Bavarian Forest

To the south-west of the Regen depression is the Anterior Bavarian Forest (also called the Danube Hills), which is up to 1,121 m high. Its crest also runs roughly south-eastwards, but is clearly divided into individual ridges, each of which runs in a different direction.

In the far northwest are the Elisabethszell Mountains near the village of Elisabethszell, the line of which runs away to the southeast. At the Hadriwa they reach a height of 922 m. Immediately to the east are the Hirschenstein Mountains which are similarly oriented. Beginning at the Zeller Höhe (850 m), the northernmost mountain of the Anterior Bavarian Forest overall, this range climbs to 1,092 m) at the Hirschenstein. Southeast of the Hirschenstein lie the Vogelsangwald woods and the Vogelsang (1,022 m), which comprises only one ridge; it runs from north to south. On the northern extension of this ridge in the Regen valley lies the Hornbergwald forest, which reaches 844 m at the Abendberg and thus clearly towers above the floor of the basin.

Immediately east of the Vogelsang is the Grafling Saddle (Graflinger Paßsenke), which follows the valleys of the Kollbach and Teisnach rivers from Gotteszell in the north to Grafling in the south. It is the most prominent gap in the Anterior Bavarian Forest and is crossed by the Bundesstraße 11 which climbs up to a height of 583.7 m.^[3] Immediately to the east of the pass are the Riegel Mountains (Riegelbergen) with the Einödriegel (1,121 m) to the north and the Breitenauriegel (1,116 m) to the south of the highest point of the Anterior Bavarian Forest. South of it and separated by the state road, St 2135, is a chain of summits, the Hausstein Mountains (Haussteinberge) and Leopoldswald, running eastwards. The Hausstein reaches a height of 917 m, the Fürberg in the far east climbing to 880 m.

The most southerly mountain range, the Sonnenwald, is also a chain of individual peaks running from west to east; it is only connected to the Leopoldswald southwest of the Fürberg by a narrow ridge. In its western half, the Brotjacklriegel reaches 1,011 m, in the east the Aschenstein climbs to a height of 944 m. Even the mountains at the western and eastern ends of the mountain chain rise clearly above the 800 m line. To the south of the Brotjacklriegel, the isolated Stierberg (716 m), southwest of Zenting, bounds the Lallinger Winkel (see below) markedly in the east. It is usually considered part of the Passau Vorwald (see below).^[10]

Falkensteiner Vorwald

The westernmost part of the Bavarian Forest is the

The western part of the Vorwald transition in the south and on this side of the Regen into the Jurassic rocks of the Franconian Jura; Regenstauf being located at the boundary between the rock formations. Below Nittenau, the Regen breaks through the Vorwald impressively in a 90° bend and various smaller loops. The main summit in this high-relief part of the landscape, is the Jugendberg (611 m) immediately southwest of Nittenau, but more spectacular are the slopes of the 664 m high Gailenberg above the bend in the Regen. On the right-hand, western side of the Regen the Schwarzberg reaches at height of 538 m immediately east of Maxhütte-Haidhof.

In the north of the western part of the Falkensteiner Vorwald there is a second, somewhat less prominent Regen water gap : the Reichenbach Regen valley (Reichenbach Regental) which begins at the bend in the Regen below Roding, runs through

Southeastern Bavarian Forest

To the southeast and adjacent to the Regen Depression and Anterior Bavarian Forest is the Passauer Vorwald and, beyond it, the

(Deggendorfer Vorwald) around 400 metres lower.

Geological structure

The Bavarian Forest is continued, initially northwest, then northeast, by the Upper Palatine Forest, Fichtel Mountains, Ore Mountains and Sudetes. Geologically, as the southwestern edge of the Bohemian Massif, it is indistinguishable from the Bohemian Forest on the other side of the Czech border and from the Sauwald on Austrian soil. Together with the Upper Palatinate Forest it forms the main unit group known as the Upper Palatine-Bavarian Forest.

