Siebengebirge
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The Siebengebirge (lit. "seven mountain" in German) is a German hill range to the East of the Rhine, southeast of Bonn, consisting of more than 40 mountains and hills. It is located in the municipalities of Bad Honnef and Königswinter. It is of volcanic origin and developed about 400 million years ago. Much of Siebengebirge territory belongs to the Naturpark Siebengebirge, which is under environmental protection.
The highest peak is the Oelberg at 460 metres. It is a popular tourist destination for hiking, because of its beautiful environment. Major parts of the range have been included in the nature park Siebengebirge and are subject to environmental protection regulations.
[edit] The Siebengebirge mountains
The seven most significant hills:
- Großer Ölberg (Large Ölberg, 460 m)
- Löwenburg (455 m)
- Lohrberg (435 m)
- Nonnenstromberg (335m)
- Petersberg (331 m, Former name: Stromberg
- Wolkenburg (324 m)
- Drachenfels (321 m)
Other mountains and hills:
- Himmerich (366 m)
- Trenkeberg (430 m)
- Weilberg (297 m)
- Stenzelberg (well suited for Climbing, 287 m)
- Broderkonsberg (378 m)
- Mittelberg (353 m)
- Leyberg (359 m)
- Jungfernhardt (320 m)
- Geisberg (324 m)
- Schallenberg (310 m)
- Großer Breiberg (313 m)
- Kleiner Breiberg (288 m)
- Wasserfall (338 m)
- Kleiner Ölberg (Small Ölberg, 332 m)
- Limperichsberg
- Scharfenberg
- Zickelburg (182 m)
[edit] Origin of the name
The origin of the name Siebengebirge is disputed. There are four theories:
- The word sieben is derived from the word siefen, which denotes a wet, creek-nerved valley.
- The oldest name (Moller, 1590) wasn't Siebengebirge, but Sieben Berge (septem montes, seven hills). Depending on the viewpoint near the rhine, one notices almost exactly seven mountains, which are not always the same and not even the highest. Also, the number seven used to denote an arbitrary amount of items, was connected to magic and thus had a highly symbolic meaning. This makes it an obvious name for an area that was said to be sinister and impenetrable before the 19th century.
- The name Siebengebirge emerged from the word Siedengebirge which indicated the presence of soap cookers ("Siefensieder"), which were banned to the valleys because cooking soap smelled so badly.
- The most common, yet wrong interpretation is that the word specifies the seven major mountains.
[edit] External links
- Information and pictures about the Siebengebirge
- Rhine Dragon The Seven Mountains: a virtual tour, history, old and new legends, nature
- Honnefer Bilderbogen with pictures of the Siebengebirge
