Gladenbach Uplands

The Gladenbach Uplands (German: Gladenbacher Bergland), named after their central town of Gladenbach, is a range of hills up to 609 m high in the Rhine Massif in Germany, on the junction of the Rothaar Mountains (north and northwest), Westerwald (southwest), (Eastern) Hintertaunus (in the south) and West Hesse Highlands in the east. It lies in Central Hesse within the districts of Marburg-Biedenkopf, Lahn-Dill and Gießen within the so-called Lahn-Dill-(Dietzhölze-) loop. Small parts of the Upper Lahn Valley in the northwest belong, together with the town of Bad Laasphe, also to the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Gladenbach Uplands
View from the Dreisberg to the south of the village of Gladenbach
Highest point
Peak	Angelburg
Elevation	609.4 m above NN
Dimensions
Length	80 km (50 mi)
Area	780 km2 (300 sq mi)
Geography
Gladenbach Uplands
State(s)	Middle Hesse (small elements also part of Wittgenstein Land, NRW)
Range coordinates	50°47′18″N 8°25′43″E
Parent range	Westerwald, Rhenish Massif
Geology
Orogeny	hills of the German Central Uplands

View of Bottenhorn in a small hollow (485 m) on the Bottenhorn Plateau. In the background is the Angelburg.

The Gladenbach Uplands are geographical unit 320 which is part of the natural region 32, the Westerwald, in Germany's system of natural regions. The Gladenbach Highlands is largely coextensive with the Lahn-Dill Uplands Nature Park which extends further west, however, but is somewhat less extensive in the southeast and whose boundaries tend to line up with those of the sponsoring municipalities. In addition, not insignificant areas belong to the historical Hessian Hinterland, which is why the two named articles refer to one another, as far as regional associations, culture and history are concerned. Geology and mining will be largely covered in the article on the Lahn-Dill Region

Geography

Location and boundaries

The prominent heights on the eastern edge of the natural region of Zollbuche seen from the north (from right up to the centre): the Dreisberg (448 m), Koppe (454 m) and Hemmerich (470 m). Right of centre the distant Dünsberg (498 m) may be made out, whilst the Zollbuche ridge transitions on the right into the Bad Endbach Plateau (up to 488 m).

On the rivers Lahn and Dill the following towns - clockwise from the north - border the Gladenbach Uplands:

• Bad Laasphe (northwest)
• Biedenkopf (north)
• Western suburbs of Marburg (northeast)
• Lollar (southeast)
• Gießen (southeast)
• Wetzlar (south)
• Herborn (southwest)
• Dillenburg (west)

The northwest transitions to the Rothaar Mountains are comparatively fluid. Here the watershed between the Lahn tributaries of the Banfe and Perf define the boundary.

Rivers and streams

The natural regions mentioned above are generally divided between the catchment areas of the der Lahn and Dill tributaries and the landscapes separated by these rivers.

The most important watercourses, in addition to the boundary rivers of the Lahn, Dill and Dietzhölze – are the Aar, the Salzböde, the Perf and Allna.

The following rivers and streams are sorted in clockwise order i.e. down the Lahn and up the Dill, beginning with the upper reaches of the Lahn in the north and cover a catchment area of over 20 km²:^[1]
(the natural regions are linked in the column of their most important river!)