For the sake of simplicity, a distinction is not made between the Bohemian Forest (originally the Inner Bavarian Forest) and the Bavarian Forest. Instead, the common local name of "Bavarian Forest" is used for the entire area of the low mountain range on the German side, as the term "Bohemian Forest" has become synonymous with the areas in the

Bavarian Pfahl

being regarded as the boundary line between them. In the north–south direction, a distinction is made between the Upper and Lower Forest.

The Bavarian Forest is the rump of a

volcanic, source rocks were metamorphosed over millions of years into the present-day gneisses. These gneisses were intruded by mighty granite rock especially in the Carboniferous and Early Permian. The Kunisch Mountains in the north are formed of schist, whilst the gabbro-amphibolite massif around Eschlkam and Neukirchen beim Heiligen Blut with the Hoher Bogen

form the southernmost foothills.

An important line that divides the Bavarian Forest into two parts is the approximately 150-kilometre-long fault line of the

hydrothermal solutions. Due to the strength of the rock, this quartz wall protrudes up to 30 metres above the surrounding area for long distances. North of the Pfahl is found mainly gneiss, south of it granite and migmatites

tend to predominate.

Between Regensburg and Passau, there is a marked difference in height between the forested mountains to the northeast and the Danube plain ("Gäuboden") to the southwest. This dividing line between the Tertiary Hill Country and the Bavarian Forest is marked by the Danube Edge Fault (Donaurandbruch), a geological disruption between the sunken crystalline basement, lying beneath the Tertiary and Quaternary deposits of the molasse basin, and the still visible part northwest of this line, which belongs to the Bavarian Forest.

Quite striking too, is the difference in height between the Danube Plain, 300 to 350 m, and the highest peaks of the Anterior Forest, such as the Einödriegel at 1,121 m}, a difference of 800 metres in height over only a few kilometres of horizontal distance. Due to the uplift of the Bavarian Forest, which also affected the Neuburg Forest and the Sauwald, there was an antecedent incision of the rivers Inn and Danube into this area of the crystalline basement which led to the formation of a narrow valley zone from Pleinting down the Danube into Austria and south of Passau, where the Inn has formed a deeply incised riverbed.

Ice-Age landforms

Whilst the

Großer Osser 1,293 m, Zwercheck 1,333 m, Großer Arber

1,456 m).

In particular, those regions of the High Bavarian Forest were covered by snow and ice fields during the

cirque lakes (Großer Arbersee, Kleiner Arbersee, Rachelsee) as well as moraine

banks.

The toe of the glacier, for example near the Grosser Arbersee, was located at a height of 850 metres, the snout of the northern glacier down to the small Arbersee at a height of about 830 metres. Accordingly, there was a considerable difference in height of more than 600 metres from the summit regions to the terminal moraines. Other glacial tongues flowed down from the Grosser Rachel. Here too, there are cirques and caroids, which suggest ice-age glaciation.

Places of interest

Amongst the places of interest in the Bavarian Forest are:

National Park Information Centre in Neuschönau National Park Information Centre in Ludwigsthal Nature The Pfahl, a 150 km long rock formation Teufelstisch ("Devil's Table") near Bischofsmais Buchberger Leite between Freyung and Ringelai Höllbachgspreng on the Großer Falkenstein The Schachten, former pasture land in the national park, between the Falkenstein and the Rachel Saußbach Gorge near Waldkirchen Valley of the Ilz Kleiner and Großer Arbersee lakes Wildlife park in Ludwigsthal Bavarian Forest Animal Park in Lohberg Open-air animal park near Neuschönau Frauenau Reservoir Observation towers Canopy walkway in the Bavarian Forest National Park near Neuschönau

Culture Gabreta Celtic village near Ringelai Bavarian Forest Museum Village by the Dreiburgensee lake Finsterau Open-Air Museum Weißenstein Castle ruins near Regen with the "Glass Forest" (Gläserner Wald) Hunting and Fishing Museum at Schloss Wolfstein in Freyung Agricultural Museum in Regen Forest Museum in Zwiesel Frauenau Glass Museum in Frauenau Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Frauenau Wolfstein Gallery in Freyung Fürstenzeche Historic Silver and Fluospar mine in Lam Mine on the Silberberg near Bodenmais Baptist Kitzlinger Ski Jumps in Breitenberg Church of the Sacred Heart in Ludwigsthal Former abbey church at Rinchnach

