The Belchen System refers to five mountains with the name Belchen around the tripoint of Germany, France and Switzerland that may have been used by the Celts as a solar calendar. The term is an extension of the Belchen Triangle. The mountains are:
The heart of the Belchen System is the southernmost mountain of the Vosges, the Ballon d'Alsace (Elsässer Belchen or Alsatian Belchen, 1,247 metres). Seventy three kilometres due east is the Black Forest Belchen (Schwarzwälder Belchen, 1,414 metres), which is only 167 metres higher and over which the sun rises at the equinoxes, i.e. at the beginning of spring and autumn, as seen from Grand Ballon. Conversely, the sun sets over the Alsatian Belchen on these days when seen from the Black Forest Belchen.
Viewed from the Alsatian Belchen at the time of the summer solstice, the sun rises over Petit Ballon (Kleiner Belchen or Little Belchen, 1,272 metres), 27 kilometres away to the northeast. At the winter solstice it rises over the Belchenflue (Schweizer Belchen or Swiss Belchen, 1,099 metres), 88 kilometres to the southeast. Thus from the Alsatian Belchen the start of all four astronomical seasons is defined.
The region of the Belchen System is known today as the Upper Rhine, the Regio Basiliensis, the Dreiland or RegioTriRhena.
The Black Forest is a large forested mountain range in south-west Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, bounded by the Rhine valley to the west and south. It is the source of the Danube and Neckar rivers.
Alsace is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in Eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2017, it had a population of 1,889,589. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of Germanic and French influences.
Haut-Rhin is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the river Rhine. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departments of the former administrative Alsace region, the other being the Bas-Rhin. Especially after the 1871 cession of the southern territory known since 1922 as Territoire de Belfort, although it is still densely populated compared to the rest of metropolitan France.
The Vosges are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and low mountain range of around 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) in area. It runs in a north-northeast direction from the Burgundian Gate to the Börrstadt Basin, and forms the western boundary of the Upper Rhine Plain.
At 1,493 metres (4,898 ft) the Feldberg in the Black Forest is the highest mountain in Baden-Württemberg, and the highest in Germany outside of the Alps. The local municipality of Feldberg was named after the mountain.
Belfort is a commune in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately 25 km (16 mi) from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort department.
Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish, is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alemanni.
The Ballon d'Alsace German: Elsässer Belchen, sometimes also called the Alsatian Belchen to distinguish it from other mountains named "Belchen" is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, views include the Vosges, the Rhine valley, the Black Forest, and the Alps.
Saint-Louis is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.
The Münstertal is a municipality in the southern Black Forest, which belongs to the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is 3 miles east from Staufen.
The Grand Ballon or Great Belchen is the highest mountain of the Vosges, located 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Mulhouse, France. It is also the highest point of the Grand-Est French region.
Belchenflue Pass is a mountain pass to use only by hikers in the Jura Mountains between the cantons of Basel-Country and Solothurn. Nearestby access by car is on the Chilchzimmersattel. Actually the pass does not have a distinct name. It is the signpost just nearby the dead-end hiking trail that has Belchenflue written on.
Souffelweyersheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, and is part of metropolitan Strasbourg.
Blauen or Hochblauen is a 1,165-metre-high (3,820 ft) mountain in the southern Black Forest. The peak lies within the municipalities of Schliengen and Malsburg-Marzell in Landkreis Lörrach and the community of Badenweiler in Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald. It is an ideal viewpoint with views of the Black Forest, Vosges, Jura Mountains, and the Alps.
Belchen, 1,414 metres (4,639 ft), or Black Forest Belchen is the fourth-highest summit of the Black Forest after Feldberg, Seebuck and Herzogenhorn. The municipalities of Münstertal, Schönenberg and Kleines Wiesental meet on the summit dome of Belchen which is located in the southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg.
The Belchenflue is a mountain of the Jura, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Solothurn, south of Eptingen. The nearby Belchenflue Pass links the two cantons.
This is a list of World War 1 Memorials and Cemeteries in Alsace. The Western Front ran across the Haute Alsace, across Le Bonhomme, passing Le Linge, on near Munster, Reichackerkopf and Sondernach. It passed through the Petit Ballon and Grand Ballon before reaching Le Vieil Armand (Hartmannswillerkopf) and passing a line through Thann and Cernay. It then ran its course to Altkirch and the Sundgau and the Swiss border.
The Petit Ballon or Little Belchen, is one of the highest peaks of the Vosges Mountains in the department of Haut-Rhin, Alsace in France. Its height is 1272m, above the sea level and it is located about 5 km away from the village of Wasserbourg. The Rothenbrunnen mountain hut is located 500m below. A car park is a further 500m away.
The Zeller Blauen is a mountain, 1,077.1 m above sea level (NHN), in the southern Black Forest in Germany. It belongs to Zell im Wiesental in the Baden-Württemberg county of Lörrach.
