Melibokus

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Melibokus

Melibokus
Elevation 517 m (1,696 ft)
Location
Melibokus
The location within Hesse
Location Hesse, Germany
Range Odenwald
Coordinates 49°43′30.75″N 8°38′12.54″E / 49.7252083°N 8.6368167°E / 49.7252083; 8.6368167Coordinates: 49°43′30.75″N 8°38′12.54″E / 49.7252083°N 8.6368167°E / 49.7252083; 8.6368167

The Melibokus (also Melibocus, Malchen or Malschen) is at 517 metres (1696 feet), the highest mountain in the Bergstraße region of southern Hesse, central Germany. It was also the name of a mountain in Germania described by classical sources. But the two are probably not the same.

The modern Melibokus mountain overlooks the Rhine valley on the western fringe of the Odenwald region and is a local landmark, clearly visible for many miles. On the summit there is a small cafe, a public lookout tower and a US Army radio mast erected on the site of a previous stone tower, destroyed during World War II. The mountain is accessible from Zwingenberg/Bergstrasse by foot. The "Nibelungensteig" mountain trail leads you from the railway station in Zwingenberg towards the east. If you follow the red "N" of Nibelungensteig you will be climbing up 417 metres to a total altitude of 517 metres above sea level on top of the Melibokus mountain. Alternatively you can contact Zwingenberg historic society and join in a group trip with 20 persons each weekend. Either way you will be seeing one of the most beautiful views of the Rhine Valley. One and a half hours on foot, or if you take the tractor engine with trailer of the historic society the round trip will take four hours (including wine tasting).

Despite the modern use of the classical name, the mountain mentioned in classical sources was probably either the Harz mountains, or Thüringerwald or both.[1][2] Ptolemy's Geography (Book 2, Chapter 10) mentions the Melobokon oros, as being just to the south of the Cherusci, corresponding to the mountainous "Silva Bacenis" which Julius Caesar mentioned as separating the Cherusci and the Chatti in Hesse.

The medieval place name of the modern Melibokus was Mons Malscus, and there is a settlement in the region, Malchen. One possible etymology[3] derives the name from Old High German malsc, "conceited", which Julius Pokorny reports is from Indo-European mel- "grind" in the sense of "ground down" or "weak".

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, 1854 
  2. ↑ Schütte (1917), Ptolemy's maps of northern Europe, a reconstruction of the prototypes 
  3. ↑ Herbert Eisele (2001). "Die Ausstrahlung der Berge in ihrer Benennungsvielfalt".  (German)

External links

Panorama of the view from the summit of Melibokus, overlooking Zwingenberg, Alsbach, Bickenbach with Seeheim-Jugenheim on the right. Alsbach Castle is visible in the centre

  • Melibokus viewing tower c. 1909

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