Weißenberg (Frankenweide)

The Weißenberg in the Palatine Forest is a hill in the municipality of Merzalben (Südwestpfalz county, Rhineland-Pfalz). Its height is variously give as 610 m above sea level (NHN)[2] or 607 m above NHN.[3] The higher value has been officially recommended since 2011.[2] That makes the Weißenberg the highest point in the west of the mountain range, ahead of the Eschkopf and Mosisberg (each 609 m above NHN). As part of the Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve it is protected by special conservation measures.

Weißenberg
View of the Weißenberg and Luitpold Tower from Hermersbergerhof
Highest point
Elevation	609.9 m above sea level (NHN) (2,001 ft)
Prominence	138 m ↓ Forsthaus Heldenstein (472 m above NHN)[1]
Isolation	15 km → Roßberg (637 m above sea level (NHN)) or Steigerkopf (613 m above NHN)[1]
Coordinates	49°15′09″N 7°49′32″E
Geography
Weißenberg Merzalben, Südwestpfalz, Rhineland-Palatinate ( Germany)
Parent range	Palatine Forest
Geology
Age of rock	251–243 million years ago
Mountain type	Rock unit: bunter sandstone

Geography

Location

The Weißenberg lies in the central Palatine Forest in the Palatine Forest Nature Park. It rises about 6.5 kilometres east-northeast of Merzalben and eight kilometres north of Hauenstein near the Wilgartswiesen hamlet of Hermersbergerhof. It does not have a single peak, but a saddle-shaped summit running in a north-south direction. The southern peak is 609.9 m high, and the northern peak, 280 metres away, is 609.1 m high.[2]

The hill is part of the Frankenweide, a central massif in the Palatine Forest, and is the southernmost in a row of four summits, all above 600 m in height. To the north, in sequence, are the Hortenkopf (606 m), the Mosisberg and the Eschkopf (each 609 m).

Isolation and prominence

The Weißenberg is a hill with a relatively high isolation but low prominence: view from the Luitpold Tower looking north

The nearest peaks that are higher than the Weißenberg are the Roßberg (637 m) and the Steigerkopf (613 m) mountains; they are 15 kilometres away as the crow flies in the Haardt on the eastern edge of the Palatine Forest. Thus the Weißenberg has a relatively high isolation. In addition, the Weißenberg is not an isolated individual summit, but part of an elongated ridge that runs through the interior of the Palatine Forest in various directions and is a key feature of its relief.

If one draw a line of the greatest possible height (the ridgeline) to the next highest summit, this turns out to be the Steigerkopf at 613 m. The lowest point on this line is the saddle at Heldenstein Forestry Lodge at 472 m. The difference between the elevation of the Weißenberg summit and this saddle represents the prominence of the hill i.e. 138 m. This relatively low value is due to the morphological structure of the central Palatine Forest described above.[1] For example, it is possible to walk from the Weißenberg to Leimen, Kaiserslautern-Mölschbach, Elmstein and via the forester's lodges of Taubensuhl and Heldenstein almost as far as the town of Neustadt on ridges without dropping below the 450 metre contour line.

References

1. Landesamt für Vermessung und Geobasisinformation Rheinland-Pfalz (publ.): Topografische Karten 1:25.000 mit Wanderwegen, Hauenstein und Umgebung; Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Maikammer, Edenkoben, Landau in der Pfalz. Eigenverlag des Landesamtes für Vermessung und Geobasisinformation Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz 1999 und 2006
2. Landesamt für Vermessung und Geobasisinformation Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz, reference dated 19 September 2011, extract of discussion article
3. Landesamt für Vermessung und Geobasisinformation Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz, enquiry dated 22 July 2010

Literature

• Winfried Lang (2009), Herausragend im Pfälzerwald: Der Luitpoldturm und sein Panorama (in German), Annweiler: Plöger, ISBN 978-3-89857-254-5
• Kurt Reh (1990), Adolf Hanle (ed.), "Luitpoldturm auf dem Weißenberg", Meyers Naturführer Pfälzerwald und Weinstraße (in German), Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, pp. 82–84, ISBN 3411071311