→ to full list

Name	Parent river	Length [km]	Catchment- area [km²]	Drains into [l/s]	Mouth elevation [m above NN]	Natural regions (heading downstream)	Roads	DGKZ
Diete	Perf (l)	8,8	24,64		310	Breidenbach Bottom	B 253	25814-6
Gansbach	Perf (l)	11,1	23,17		349	Bottenhorn Plateaux, Breidenbach Bottom	L 3042	25814-2
Perf	Lahn (r)	20,0	113,13	1776	285	Bottenhorn Plateaux, Breidenbach Bottom	L 3049, B 253	258-14
Dautphe	Lahn (r)	8,8	41,81	533	245	Bottenhorn Plateaux, Upper Lahn Valley	B 453	258-16
Elnhauser Wasser	Ohe (l)	5,9	24,25	171	195	Elnhausen-Michelbach Basin		258326-6
Ohe	Allna (l)	11,5	44,28	337	195	Damshäuser Kuppen, Elnhausen-Michelbach Basin	L 3387	25832-6
Allna	Lahn (r)	19,1	92,02	665	172	Damshäuser Kuppen, Elnhausen-Michelbach Basin	L 3387	258-32
Wenkbach	Lahn (r)	7,2	20,77	107	168	Salzböde Valley, Marburger Lahn Valley Basin		258-332
Salzböde	Lahn (r)	27,6	137,85	1322	164	Zollbuche, Salzböde Valley, Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest, Marburger Lahn Valley Basin	L 3050, B 255, L 3048	258-34
Vers	Salzböde (r)	8,4	42,55		188	Salzböde Valley	L 3061	25834-8
Bieber	Lahn (r)	13,5	34,68	217	155	Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest, Gießen Lahn Valley Basin	L 3474, L 3286	258-394
Lemp	Dill (l)	11,7	34,97	274	170	Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest, Krofdorf-Königsberger/Hörre	L 3052	2584-92
Aar	Dill (l)	20,6	148,76	1602	210	Niederweidbach Basin, Hörre/Schelde Forest, Lower Dill Valley	B 255	2584-6
Siegbach	Aar (r)	12,2	28,67		260	Bottenhorn Plateaux, Zollbuche	- / L 3050, - / L 3049	25846-6
Schelde	Dill (l)	12,0	35,03	426	221	Schelde Forest	L 3042	2584-56
Dietzhölze	Dill (l)	23,7	88,44	1431	233	Rothaar Mountains, Upper Dill Valley	B 253	2584-4

The outer boundary of the Gladenbach Uplands is formed by the Lahn and Dill accompanied in the north (upper reaches of the Lahn) by the B 62, in the east by the B 3 Marburg-Gießen (mostly autobahn-like, clearly external in the Marburg area), in the east, south of the B 49 Gießen-Wetzlar (mostly autobahn-like) and in the southwest (lower reaches of the Dill) by the A 45. The Bundesstraße 253 Dillenburg-Biedenkopf (see above) roughly closes the remaining gap.

Waterbodies

The most important reservoir in the Gladenbach Uplands is the Aartalsee (57 ha, 270 m above NN) in the Niederweidbach Basin, followed by the Perf Reservoir (18 ha, 301 m) in the Breidenbach Bottom (Breidenbach Bottom).

Hills

The hills of the Gladenbach Uplands, arranged by ridge or natural region, include the following:
(Location of the natural regions with the Gladenbach Uplands and location of the hills within the natural region)

The Daubhaus (552 m, centre left) and the Allberg (528 m) at the far eastern edge of the Bottenhorn Plateaux. In the foreground is the Gladenbach village of Runzhausen

View looking past Gießen and the castles of Vetzberg (left) and Gleiberg (right) to the 498 m high Dünsberg

View from the B 255 of Gladenbach. Centre rear: the 357 m high Lammerich; left: northern foot of the 361 m high Kirchberg.

The lower Gansbach Valley near Frechenhausen. Background: the Schwarzenberg (Breidenbach Grund) and the Sackpfeife.

The 533 m high Schwarzenberg spurs of Nimerich and Friedensdorf. Rear right: the Biedenkopf and the 631 m high Sackpfeife spur of Hainpracht