Mountains

The following is a list of the mountains in the Bavarian Forest, sorted alphabetically with heights given in metres (m) above sea level (NN):

Almberg (1,139 m) Alzenberg (1,100 m) Arber, Großer (1,456 m) Arber, Kleiner (1,384 m) Aschenstein (945 m) Bernhardsnagel (896 m) Bistand (865 m) Büchelstein (831 m) Breitenauriegel (1,114 m) Brotjacklriegel (1,011 m) Burgstall (976 m), see Hoher Bogen Dreisesselberg (1,333 m) Dreitannenriegel (1,092 m) Eckstein (1,073 m), see Hoher Bogen Eschenberg (1,043 m) Einödriegel (1,121 m) Enzian (1,285 m) Falkenstein, Großer (1,315 m) Falkenstein, Kleiner (1,190 m) Farrenberg (1,203 m) Friedrichsberg (934 m) Fürberg (880 m) Geißkopf (1,097 m) Geißlstein (920 m) Geißriegel (1,046 m) Grandelberg (1,010 m) Gsengetstein (952 m) Guntherstein (796 m) Hahnenbogen (1,257 m) Hahnenriegel (1,108 m) Haibühler Spitz (1,047 m) Haidel (1,167 m) Haidstein (742 m) Harlachberger Spitz (913 m)

Hausstein (917 m) Hennenkobel (965 m) Hessenstein (878 m) Heugstatt (1,261 m) Hindenburgkanzel (1,049 m) Hirschberg (1,039 m) Hirschenstein (1,095 m) Hochberg (942 m) Hochstein (Arnbruck) (1,132 m) Hochzellberg (1,208 m) Hoher Bogen (1,079 m) Hoher Filzberg (1,279 m) Hoher Stein (1,042 m) - see Kaitersberg Hohlstein (1,196 m) Hörndl (1,015 m) Kaitersberg (1,132) Kanzel (1,011 m) Käsplatte (979 m) Kiesruck (1,265 m) Knogl (1,056 m) Kreuzfelsen (999 m) Kronberg (984 m) Lackenberg (1,337 m) Lichtenberg (1,030 m) Lusen (1,373 m) Mittagsplatzl (1,340 m) Mittagstein (1,034 m) Mühlriegel (1,080 m) Oberfrauenwald (948 m) Ödriegel (1,156 m) Osser, Großer (1,293 m) Osser, Kleiner (1,266 m) Plattenhausenriegel (1,376 m) Bayerischer Plöckenstein (1,365 m)

Predigtstuhl (1,024 m) Pröller (1,048 m) Rachel, Großer (1,453 m) Rachel, Kleiner (1,399 m) Rauchröhren (1,045 m), see Kaitersberg Rauher Kulm (1,050 m) Riedelstein, Großer (1,132 m) Riesberg, Lindberg (934 m) Riesberg, Viechtach (882 m) Riesberg, Rattiszell (602 m) Rollmannsberg (1,042 m) Rote Höhe (1,050 m) Ruhmannsberg (863 m) Rukowitzberg (1,269 m) Schwarzeck (1,238 m) Schwarzkopf (1,060 m) Schwarzriegel (1,079 m), see Hoher Bogen Scheuereckberg (1,196 m) Siebensteinkopf (1,263 m) Silberberg (955 m) Staffelberg (793 m) Steinberg (830 m) Steinbühler Gesenke (1,044 m) - see Kaitersberg Steinfleckberg (1,341 m) Sternknöckel (818 m) Sulzberg (1,146 m) Teufelstisch (901 m) Vogelsang (1,022 m) Wagensonnriegel (959 m) Wagnerspitze (1,125 m) Waldhäuserriegel (1,151 m) Weigelsberg (898 m) Wolfgangriegel (876 m) Zwercheck (1,333 m)

See also

• Bavarian Forest Club

References