The Northern Black Forest ( German : Nordschwarzwald ) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region.
20-628: The Badener Höhe is a mountain in the Northern Black Forest in the German state of Baden-Württemberg . It lies within the borough of Baden-Baden and municipality of Forbach . With a height of 1,002.5 m above sea level (NHN) , it is the highest point in the borough of Baden-Baden. The mountain rises above the hamlet of Herrenwies near the Schwarzenbach Reservoir . Its western and southern region
40-588: Is an almost treeless area of wet heathland found on the rounded bunter sandstone ridges of the Northern Black Forest in Germany . The grinden reached their greatest extent in the early 19th century when they ran from the Kniebis mountain near Freudenstadt in the south to the heights near Dobel in the north. Today they are restricted to the highest parts of the Northern Black Forest around
60-494: Is part of the Black Forest National Park . On the mountaintop, besides a refuge hut , is the 30-metre-high Frederick Tower ( Friedrichsturm ) built in 1890 by Anton Klein from red sandstone and inaugurated on 5 October 1891 by Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden . The lookout tower is a highly visible cultural monument. From here one can see far over the northern Black Forest, inter alia to Herrenwies ,
80-598: Is well linked to many hiking trails (such as the West Way or Westweg ). The forest on the summit of the Badener Höhe fell victim to several storms, including Hurricane Lothar. Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north by a line from Karlsruhe to Pforzheim and, in the south, by a line running from the Rench valley to Freudenstadt . Its northern boundary largely coincides with
100-725: The Murg , Nagold , Enz , Alb , Acher , Rench , Oos and the upper reaches of the Wolf . In 2001, the Central and Northern Black Forest Nature Park ( Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord ) was established and its coverage includes the whole of the Northern Black Forest. In addition, an area of about 10,000 hectares has been designated since 1 January 2014 as the Black Forest National Park . It has numerous highly popular tourist attractions as well as winter sport areas in addition to
120-641: The line of the Kinzig valley , which divides the Black Forest east of Lahr . To the west it is bounded by the Upper Rhine Plain , to the east by the Gäu landscapes. The Northern Black Forest is not the same as the spatial-planning region of Northern Black Forest , which covers the eastern area. With its rather angular – in places trapezoidally-shaped – summits, the Northern Black Forest rises above
140-450: The 19th century. in the mid-18th century Weidbrennen had led to such large scale destruction of the forest that it was banned. With the emergence of cattle sheds, the grazing came to an end. The grinden , however, continued to be used for making hay, especially from matgrass ( Nardus stricta ), which the farmers believed had healing properties for the animals. In the mid-1950s, with the decline of cattle grazing , even this form of farming
160-644: The Rhine Plain by more than 1,000 m . By contrast, its eastern slopes descend gradually and there is less of a height difference with its neighbouring regions. Its highest peak is the Hornisgrinde at 1,163 m above sea level (NHN) . Woods cover on average 73% of the whole land area and make the Northern Black Forest the most cohesive forested part of the Black Forest, but there are also extensive areas of so-called " Grinden ": treeless, wet heaths , on its highland slopes. Geologically ,
180-509: The dominant rock of the Northern Black Forest is bunter sandstone , although in the deeply incised west its gneiss bedrock reaches the surface. Granites (e.g. Forbach granite) and porphyries have intruded forming crags and tors . The highland regions of the Northern Black Forest are among the regions of the German Central Uplands with the heaviest rainfall (up to 2,200 mm per annum). Its most important rivers are
200-626: The emergence of the extensively forested bunter sandstone strata from the arable region of the Kraichgau ; its southern boundary with the Central Black Forest (or, in the case of a bipartite division, the Southern Black Forest ) varies depending on the definition or natural regional division used (see also Black Forest ). Earlier, the Northern Black Forest was the entire northern half of the mountain range as far as
220-497: The far south-southeast. The panoramic view extends to the east to Swabian Jura . The tower was built in 1884 on the establishment of the Baden-Baden branch of Black Forest Club . In 2002, the tower had to be closed for safety reasons. Thanks to a fundraiser, the necessary restoration works were carried out quickly and the tower was re-opened on 19 June 2003. The Badener Höhe is now a popular hiking and excursion destination that
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#1732773170981240-414: The land nearer the villages could be used for the production of hay. However overgrazing of the highlands led to soil compaction and a loss of nutrients by the 16th century. The result was that the land became waterlogged and bogs formed due to the high level of precipitation of up to 2,200 mm/year. These processes led to the formation of the grinden . Grazing on the grinden lasted for 500 years until
260-473: The landscape. Most of them are under conservation orders. The German term "Grinde" comes from Old High German and is related to the Swabian-Alemannic word "Grind" , which means something like "bald head". This term was used to refer to the treeless summits of the region. The grinden emerged mainly as a result of human influence. The growth of the population in the 14th century meant that
280-949: The nearby mountains of Mehliskopf and Hornisgrinde . To the north, on a very clear day, the Großer Feldberg , the Taunus hills and the Melibokus in the Odenwald Forest may be seen. To the north-northwest is the Palatinate Forest and, in good weather, even the Donnersberg may be seen. To the west, in France, rise the Vosges . In extremely good visibility some summits of the Swiss Alps may be visible to
300-423: The pastures of the Black Forest valleys were no longer sufficient for the grazing of cattle. For this reason, cattle and goats were driven to pasture on the flat highlands with their open stands of trees. The so-called Weidbrennen or pasture-burning at the end of the grazing year hindered the growth of trees, promoted the growth of grass and increased the areas for grazing. Through the use of the highlands as pasture
320-459: The summits of the Hornisgrinde , Schliffkopf and Kniebis (900 to 1,163 m above sea level (NHN) ). They still cover an area of about 180 ha. Conservation measures and careful grazing by robust breeds of cattle (especially the Hinterwald ), goats and sheep should enable the remaining grinden to be preserved for their great ecological value and as an important feature of
340-752: The towns named below and the Black Forest High Road and Kaltenbronn . Numerous tarns in the Northern Black Forest are evidence of ice age glacial formations, The best-known is the Mummelsee on the Hornisgrinde. Other tarns are the Ellbachsee, Herrenwieser See , Huzenbacher See , Sankenbachsee , Schurmsee and the Wildsee near Ruhestein. Many of them were also impounded in order to supply excess water for timber rafting which
360-493: The water level of the Nagold. The Kleine Kinzig Dam is used for drinking water, water regulation and electricity generation. Due to the vast preserved natural scenery, the region is popular among hikers. In the winter time, the Northern Black Forest region attracts tourists with the ski resorts Mehliskopf , Hundseck – Bühlertallifte, Kaltenbronn , Simmersfeld . Grinde (landform) A grinde (plural: grinden )
380-712: Was common until the 19th century. Other former tarns have silted up. The Hohlohsee and the Wildsee near Gernsbach-Kaltenbronn are raised bog lakes on the highlands between the Murg and Enz valleys that are only fed by local precipitation. There are several dams in the Northern Black Forest. The Schwarzenbach Dam and the Murg Dam are part of the Rudolf-Fettweis-Werk , a pumped storage and run-of-the-river power station in Forbach. The Nagold Dam regulates
400-481: Was increasingly abandoned. With the end of the agricultural use of the grinden the forest began to gradually re-establish itself. In addition to a natural reforestation by the natural seeding of pine trees, especially mountain pine , the areas were also reforested in a managed way from the 18th century. The grinden on the Enz heights were thus reforested by the 19th century. The grinden lie on nutrient-poor soils of
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