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30-587: The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular for mountain biking and cycling, water sports and scenic recreation. The town and Skiliftkarussell of Winterberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis is a major winter sport resort. The name Sauerland is first mentioned as Suderland in an official document from 1266. After 1400 the letter 'd' started to disappear. Therefore, Sauerland = southern country

60-486: A building material and a sculptural material across many eras and societies. Its oldest known uses date to the early third millennium BCE , in Egypt's early dynastic period . Its wide use in sculpture and vessels is thought to have been due to its fine grain size and resistance to fracturing, making it suitable for fine detail and intricate shapes. Aside from its structural uses, greywacke stone (or molds taken from it)

90-531: A length of 23 km and consists mainly of easy and intermediate ski runs. The steepest ski run is the FIS slalom run at Kappe, featuring the greatest vertical drop of 190 metres. Snowmaking was increasingly set up since the 1990s, to ensure snow safety, today it covers 95% of the slopes. The ski resort also offers night skiing on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. the resort usually opens up in December and closes by

120-514: Is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale ), dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz , feldspar , and small rock fragments or sand-size lithic fragments set in a compact, clay -fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found in Paleozoic strata . The larger grains can be sand- to gravel-sized, and matrix materials generally constitute more than 15% of

150-517: Is also known for hosting the wok racing event, invented by the German TV entertainer Stefan Raab . The St. George ski jump is a landmark of Winterberg, and used to be the venue for German Championships in the Nordic combined sport. Today it is used as a training facility by the local ski club. Greywacke Greywacke or graywacke ( German grauwacke , signifying a grey, earthy rock)

180-615: Is difficult to characterize mineralogically, it has a well-established place in petrographical classifications because these peculiar composite arenaceous deposits are very frequent among Silurian and Cambrian rocks, and are less common in Mesozoic or Cenozoic strata. Their essential features are their gritty character and their complex composition. By increasing metamorphism , greywackes frequently pass into mica- schists , chloritic schists and sedimentary gneisses . The term "greywacke" can be confusing, since it can refer to either

210-939: Is located near the town of Winterberg in the Hochsauerland region in North Rhine-Westphalia . As an international destination, popular especially with skiers from the Netherlands , it attracts nearly 900,000 visitors annually. Nearby ski resorts are Altastenberg , Postwiese and Willingen . Skiliftkarussell Winterberg is located in a forested low mountain range called Rothaargebirge , approx. 120 km N of Frankfurt , 70 km W of Kassel and 110 km E of Cologne . The highest points are Kahler Asten ( 842 m above  sea level (NN) ), Bremberg (809 m), Kappe (776 m), Poppenberg (746 m) and Herrloh (733 m). The ski resort offers 25 ski lifts : The network of ski slopes adds up to

240-849: Is sometimes calcareous . Greywackes are abundant in Wales , the south of Scotland , the Longford-Down Massif in Ireland and the Lake District National Park of England ; they compose the majority of the main Southern Alps that make up the backbone of New Zealand . Both feldspathic and lithic greywacke have been recognized in Ecca Group in South Africa . Greywackes are also found in parts of

270-844: Is the most convincing meaning, opposed to the theory that Sauer is from the German word sauer meaning sour (poor "sour" soil). Linguistically, "suder-“ is similar to the Old Saxon sûðar (southbound). Before 1800 the western part of the Sauerland was part of the County of the Mark based in Altena ; the eastern part adhered to the County of Arnsberg , later became known as the Duchy of Westphalia and

300-662: Is the slightly lower Kahler Asten (842 m) near Winterberg . Both Langenberg and Kahler Asten are peaks in the Rothaargebirge mountains. The Sauerland has six reservoir lakes. The Sauerland is part of the Rhine Massif ( Rheinisches Schiefergebirge ) including 'Bergisches Land', Westerwald , Siegerland , and, separated by the Rhine valley, the Eifel , Hohes Venn and Hunsrück . The Rheinisches Schiefergebirge

330-660: The Eastern Desert east of the Nile . They were an early object of geological study in Britain where the Geological Society was founded in 1807, and excited much public interest in geology. Greywacke was interesting because it was found in many places in Britain and its occurrence in particular places was evidence of the pattern of geological strata that had been laid down. Greywacke stone has been used as

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360-655: The Hessian district Waldeck-Frankenberg is also attributed to the Sauerland because of its geomorphological , as well as its sociocultural similarity, and the stark contrast to the rest of the adjoining Hessian landscape. To the west the hills continue into the Bergisches Land , to the south into the Siegerland , and to the north-east into the Teutoburg Forest . The major rivers of the Sauerland are

390-639: The Ruhr and the Lenne . Several artificial lakes were created on the smaller rivers by building dams to store water for the nearby Ruhr area , the biggest reservoirs being the Möhne and Bigge . Although the highest elevation of the Sauerland is the Langenberg (843 m) near Olsberg , the much more renowned summit, which is well known for the nearby skiing facilities, its weather station and observation tower,

420-679: The Alps is the Atta Cave in Attendorn . The Sauerland can be reached by car or train. The drive either via the BAB 4 from Cologne or via the BAB 45 and BAB 46 from Dortmund , takes about one hour; from Kassel or Frankfurt - Rhine-Main (via the Sauerlandlinie ) the journey takes about two hours. The closest commercial airport is Dortmund Airport . In the region, railways were once

450-432: The Sauerland, especially the major valleys in the northwest, represent an old industrial region. The availability of iron ore and the abundance of wood and water allowed iron production long before the Ruhr area industrialisation and the mining of its coal took place. Today there are only a few remains of this early heavy industry ; wire production is still important in Altena and a number of small factories still occupy

