Sonneberg (hill)

Last updated
Sonneberg
Highest point
Elevation 401 m above  sea level (NN) (1,315.6 ft)
Coordinates 51°01′24″N14°30′03″E / 51.02333°N 14.50083°E / 51.02333; 14.50083
Geography
Location Saxony, Germany
(Görlitz district)
Parent range Upper Lusatian Highlands
Geology
Mountain type Lusatian Granodiorite

The Sonneberg, also called the Buchberg, is a hill in the Lusatian Highlands of eastern Germany with a height of 401.0 m above sea level (NN). It is the fourth highest hill in the borough of Neusalza-Spremberg in Saxony, after the Fuchsberg (422 m) and Hahneberg (410 m) and an unnamed peak about 600 metres north of the Sonneberg (403.2 m).

Contents

Location and name

The Sonneberg lies about 500 metres southwest of the village of the same name in a forested area near the Czech border that is also called the Grenzwald ("border forest"). The new settlers of the village of Spremberg probably called the hill the Sonnebereg or Berg der Sonne ("hill of the sun"), because the sun in this neck of the woods went down late in the day over the treetops in the west. Its alternative name of Buchberg is derived from Buche ("beech tree") because beeches are the dominant species in the forest to this day. Formerly the hill was also called the Wauersberg after its owner, Wauer, a Sonneberg farmer. On old maps it is already called the Sonneberg, after which the village that emerged in 1800 was named and which has since become the present-day town of Neusalza-Spremberg.

Geology and geography

The Sonneberg is one of the highest elevations in the aforementioned 15 hectare woodland. The densely forested hill has a flattened summit on which individual blocks of granodiorite lie. Its peak is formed of nepheline basalt and is thus a geological feature in the Neusalza-Spremberg region. An old quarry on the higher elevation to the north on the northeastern slopes clearly shows the columns of nepheline basalt that were formed as the lava solidified. These emerged millions of years ago in the geological formations of the Tertiary period and record that volcanic processes took place here. The deep quarry, which is filled with water, resembles a crater lake.

The Sonneberg towers like a spur over the village of Sonneberg in the western valley hollo of the borough – formerly Spremberger Niederdorf - which is crossed by the Dresden-Zittau railway line. In a western direction the forest of the Sonneberg transitions seamlessly into the woods that once belonged to the Czech village of Fugau that no longer exists. In pre-Reformation times this woodland was also called the Spremberg Forest (Spremberger Wald). On the loam soils of the Sonneberg foothills the ground is waterlogged in places. Several streams collect together here into the so-called Sonnebergwasser, also called the Teichflössel, which feeds several fish ponds at Neuspremberg as well as the forest swimming pool of the town. A field track from the western side of Neusalza-Spremberg leads over a railway bridge and adjacent pastureland to the Sonneberg.

Politics

On June 25, 2023, Sonneberg made headlines for having elected a far right extremist politician of the AfD party to the position of district administrator (Landrat). [1]

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westerwald</span> Mountain range in Germany

The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif. Its highest elevation, at 657 m above sea level, is the Fuchskaute in the High Westerwald.

Sonneberg is a Kreis (district) in the south of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Hildburghausen, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, and the Bavarian districts Kronach and Coburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhön Mountains</span> Low mountain range in Germany

The Rhön Mountains are a group of low mountains in central Germany, located around the border area where the states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia come together. These mountains, which are at the extreme southeast end of the East Hesse Highlands, are partly a result of ancient volcanic activity. They are separated from the Vogelsberg Mountains by the river Fulda and its valley. The highest mountain in the Rhön is the Wasserkuppe, which is in Hesse. The Rhön Mountains are a popular tourist destination and walking area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charnwood Forest</span> Upland area in Leicestershire, England

Charnwood Forest is a hilly tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 feet (180 m) and upwards, the area exceeding this height being about 6,100 acres (25 km2). The highest point, Bardon Hill, is 912 feet (278 m). On its western flank lies an abandoned coalfield, with Coalville and other former mining villages, now being regenerated and replanted as part of the National Forest. The M1 motorway, between junctions 22 and 23, cuts through Charnwood Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taconic Mountains</span> Appalachian Mountain range in the United States