• Bottenhorn Plateaux - northwest of the centre
  • Angelburg (609 m) – west of the centre; occasionally counted as part of the Schelde Forest
    • Schmittgrund (590 m) – southern spur of the Angelburg, occasionally counted as part of the Schelde Forest
  • Mattenberg (578 m) – north west
  • Kurzbeul (566 m) – extreme west
  • Würgeloh (563,9 m) north Hartenrod / Bad Endbach
  • Madche (560 m) – northwest
  • Daubhaus (551,8 m) – extreme east, north of Rachelshausen
    • Allberg (528 m) – northeast of the Daubhaus
    • Hünstein (504 m) – north of the Allberg; not really an independent summit, but has an observation tower; gives its name to Holzhausen am Hünstein
  • Bolzeberg (520 m) – extreme northeast
  • Steffenberg (489 m) – extreme (west) north, gives its name to the municipality of Steffenberg
• Schelde Forest (in the narrow sense) – west
  • Eschenburg (590 m NN) – north, above the Dietzhölze Valley (which lies to the northwest)
  • Hohe Koppe (540.2 m) – northeast
  • Stockseite (516 m) – east
• Breidenbach Bottom – extreme north(west)
  • Hemmerichskopf (562 m) – western boundary with the Rothaar Mountains
  • Schwarzenberg (561 m) – northeast; centre of a large contiguous forest area southwest of Biedenkopf and east of Breidenbach
    • Hachenberg (552 m) – northern subpeak
    • Nimerich (533 m) – southeastern subpeak; highest point in the municipality of Dautphetal
  • Schadenberg (545 m) – southwest of the centre
  • Galgenberg (541 m) – extreme southwest
  • Entenberg (535 m) – northwestern boundary to the Rothaar Mountains
• Zollbuche – centre
  • Hirschhohl (503 m) – northwest boundary with the plateaux
  • Schönscheid (498 m) – west, northwest Günterod
  • Bad Endbacher Platte (up to 488 m) – centre
  • Hemmerich (475.7 m) – east; forms with Koppe and Dreisberg the eastern trio of hills of the Gladenbach Uplands
    • Koppe (454 m) – with observation tower; near Gladenbach-Erdhausen
    • Dreisberg (448 m)
• Damshäuser Kuppen – northeast
  • Rimberg (498 m) – east north; with observation tower
  • Kappe (494 m) – west north
  • Schweinskopf (472 m) – north west, near Dautphetal-Herzhausen
  • Eichelhardt (465 m) – northwest
  • Dusenberg (457 m) – extreme west, near Dautphetal-Herzhausen
  • Hornberg (451 m) – extreme northwest
  • Hungert (412 m) – extreme northeast; pyramidal Kuppe on the boundary with the Marburg Ridge
  • Auersberg (385 m) – east, between Elnhausen, Nesselbrunn and Dilschhausen
  • Donnerberg (370 m) – southeast, northeast of Gladenbach
• Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest – south and southeast
  • Dünsberg (498 m) – east centre; volcanic singularity with Celtic excavation sites, TV transmission tower and observation tower
  • Altenberg (442 m) – northwest centre, observation tower
  • Ramsberg (ca. 435 m) – north; Hohensolms Castle
  • Forst Krofdorf (up to 357 m) – east; large contiguous forest region that links the Dünsberg to the east with the Lahn Valley
  • Königsstuhl (348 m) – south; one of the southernmost hills of the Gladenbach Uplands
• Hörre – southwest
  • Alteburg (445 m) – in the centre
  • Roßberg (392 m) – northeast, south of Bischoffen
  • Koppe (354 m) – south, west of Kölschhausen
• Niederweidbach Basin – south of the centre
  • Bergwald (im east up to 392 m) – east of the centre
• Salzböde Valley – northeast, east and southeast of the centre
  • Kirchberg (362 m) – north, east of Gladenbach
  • Lammerich (357 m) – north, southwest of Gladenbach

View from the Hasenkopf looking west to the Tannenberg (left), the Großer Feldberg and the hills of the Gladenbach Uplands including the Dünsberg, Hemmerich, Angelburg, Daubhaus and Rimberg

References

1. River data from WRRL Hessen Archived 2009-06-01 at the Wayback Machine

Literature

• Meynen, Emil (ed.): Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands. Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen, 1953-1962 (Part 1, contains issues 1-5), ISBN B0000BJ19E
• Meynen, Emil (ed.): Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands. Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen, 1959-1962 (Part 2, contains issues 6-9), ISBN B0000BJ19F

External links

• map and aerial photo of the Gladenbach Uplands / Placemarks Download (Google Earth required)
• BfN
  • Map services
  • Landscape fact files
    • Lahn-Dill Uplands
    • Gladenbach Hills and Upper Lahn Valley