Feldberg (Black Forest)

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Feldberg
Top of the Feldberg with ski lifts
Elevation	1,493 metres (4,500 feet)
Location	Germany
Range	Black Forest
Coordinates	47°52′N, 8°0′E
First ascent	unknown

The Feldberg is the highest mountain in the Black Forest and also of Germany outside the Alps; with an elevation of 1493 metres. Freiburg im Breisgau is the closest city.

It is not to be confused with the two smaller hills in Hochtaunuskreis district some 300km to the North, Kleiner Feldberg (825 m) and Großer Feldberg (880 m), which was used for hillclimbing races. These motorsport contests took place in the Black Forest, at the nearby Schauinsland.

Feldberg is also the name of the local community, comprising the villages of Bärental, Feldberg, Falkau, Altglashütten and Neuglashütten.

1 Geography
2 Traffic
3 Sport & Facilities
4 History
5 Climate
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Geographically the Feldberg is situated south-east of Freiburg im Breisgau, surrounded by the communities of Hinterzarten, Titisee, Menzenschwand, Bernau and Todtnau. From the main peak 1493m there is a plateau in south-east direction with the about 2km peak of the Seebuck 1448m, which is belonging itself to the Feldberg mountain. From there, there is a deep valley in north-eastern direction with the Feldsee, a lake of glacial origin in about 1000m altitude. Some more deep valleys are existing around the Feldberg, such as the north-western Zastlertal and the south-western Wiesental.

[edit] Traffic

The mountain is easy to reach by car over the B 317, and by train through the station of Feldberg-Bärental, which is also the highest train station (967m) in all Germany. From the station there is a public bus service to the ski lifts at Seebuck.

[edit] Sport & Facilities

Feldberg is the biggest skiing resort of Germany in Winter, outside of the Alps. The first ski lift ever, was originally built in 1907 in the Feldberg area, today it has approximately 28 ski lifts and it's alpine pistes have up to a black level of difficulty. Altogether there are over 50km of skiing pistes in the area. Consequently, tourism is the main business of the inhabitants from the surrounding communities.

[edit] History

In times of the cold war there were many antennas from the military tower on the top, but these were removed some years ago. Today there is a big TV- and radio antenna on the top, used by the local public station of SWR (Southwest Broadcasting). As well the mountain is recognisable by the Bismarck-Denkmal, an old monument in honour of the former chancellor of the German Empire.

[edit] Climate

Because of its unique nature with a subalpine vegetation the region is also a natural resort. From the top of the Feldberg one has a great view, especially in the winter time, when the air is clear and the valleys suffer from fog because of inversion weather. The view reaches up to about 200km in all directions, so one can see the French Vosges as well the northern black forest with Hornisgrinde, the Swabian alp, Bavarian Alps with the Zugspitze, Austrian Alps, Swiss Alps (Säntis) and also French Alps with Mont Blanc. This means that with luck you can see France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria from its top. The annual mean temperature is around 3°C. The mean annual rainfall is 2114mm, but most of it falls as snow. The only month to never have had snow recorded on the summit is August. The German meteorological service has had a weather station for many years on the top of the mountain. Because of the exposed situation, there are wind speeds up to 130km/h possible throughout the year.