)[2]
- Königsberg (568.2 m)[3]
- Potzberg (562 m)[3]
- Selberg (545.1 m)[3]
- Herrmannsberg (536.4 m)[3]
- Bornberg (520.0 m)[3]
Rivers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/MeisenheimBruecke.jpg/220px-MeisenheimBruecke.jpg)
Important rivers in the west and north of the range are the 90 km long Glan and the 57 km long Alsenz. The 116 km long Nahe, into which the other two discharge, is no longer included in this region. The area of the Donnersberg is drained towards the east by the 43 km long Pfrimm, which itself rises in the northern Palatine Forest, and the 61 km long Selz. Both flow into the Upper Rhine.
Name
The North Palatine Uplands is also referred to locally as the "Old World" (German: alte Welt or in Palatinate German: die alt Welt or bucklige Welt).[4] However, sometimes the term alte Welt just refers to a strip of land on the border of the districts of Kusel and Kaiserslautern, which is roughly demarcated by the 420, 270 and 48 federal highways and the A 6 and A 63 motorways. Depending on how the region is defined, its largest village is either Nußbach or Obermoschel.
Settlement
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/MeisenheimFachwerk.jpg/220px-MeisenheimFachwerk.jpg)
The region is very rural in character and has no towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants. Important places are the county towns of Kirchheimbolanden and Kusel, and the collective municipalities of Alsenz, Altenglan, Lauterecken, Meisenheim, Rockenhausen, Winnweiler and Wolfstein.
Transportation
Roads
Motorways
Federal roads
- B 40 (Kaiserslautern–Alzey)
- B 48 (Winnweiler–Bad Kreuznach)
- B 270 (Kaiserslautern–Lauterecken)
- B 420 (Ottweiler–Bad Kreuznach)
- B 423 (Waldmohr–Altenglan)
Railways
- Glan Valley Railway
- Lauter Valley Railway
- Alsenz Valley Railway
- Zeller Valley Railway
- Donnersberg Railway
External links
- Outdoorwiki: A hiking trail across North Palatinate
References
- ^ Inscription on the granite rock of the trig point on the Donnersberg rock formation of Königsstuhl
- ^ a b c Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
- ^ a b c d e Map service of the Landscape Information System of the Rhineland-Palatinate Nature Conservation Office (Naturschutzverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz)
- ^ Verlag Eugen Ulmer: Die Pfalz ist eine Reise wert
- v
- t
- e
- Anterior Bavarian Forest Einödriegel
- Black Forest Feldberg
- Bohemian Forest Großer Arber (Bavarian Forest Großer Arber)
- Deister Bröhn
- Ebbe Mountains Nordhelle
- Egge Mountains (Prussian) Velmerstot
- Eifel Hohe Acht (Volcanic Eifel Ernstberg)
- Elbe Sandstone Mountains Großer Zschirnstein
- Elm Eilumer Horn
- Elster Mountains Kapellenberg
- Fichtel Mountains Schneeberg (Steinwald Platte, Kohlwald Sieben-Linden-Berg)
- Franconian Forest Döbraberg
- Franconian Jura Dürrenberg
- Gladenbach Uplands Angelburg
- Goshawk Forest Hohes Gras
- Harz Brocken (Blocksberg)
- Hildesheim Forest Griesberg
- Hils Bloße Zelle
- Hoher Meißner Kasseler Kuppe
- Hunsrück Erbeskopf (Soonwald Ellerspring)
- Ith Lauensteiner Kopf
- Kaiserstuhl Totenkopf
- Kaufungen Forest Hirschberg
- Kellerwald Wüstegarten
- Knüll Eisenberg
- Kyffhäuser Kulpenberg
- Lenne Mountains Homert
- Lippe Uplands Köterberg
- North Palatine Uplands Donnersberg
- Odenwald Katzenbuckel
- Ore Mountains Fichtelberg
- Palatine Forest Kalmit
- Rhön Wasserkuppe
- Rothaar Mountains Langenberg
- Saalhausen Hills Himberg
- Siebengebirge Großer Ölberg
- Solling Große Blöße
- Spessart Geiersberg (Breitsol)
- Sudetes Lausche (Luž) (Lusatian Mountains Lausche (Luž) (Zittau Mountains Lausche (Luž)))
- Süntel Hohe Egge
- Swabian Jura Lemberg (Randen Hoher Randen)
- Taunus Großer Feldberg
- Teutoburg Forest (Osning) Barnacken
- Thuringian Forest Großer Beerberg
- Thuringian Slate Mountains Großer Farmdenkopf
- Upper Palatine Forest Kreuzfelsen
- Vogelsberg Taufstein
- Weser Hills Paschenburg Mountain
- Westerwald Fuchskaute
- Wiehen Hills Heidbrink
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Wasserkuppe_wiki_mgk.jpg/105px-Wasserkuppe_wiki_mgk.jpg)