The Taconic Mountains are a 150-mile-long sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains lying on the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England. The range, which played a role in the history of geological science, is separated from the Berkshires and Green Mountains to the east by a series of valleys, principally those of the Housatonic River, Battenkill River and Otter Creek. The Taconics' highest point is Mount Equinox in Vermont at 3,840 feet (1,170 m); among many other summits are Dorset Mountain, Mount Greylock and Mount Everett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian Highlands</span> Mountain range in northern Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below 1,500 m (4,900 ft), while the summits reach heights of up to 4,550 m (14,930 ft). It is sometimes called the "Roof of Northeastern Africa" due to its height and large area. It is the only country in the region with such a high elevated surface. This elevated surface is bisected diagonally by the Great East African Rift System which extends from Syria to Mozambique across the East African Lakes. Most of the Ethiopian Highlands are part of central and northern Ethiopia, and its northernmost portion reaches into Eritrea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jizera Mountains</span> Mountain range in the Czech Republic and Poland

Jizera Mountains, or Izera Mountains, are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The range got its name from the Jizera River, which rises at the southern base of the Smrk massif. The beech forests within the Jizera Mountains were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, because of their outstanding preservation and testimony to the ecological history of Europe since the Last Glacial Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palatinate Forest</span> Low mountain range in Germany

The Palatinate Forest, sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The forest is a designated nature park covering 1,771 km2 and its highest elevation is the Kalmit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haibach, Lower Franconia</span> Municipality in Bavaria, Germany

Haibach is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 8,300.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tegg's Nose</span> Hill and country park in Cheshire, England

Tegg's Nose is a hill east of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. It has a short ridge with a high point of 380 metres (1246 feet) at SJ947725, terminating in a promontory at the southern end. It lies on the western edge of the Peak District, although outside the boundary of the national park. Much of the hill's area falls within the Tegg's Nose Country Park, managed by Cheshire East Council Countryside Management Service; Tegg's Nose is also part of the Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macclesfield Forest</span>

Macclesfield Forest is an area of woodland, predominantly conifer plantation, around 3 mi (5 km) south east of Macclesfield in the civil parish of Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough, in Cheshire, England.

Trout Creek Hill is a small Pleistocene basaltic shield volcano in Washington, United States. Located in Skamania County, Trout Creek Hill rises to an elevation of 2,946 feet (898 m). It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, located in the Marble Mountain-Trout Creek Hill volcanic field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goffle Hill</span> Mountain range in New Jersey, USA

Goffle Hill, also referred to as Goffle Mountain and historically known as Totoway Mountain and Wagaraw Mountain, is a range of the trap rock Watchung Mountains on the western edge of the Newark Basin in northern New Jersey. The hill straddles part of the border of Bergen County and Passaic County, underlying a mostly suburban setting. While hosting patches of woodlands, perched wetlands, and traprock glades, the hill is largely unprotected from development. Extensive quarrying for trap rock has obliterated large tracts of the hill in North Haledon, and Prospect Park. Conservation efforts seeking to preserve undeveloped land, such as the local Save the Woods initiative (2007–present), are ongoing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hirtstein</span>

Hirtstein is a mountain of Saxony, in southeastern Germany. It is situated near the village Satzung, in the Ore Mountains, about 1.5 km from the border to the Czech Republic. Its elevation is 890 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rehburg Hills</span>

The Rehburg Hills are a hill range, up to 161.4 m above sea level (NN), in the districts of Nienburg and Schaumburg in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Buchberg is the name of the following places:

The Buchberg is a 674-metre-high mountain in the Bavarian Fichtel Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Bull Cross, The Frith and Juniper Hill is a 42.33-hectare (104.6-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. The site is listed in the ‘Stroud District’ Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 as an SSSI and Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mühlsteinbrüche</span> Old smithy in Jonsdorf

The Mühlsteinbrüche south of Jonsdorf in the Zittau Mountains in Saxony are a region of bizarre rock formations, which have been formed by the quarrying of sandstone for millstones and also by weathering processes. They are a popular hiking and climbing area. An educational trail runs through the region which has an area of about 35 hectares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vogelsberg</span> Mountain range in Hesse

The is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda river valley. Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg is Central Europe's largest basalt formation, consisting of a multitude of layers that descend from their peak in ring-shaped terraces to the base.

References

  1. "AfD stellt erstmals einen Landrat in Deutschland". tageschau.de. Retrieved 27 June 2023.