Gladenbach Uplands
View from the Dreisberg to the south of the village of Gladenbach
Highest point
Peak	Angelburg
Elevation	609.4 m above NN
Dimensions
Length	80 km (50 mi)
Area	780 km2 (300 sq mi)
Geography
Gladenbach Uplands
State(s)	Middle Hesse (small elements also part ofWittgenstein Land, NRW)
Range coordinates	50°47′18″N8°25′43″E / 50.7882°N 8.42869°E /50.7882; 8.42869
Parent range	Westerwald,Rhenish Massif
Geology
Orogeny	hills of the GermanCentral Uplands

TheGladenbach Uplands (German:Gladenbacher Bergland), named after their central town ofGladenbach, is a range of hills up to 609 m high in theRhine Massif in Germany, on the junction of theRothaar Mountains (north and northwest),Westerwald (southwest), (Eastern)Hintertaunus (in the south) andWest Hesse Highlands in the east.It lies in CentralHesse within the districts ofMarburg-Biedenkopf,Lahn-Dill andGießen within the so-calledLahn-Dill-(Dietzhölze-) loop. Small parts of the Upper Lahn Valley in the northwest belong, together with the town ofBad Laasphe, also to the district ofSiegen-Wittgenstein,North Rhine-Westphalia.

TheGladenbach Uplands are geographical unit 320 which is part of the natural region 32, theWesterwald, in Germany's system ofnatural regions. The Gladenbach Highlands is largely coextensive with theLahn-Dill Uplands Nature Park which extends further west, however, but is somewhat less extensive in the southeast and whose boundaries tend to line up with those of the sponsoring municipalities. In addition, not insignificant areas belong to the historicalHessian Hinterland, which is why the two named articles refer to one another, as far as regional associations, culture and history are concerned. Geology and mining will be largely covered in the article on theLahn-Dill Region

On the rivers Lahn and Dill the following towns - clockwise from the north - border the Gladenbach Uplands:

• Bad Laasphe (northwest)
• Biedenkopf (north)
• Western suburbs ofMarburg (northeast)
• Lollar (southeast)
• Gießen (southeast)
• Wetzlar (south)
• Herborn (southwest)
• Dillenburg (west)

The northwest transitions to the Rothaar Mountains are comparatively fluid. Here the watershed between theLahn tributaries of theBanfe andPerf define the boundary.

The natural regions mentioned above are generally divided between the catchment areas of the derLahn andDill tributaries and the landscapes separated by these rivers.

The most important watercourses, in addition to the boundary rivers of the Lahn, Dill andDietzhölze – are theAar, theSalzböde, thePerf andAllna.

The following rivers and streams are sorted in clockwise order i.e. down the Lahn and up the Dill, beginning with the upper reaches of the Lahn in the north and cover a catchment area of over 20 km²:^[1]
(the natural regions are linked in the column of their most important river!)

→tofull list

The outer boundary of the Gladenbach Uplands is formed by the Lahn and Dill accompanied in the north (upper reaches of theLahn) by theB 62, in the east by theB 3Marburg-Gießen (mostly autobahn-like, clearly external in the Marburg area), in the east, south of theB 49 Gießen-Wetzlar (mostly autobahn-like) and in the southwest (lower reaches of theDill) by theA 45. The Bundesstraße 253Dillenburg-Biedenkopf (see above) roughly closes the remaining gap.

The most important reservoir in the Gladenbach Uplands is theAartalsee (57 ha, 270 m above NN) in the Niederweidbach Basin, followed by thePerf Reservoir (18 ha, 301 m) in the Breidenbach Bottom (Breidenbach Bottom).

