Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Where is the Palatine Forest?
The Palatinate Forest (German: Pfälzerwald, German pronunciation), 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 (German: Naturpark Pfälzerwald) covering 1,771km2 and its highest elevation is the Kalmit (673 m).
Only a small selection can be mentioned here of the many museums with a direct link to the Palatine Forest that may be found in the Palatinate alone (see detailed coverage by the Rhineland-Palatinate Museum Association, Museumsverband Rheinland-Pfalz).[41]
Green and blue bars: this route runs from Göllheim to Eppenbrunn. Its waypoints include Alsenborn, Frankenstein, Schwarzsohl Hut (PWV), Breitenstein, Eußerthal, Rinnthal, Schwanheim and Erfweiler.
Green and white bars: starting at Wasener Kreuz (west of Hertlingshausen, on the A6 motorway) this route runs through Lambertskreuz, Neidenfels, Esthal, Breitenstein, Forsthaus Heldenstein and St. Martin.
White and blue bars: called the Alsenz Valley Trail, this path runs from Bad Münster am Stein via Rockenhausen to the Palatine Forest, and then runs via Alsenborn and Hochspeyer to the Palatine Forest Club hut of Forsthaus Schwarzsohl. From there it continues to Helmbach, through the Dörenbach valley to Eußerthal, and via Annweiler and Waldrohrbach to Klingenmünster. From here the trail passes through Gleiszellen, runs past the "Silzer Linde", and the Palatine Forest Club hut of "Hirzeck" on the French border to St. Germanshof.
White and blue bars: the second route with this waymark is further east in the Palatine Forest. The starting point os Battenberg. Running past the Hardenburg castle, Eckkopf (west of Deidesheim), with a branch to the Stabenberg mountain, and Weinbiet to Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Haßloch, Germersheim before ending in Wörth am Rhein.
White and red bars: one path with this waymark runs from the Palatine Forest to Speyer on the Rhine. Its waypoints are Kaiserslautern, Waldleiningen, Schwarzsohl, Esthal, Erfenstein, Hellerplatz, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Ordenswald/Haßloch, Fronmühle and Speyer.
White and red bars: another route with this waymark begins in the Krumbachtal valley, runs to Bad Dürkheim, continues along the edge of the Haardt mountains, before passing Heidenlöcher, St. Michael's Chapel near Deidesheim and Gimmeldingen before reaching Neustadt.
Blue and yellow bars: This path, which runs from Lauterecken through the North Palatine Uplands to the Palatinate Forest, then passes through Otterberg and the Eselsfürth heading for Hochspeyer; from here it goes via Waldleiningen and the Mückenwiese to Speyerbrunn in the Elmstein valley. It then continues along the Erlenbachs stream to Hofstätten and the "Annweiler Forsthaus", then via Wilgartswiesen and Hauenstein to the Palatine Forest Club hut of "Dicke Eiche". Finally it goes via Erlenbach bei Dahn and Reisdorf on the French border to St. Germanshof.
White and green bars: the path runs from the Obere Eselsmühle mill via Enkenbach-Alsenborn, Diemerstein and Frankenstein to Weidenthal. It continues via the Goldbrunnen, Esthal and Erfenstein to the Palatine Forest Club hut of "Totenkopf". It then makes its way through the Hüttenhohl to the summit of the Kalmit which, at 673 metres, is the highest mountain in the Palatine Forest (with a manageed Palatine Forest Club hut), before descending from the Haardt mountains to Maikammer.
The Palatine Watershed, the drainage divide between the Rhine (Upper Rhine) and Moselle (Middle Rhine) comes from the Sickingen Heights in the west and reaches the northern Palatine Forest immediately west and south of the city of Kaiserslautern where it turns southeast. From Johanniskreuz it runs initially southwards –passing the Eschkopf and Mosisberg to the west– and then bends southwest in the area of the Hortenkopf; in this direction it continues via Gräfenstein Castle, Lemberg and forester's lodge, Forsthaus Hohe List, before finally leaving German soil at the Erlenkopf southeast of Eppenbrunn (see map). It follows various ridges that are interconnected and separate the river system of the Schwarzbach from all the other drainage systems mentioned here.[32]
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest fall into two categories. The first are longer walking routes, most of which are maintained by the Palatine Forest Club (), or "PWV", and which are linked to the national and international network of long distance paths. The second category are those local circular walks and themed walking routes, some of which are of wider regional importance, and which are maintained by municipal authorities. The Palatine Forest, as part of the Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve, is an important conservation area. As a result, the Palatine Forest, the bunter sandstone landscape of the Palatine Forest Nature Park, the castles in the Dahner Felsenland and the cross-border paths into Alsace and the Vosges make the region particularly popular with ramblers and walkers.
The eastern end of the forest (Haardt) is adjacent to the Palatinate wine growing region. Here the German Wine Route stretches through the undulating area that lies between the Palatinate Forest and the Upper Rhine valley.
