| Kellerwald | |
|---|---|
 The Kellerwald on the horizon. The three peaks are: theHohes Lohr (656.7 m, left),Jeust (ca. 585 m, centre) andWüstegarten (675.3 m, right); in front are theGilserberg Heights. | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Wüstegarten |
| Elevation | 675.3 m above NN |
| Geography | |
  Kellerwald | |
| State(s) | Hesse,Germany |
| Range coordinates | 51°00′59″N9°05′03″E / 51.01639°N 9.08417°E /51.01639; 9.08417 |
| Parent range | Rhenish Massif |
TheKellerwald (German pronunciation:[ˈkɛlɐvalt]) is a lowmountain range reaching heights of up to 675 m in the western part of northernHesse,Germany. Its assets include Germany's largest contiguousbeech woodland and it contains Hesse's onlynational park, theKellerwald-Edersee National Park. It is aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.[1]
The Kellerwald lies in northern Hesse in the districtSchwalm-Eder. Abutting the northeast, the Kellerwald's heights slope down into theEder Valley, and towards the east and southeast they fall off into theSchwalm Valley. In the southwest, the range goes by way of the Wohra Valley into the Burgwald range and in the west, beyond the river Eder, lies the Breite Struth (a range of hills).
Within the Kellerwald are theEderhöhen (the "Eder Heights", a mountainous region in the range's north), whose area roughly coincides with the aforesaid national park, theWildunger Bergland ("Wildungen Highlands"), which makes up the middle part of the Kellerwald, and theKeller (also known as theHoher Keller or theHoher Kellerwald, a mountain ridge in the south of the Kellerwald) made up of, from southwest to northeast, Jeust (585 m above sea level), Wüstegarten (675 m), Hunsrück (636 m) and Sauklippe (584 m).
Geologically the Kellerwald, made up mainly ofpalaeozoic rocks, belongs to the Rhenish Slate Mountains. Scenically, however, it is also grouped as a separate entity with the Hessian Basin, because the rivers Eder and Itter form a natural boundary. Important rock types include the so-called Kellerwaldquartzite,radiolarian rock,shale,greywacke anddiabase. A regional peculiarity is the dark red Kellerwaldagate, anEisenkiesel, a "quartz that is turned opaque red withhematite inclusions".[1]
The Kellerwald is named after the mountain ridge called the Keller, mentioned above. Where the name Keller came from is interpreted two different ways: Beginning about 1600, the woodlands were in heavy use incharcoal making for the manyironworks andcopperworks that needed charcoal to fuel their furnaces, thus leading to the nameKöhlerwald ("charcoal maker forest"), commonly pronouncedKöllerwald (with an[œ] sound, rather than[ø]; this[œ] is not very different from the[ɛ] sound ofKellerwald).
The other interpretation holds that the name was originallyKahler Wald ("bare forest" or "bald forest"), a name suggested by heavy clearing in some parts of the woods at one time.
Either process could have yielded the name Kellerwald used today through sound shifts.
Wald simply means "forest" inGerman.
The Kellerwald is subject to a special conservation status. Almost its whole unspoilt natural area belongs to the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park. The northern part, with an area of 57.24 km2 has been designated since 1 January 2004 as theKellerwald-Edersee National Park.
Furthermore, a great area is part of theEuropean network "Natura 2000" (Special Area of Conservation andSpecial Protection Area), as well as, in parts,Bannwald, a German designation for wooded wildernesses allowed to grow naturally without any human intervention. Further Special Areas of Conservation are, among others, theoak forests on the steep slopes at the Edersee, the aforesaidKeller in the southern part of the nature park and the Urff, a linear Special Area of Conservation from the source to the river's mouth into the Schwalm. In small areas, there are alsonature reserves and protected scenic areas. The conservation efforts have yielded, perhaps most importantly, one ofCentral Europe's last contiguous broadleaf forests of international grade.
The predominant woodland type is described as acidic-soilwoodrush-beech forest.
In 2005, the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park was brought by theFederal Office for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz) into the programme called the "Great Nature Conservation Project of Pan-Governmentally Representative Importance" (Naturschutzgroßprojekt von gesamtstaatlich repräsentativer Bedeutung).
Since the 19th century, the northern part of the Kellerwald (since 2004, the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park), as hunting woods for the Princes of Waldeck, has been surrounded by gates. To be found here are some particularly pristine beech forests, although they have been damaged somewhat by the high concentration ofgame. More than 30% of the trees are older than 140 years. The main human activity here washunting rather thanforestry. The main tree here is the beech, which is predominant here in acidic-soil (shale, greywacke, quartzite) woodrush-beech forest. Worthy of mention are the many special places on the steep slopes at the Edersee. Here are found the last remains ofvirgin forest and gnarledsessile oak forests withSt. Bernard's lilies, and the highest incidence in Hesse ofCheddar pinks.
In the higher levels growmountain arnica andmaiden pinks, and in the valley areaswestern marsh orchids andearly purple orchids. Near theJägersburg near Odershausen are found a few raredwarf beeches. In cool and damp stream dales grows the rare, highly poisonouscommon monkshood. In light beech and oak forests with limy subsoil is found themartagon lily. In a few places are found great stands of the rarewild daffodil.
In the Kellerwald, parts of which are also a Special Protection Area (for birds), a number of bird species still or once again breed, among them theblack stork, thecommon raven, six kinds ofwoodpecker (among them the raremiddle spotted woodpecker and thegrey-headed woodpecker), theblack and thered kite (which here reach their highest population density anywhere in Hesse), theperegrine falcon, theTengmalm's owl, thehoney buzzard, theEurasian eagle owl and thegreat grey shrike.
One of the Kellerwald's characteristic animals is thered deer. In the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park are foundfallow deer andEuropean mouflon. Besides these,roe deer andwild boar are also common. Thewildcat is rare.
In the area that is now the national park, the firstraccoons, whose natural habitat is inNorth America, were released into the wild in Germany on 12 April 1934 by Wilhelm Sittich Freiherr von Berlepsch (1881–1948;"Freiherr" is a title, roughly equivalent to "Baron")[2]. Since that time, they have spread far beyond the confines of the Kellerwald.Foxes,badgers,pine martens,beech martens,polecats andstoats are also to be found in the Kellerwald. Of the 19 kinds ofbat that live in Hesse, 14 have been noted in the Kellerwald. Another characteristic animal of the Kellerwald is thefire salamander, found here in its thousands. Further typical amphibians are thepalmate newt and themidwife toad.
In the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park, almost a thousand kinds ofbeetle from more than 80 families have been noted.
Through the Kellerwald run manyhiking trails, among them theKellerwaldsteig, a roughly 167 km-long loop joining mountains and places in the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park and the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park together. Round the Edersee has run since 2005 the 68 km-longUrwaldsteig Edersee ("Virgin Forest Trail") through the oak forests on the lake's north shore and through the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park south of the lake.
The Kellerwald's lowest point is found at the edge of the Eder Valley on the outskirts ofAffoldern, not far from, and below the water level of the Affolderner See (reservoir); the point is precisely 194 m abovesea level. On the other hand, the Kellerwald's highest point is on the Wüstegarten (675 m above sea level).
Among the Kellerwald's and the two herein mentioned parks' best known – albeit not necessarily highest – mountains are (including the "Six Hundreders", and sorted by height):
This German article includes a much more exhaustive list of the Kellerwald's notable peaks.
The Kellerwald is crossed or touched by many watercourses, among them:
On the Kellerwald's northern edge lie these still, open bodies of water:
Both are man-made.
Kellerwald is also the name of a much smaller wood inForchheim inUpper Franconia.
Subdivisions of theRhenish Massif | ||
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