The hills of the Gladenbach Uplands, arranged by ridge or natural region, include the following:
(Location of the natural regions with the Gladenbach Uplands and location of the hills within the natural region)

• Bottenhorn Plateaux - northwest of the centre
  • Angelburg (609 m) – west of the centre; occasionally counted as part of the Schelde Forest
    • Schmittgrund (590 m) – southern spur of the Angelburg, occasionally counted as part of the Schelde Forest
  • Mattenberg (578 m) – north west
  • Kurzbeul (566 m) – extreme west
  • Würgeloh (563,9 m) northHartenrod /Bad Endbach
  • Madche (560 m) – northwest
  • Daubhaus (551,8 m) – extreme east, north of Rachelshausen
    • Allberg (528 m) – northeast of the Daubhaus
    • Hünstein (504 m) – north of the Allberg; not really an independent summit, but has an observation tower; gives its name toHolzhausen am Hünstein
  • Bolzeberg (520 m) – extreme northeast
  • Steffenberg (489 m) – extreme (west) north, gives its name to the municipality ofSteffenberg
• Schelde Forest (in the narrow sense) – west
  • Eschenburg (590 m NN) – north, above theDietzhölze Valley (which lies to the northwest)
  • Hohe Koppe (540.2 m) – northeast
  • Stockseite (516 m) – east
• Breidenbach Bottom – extreme north(west)
  • Hemmerichskopf (562 m) – western boundary with the Rothaar Mountains
  • Schwarzenberg (561 m) – northeast; centre of a large contiguous forest area southwest ofBiedenkopf and east ofBreidenbach
    • Hachenberg (552 m) – northern subpeak
    • Nimerich (533 m) – southeastern subpeak; highest point in the municipality ofDautphetal
  • Schadenberg (545 m) – southwest of the centre
  • Galgenberg (541 m) – extreme southwest
  • Entenberg (535 m) – northwestern boundary to the Rothaar Mountains
• Zollbuche – centre
  • Hirschhohl (503 m) – northwest boundary with the plateaux
  • Schönscheid (498 m) – west, northwest Günterod
  • Bad Endbacher Platte (up to 488 m) – centre
  • Hemmerich (475.7 m) – east; forms with Koppe and Dreisberg the eastern trio of hills of the Gladenbach Uplands
    • Koppe (454 m) – with observation tower; nearGladenbach-Erdhausen
    • Dreisberg (448 m)
• Damshäuser Kuppen – northeast
  • Rimberg (498 m) – east north; with observation tower
  • Kappe (494 m) – west north
  • Schweinskopf (472 m) – north west, near Dautphetal-Herzhausen
  • Eichelhardt (465 m) – northwest
  • Dusenberg (457 m) – extreme west, near Dautphetal-Herzhausen
  • Hornberg (451 m) – extreme northwest
  • Hungert (412 m) – extreme northeast; pyramidal Kuppe on the boundary with theMarburg Ridge
  • Auersberg (385 m) – east, betweenElnhausen,Nesselbrunn andDilschhausen
  • Donnerberg (370 m) – southeast, northeast of Gladenbach
• Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest – south and southeast
  • Dünsberg (498 m) – east centre; volcanic singularity with Celtic excavation sites, TV transmission tower and observation tower
  • Altenberg (442 m) – northwest centre, observation tower
  • Ramsberg (ca. 435 m) – north;Hohensolms Castle
  • Forst Krofdorf (up to 357 m) – east; large contiguous forest region that links the Dünsberg to the east with the Lahn Valley
  • Königsstuhl (348 m) – south; one of the southernmost hills of the Gladenbach Uplands
• Hörre – southwest
  • Alteburg (445 m) – in the centre
  • Roßberg (392 m) – northeast, south of Bischoffen
  • Koppe (354 m) – south, west of Kölschhausen
• Niederweidbach Basin – south of the centre
  • Bergwald (im east up to 392 m) – east of the centre
• Salzböde Valley – northeast, east and southeast of the centre
  • Kirchberg (362 m) – north, east of Gladenbach
  • Lammerich (357 m) – north, southwest of Gladenbach

View from theHasenkopf looking west to theTannenberg (left), theGroßer Feldberg and the hills of the Gladenbach Uplands including theDünsberg,Hemmerich,Angelburg,Daubhaus andRimberg

• Meynen, Emil (ed.):Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands. Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen, 1953-1962 (Part 1, contains issues 1-5), ISBN B0000BJ19E
• Meynen, Emil (ed.):Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands. Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen, 1959-1962 (Part 2, contains issues 6-9), ISBN B0000BJ19F

• map andaerial photo of the Gladenbach Uplands /Placemarks Download (Google Earth required)
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    • Lahn-Dill Uplands
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• Central Uplands
• Hill ranges of Germany
• Regions of Hesse
• Rhenish Massif

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