Johann Peter Kling was born on 8 March 1749 to the schoolteacher Konrad Kling in Hergenfeld, and on 1 April he was baptized in neighbouring Schöneberg in the Catholic faith, with Johann Schlawek and the "Schultheiß" Johann Peter Knor both standing godfather. His parents may have soon thereafter moved to southern Electoral Palatinate where they saw to their son’s higher learning in Speyer, Mannheim and Wetzlar. Since he became a mathematics professor at the Electoral "Pagerie" in 1774 and joined the Electoral Palatinate economic administration in 1780 as a "Hofkammerrat" (roughly “Electoral Exchequer Councillor”), it can be safely assumed that he studied mathematics and cameralism. As forest commissary, he took over the leadership of the newly founded court forest chamber in 1780, and at about that same time, he became a member of the Mannheim Academy of Sciences. He was entrusted by Prince-Elector Karl Theodor with the direction of all Electoral-Palatine forestry matters, and thus between 1783 and 1795 rose to be Electoral Palatinate’s top forestry professional, who as such not only introduced modern forestry into all state forests through drainage, local mapping, forestation and progressive forest management ordinances, but also rendered outstanding services to the draining of the Landstuhler Bruch in the Western Palatinate. Even in the midst of all this work, Kling came back to the Soonwald for a time in 1786. In August 1795, Prince-Elector Karl Theodor, who had since also become Prince-Elector of Bavaria, called Kling to Munich to become the director of the forest chamber there. About 1800, he settled in Probfeld in the Old Bavarian Donaumoos, where on 11 December 1808, at the age of 59, he died of nervous fever (as it was then known). On 2 December 1816, his remains were exhumed and moved to a new grave at the then newly laid-out graveyard in Karlskron, where his wife, who died in 1823, was later also buried. The grave, however, has not been preserved.
One-third of the region is covered by the Palatinate Forest ("Pfälzerwald"), including the Palatinate Forest Nature Park popular with hikers. With about it is Germany's largest contiguous forested area, and is part of the Franco-German Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve.
Since the beginning of the last century, the Palatine Forest has developed into a very popular walking region, thanks to its natural landscape attractions, its cultural heritage and good infrastructure, primarily created by the Palatine Forest Club. It offers over 100 managed walking huts and similar facilities[43][44] run by volunteers of the Palatine Forest Club[45] and the Friends of Nature. The walking support centres are often only accessible on foot and mainly open at weekends.
The Erlenbach rises in the South Palatine Wasgau region, the southern part of the Palatine Forest, in the municipality of Birkenhördt. It flows eastwards and leaves the Palatine Forest near Bad Bergzabern, where it breaks through the Forest's its eastern perimeter, the Haardt. Next it flows through Kapellen-Drusweiler, Oberhausen, Barbelroth and Winden, before forming the boundary between Kandel and Erlenbach, then Hatzenbühl. After it passes Rheinzabern and Neupotz, it unites in Leimersheim with the Otterbach, coming from the right, to empty into the Michelsbach.
The Cham-Furth Depression (, ) is a lowland in the Upper Palatine-Bavarian Forest that separates the Upper Palatinate Forest from the Bavarian Forest. At the same time it connects the Upper Palatinate with Bohemia.
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.
Several such pilgrimage routes within the Palatinate have become known. Two, the North Route ("Nordroute") and the South Route ("Südroute"), begin at the River Rhine at the imperial cathedral of Speyer and end in the small town of Hornbach (Südwestpfalz county), where the grave of Saint Pirmin is found in the former abbey. South of Hornbach the now united pilgrimage route crosses the border into France. Both Palatine routes are waymarked by the Palatine Forest Club and one link to the French pilgrimage routes follows. In the Palatine Forest old footpaths have been identified as parts of the Way of St. James.
Palatinate Forest Lower Palatinate Forest (Northern Palatinate Forest) Otterberg Forest (up to around 380 m) (Sembach Plateax) Stumpfwald (only over 400 m near the southern boundary) Queitersberg (Quaidersberg, Quaitersberg; 394 m); eastern outskirts of Kaiserslautern Central Palatinate Forest (only significantly separate landscape subdivisions shown) Diemerstein Forest (up to around 450 m) Leininger Sporn (up to 516 m) High Palatinate Forest (main plateau of the Frankenweide; up to 610 m) Haardt (up to 673 m) Wasgau Western Wasgau (up to 513 m) Bitche Forest Lowland Dahn-Annweiler Felsenland Stürzelbronn-Schönau Felsenland (up to 581 m) Dahner Felsenland (up to 577 m) Dahner Felsenland in the narrower sense Annweiler Felsenland[6] Annweiler-Albersweiler Outskirts ("Trifelsland")[7] Eastern Wasgau Upper Mundat Forest[8] (up to 562 m) Hochwald (up to 529 m) Lembach Graben Southern Wasgau (up to 526 m; drains into the Moder)
The main transport axes are the B 270 federal highway from Pirmasens to Kaiserslautern, which runs through the Moosalb valley from south to north, and the parallel railway line. In the extreme southwest the Holzland reaches Pirmasens Nord station, where the railway line crosses the Queich Valley Railway from Landau to Saarbrücken.The Holzland communities are trying to regain a share of tourism in the Palatine Forest. The Friends of Nature and the Palatine Forest Club maintain several mountain huts. There are campsites by the Clausensee lake, at Hundsweiher and in the Schwarzbach valley.