480-421: The country in 2000. In 2007, Cyclone Kyrill caused severe damage to the coniferous forests. In addition, massive outbreaks of bark beetles have been killing up to 60 % by area of forest in some regions of the Sauerland. The largest town of the Sauerland is Iserlohn ; other larger towns are Lüdenscheid and Arnsberg . Meschede is the home of an abbey. Another abbey is placed at Bestwig . Parts of

510-493: The end of March. In summer, the ski resort offers a terrain park for downhill biking . The chair lift at Kappe operates to carry cyclists uphill. At Poppenberg, there are also several mountainboarding cross-country runs. In addition to the skiing slopes, there are numerous trails for Cross-country skiing in the vicinity of Winterberg. The Winterberg bobsled track at Kappe is a regular venue for international competitions in bobsleigh, sledding and Skeleton . In Germany, it

540-399: The finer beds associated with them. Their component particles are usually not very rounded or polished, and the rocks have often been considerably indurated by recrystallization , such as the introduction of interstitial silica . In some districts, the greywackes are cleaved, but they show phenomena of this kind much less perfectly than the slates. Although the group is so diverse that it

570-420: The immature (rock fragment) aspect of the rock or its fine-grained (clay) component. Greywackes are mostly grey, brown, yellow, or black, dull-colored sandy rocks that may occur in thick or thin beds along with shales and limestones . Some varieties include feldspathic greywacke , rich in feldspar , and lithic greywacke , rich in other tiny rock fragments. They can contain a very great variety of minerals ,

600-409: The most abundant rock types in the Sauerland. In some areas limestones from an ancient reef fringe prevail and are karstified . The Sauerland has several caves, especially in the northern part, the biggest caves being in Attendorn and Balve . In some areas of the Sauerland the occurrence of lead - zinc - silver - ores lead to the development of a considerable mining industry, the center of which

630-432: The most important means of transportation, but between 1950 and 1990 many smaller branch lines were closed and rail travel is now only present in the major valleys. The most important lines are: 51°15′00″N 8°00′00″E  /  51.2500°N 8.0000°E  / 51.2500; 8.0000 Skiliftkarussell Winterberg Skiliftkarussell Winterberg is one of the major ski resorts in central Germany . It

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660-508: The old industrial areas. Warsteiner is Germany's largest privately owned brewery. Sauerland has become a popular tourist area, attracting many visitors from the Ruhr Area and relatively close Netherlands. The forests and picturesque small towns are attractive for hikers and outdoor sports. There are more than 30,000 km (19,000 mi) of tagged hiking trails in Sauerland region maintained by Sauerland hiking association (SGV). Some of

690-495: The principal ones being quartz, orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars, calcite , iron oxides and graphitic, carbonaceous matters, together with (in the coarser kinds) fragments of such rocks as felsite , chert , slate , gneiss , various schists , and quartzite . Among other minerals found in them are biotite , chlorite , tourmaline , epidote , apatite , garnet , hornblende , augite , sphene and pyrites . The cementing material may be siliceous or argillaceous and

720-444: The resulting deposits may exhibit a variety of sedimentary features. Supporting the turbidity origin theory is the fact that deposits of greywacke are found on the edges of the continental shelves , at the bottoms of oceanic trenches , and at the bases of mountain formational areas. They also occur in association with black shales of deep-sea origin. As a rule, greywackes do not contain fossils , but organic remains may be common in

750-407: The rock by volume. The origin of greywacke was unknown until turbidity currents and turbidites were understood, since, according to the normal laws of sedimentation , gravel , sand and mud should not be laid down together. Geologists now attribute its formation to submarine avalanches or strong turbidity currents. These actions churn sediment and cause mixed-sediment slurries, in which

780-516: The status of biological reserves. The biodiversity of the Sauerland is significant. It is the main habitat of many species within Germany, for example for the wisent , the black stork , the Eurasian eagle-owl , the great grey shrike , the red-backed shrike and the whinchat . There have been reports of free-roaming wolves , which had been wiped out in Germany until a few specimens returned to

810-617: The towns have the title Bad ( Spa ) because of their good air quality and stimulating climate. Winter sports are popular in the Sauerland. The bob sleigh track in Winterberg is widely known in Germany, as well as the ski jumping in Willingen . Sauerland also has a successful theme park called Fort Fun . Balve Cave is one of the biggest prehistorical caves of Europe and is situated in Balve . The largest accessible limestone cave outside

840-601: Was owned by the Archbishops and Electorate of Cologne . The Duchy of Limburg covered a very small area in the lower Lenne river valley. After the Napoleonic Wars the area became part of Prussia and was integrated into the new province of Westphalia . After World War II , Westphalia was merged with the new federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia . Today, the Sauerland consists of the districts Märkischer Kreis , Olpe and Hochsauerland . The western part of

870-642: Was subjected to folding and faulting in the Variscan orogeny in Carboniferous times and eroded to a peneplain in the Permian . The tectonic uplift to the present-day low mountain range began approximately 500,000 years ago and is still going on. Most of the bedrock underneath the Sauerland originates from a Middle and Upper Devonian period, when it was under a marginal and shallow sea. This has meant that slates , sandstones and greywackes are

900-407: Was the town of Meggen . Mining in this area lasted until the late second half of the 20th century, today there is no active mining in the Sauerland. The sandstones, greywackes and quartzites of the Sauerland as well as, to a minor extent, the limestones are still exploited in numerous quarries. Some of these caves are now becoming modest attractions to tourists. Several areas of the Sauerland have

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