The Drachenfels ("Dragon Rock") is a hill in the northern part of the Palatine Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate) on the forest estate of the county town of Bad Dürkheim. At , it is the highest point of the Palatine Forest north of the Hochspeyerbach - Speyerbach line. The Drachenfels area has been designated as a nature reserve.
This list of mountains and hills in the Palatine Forest contains a selection of the highest or more notable peaks located in the natural region of the Palatine Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate (maximum ).
In the southern Palatine Forest, the German part of the Wasgau, the Palatine Watershed begins on the French border in the area of the Erlenkopf hill (473 m above NHN), where it is a continuation of the watershed in the northern Vosges. Always generally running from southwest to northeast it initially heads eastwards past Eppenbrunn and Pirmasens over the Großer Schiffelskopf () and reaches the region of Gräfenstein Land. From there it runs up the Hortenkopf () in the central Frankenweide. Several kilometres it passes through the hamlet of Johanniskreuz (), one of the highest settlements in the Palatine Forest. The watershed then reaches the area west of Waldleiningen in the Lower Frankenweide.
The silver fir also plays a special role in this context. Although, it only covers about 1 percent in the Palatinate Forest as a whole, it is much more common in the south where it comprises some 7 percent of the woodland. It occurs in many stands alongside beech, pine and other species in mixed woodland and often dominates the appearance of the forest. Because it forms the northernmost element of the great beech-fir forests typical of the Vosges Mountains, the moisture-loving silver fir is counted as one of the indigenous tree species of the Palatinate Forest. Waterside ash woodland and the rarer alder woodland, which are found mainly in valleys and wetlands, are also typical vegetation for the Atlantic-influenced climate of the Palatinate Forest (see Climate) as well as being representative of the original forest.
The Palatine Forest Mountain Bike Park () in the Palatinate Forest is a mountain bike trail network in Germany, in the centre of the biosphere reserve of the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges. The network was opened in April 2005.
The Palatinate Forest has a large number of castles and stately houses.[39] Worthy of mention is the imperial castle of Trifels near Annweiler, where, at the end of the 12th century, the English king, Richard the Lionheart, was held prisoner; in the wake of which the Blondel legend arose. Today it is where replicas of the Imperial Regalia (Reichskleinodien) of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation can be viewed, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Palatinate.
The name Pfälzerwald was first used in 1843 - when the Palatinate was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria - by foresters in the centrally-located municipality of Johanniskreuz, who used it to refer to the woods of the bunter sandstone region of the Palatinate. Its use was extended when, in 1902, the Palatinate Forest Club (Pfälzerwald-Verein or PWV) was founded,[9] Fritz Claus, one of the pioneers of the PWV, in particular, strove to promote the name.[10] A more precise, scientifically-based definition of the Palatinate Forest as an independent natural region was introduced in 1911 by Daniel Häberle, a Palatine geographer and local historian.[11]
In addition to beech, the oak is another characteristic tree of the Palatinate Forest, albeit botanically speaking they are mainly sessile oak rather than English oak. It is the main tree species of larger, sometimes centuries-old, stands in the regions around Johanniskreuz, Eschkopf and Weißenberg and may also be found further south between Fischbach and Eppenbrunn, where, as well as the plateaus of the central Palatinate Forest, it prefers sunnier slopes (west to south-east facing slopes). But in the rest of Palatinate Forest, it is on the increase and usually forms, together with beech, often very natural, primeval, mixed forest (natural forest), which enjoys special protection as a core zone of the Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve (see biosphere reserve).[36] In addition, from a forestry point of view the oaks of the Palatinate Forest are a particularly high priority because the wood veneer produced from them is recognized worldwide as being of unique quality.
The Palatinate Forest Nature Park () lies in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and borders on France. The nature park covers an area of and some 76% of its area is under the woods of the Palatinate Forest, the largest contiguous forest region in Germany. Together with a part of northern Alsace it forms the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve and has an impressive Bunter sandstone landscape.
The Upper Palatine-Bavarian Forest (), (no. D63 or 40) is a natural region in Germany in the northeast of Bavaria. It mainly comprises the low mountain ranges of the Bavarian Forest and Upper Palatine Forest which are up to 1456 m high and border on the Bohemian Massif immediately inside the Czech Republic's southwestern border with Germany.Neighbouring main unit groups are: