Altkönig

The Altkönig of South-East

The Altkönig (of " alta (...)", ie, large height ) is 798 meters above sea level. NN is the third highest mountain in the Taunus. The Altkönigschule in Kronberg, Kronberg and the Altkönigstift in the Altkönighalle in Steinbach, like many roads in the region named after him.

Geographical location

With a predominance of 2450 meters and a prominence of 136 m (above the saddle at the fox dance) he is one of the most important Taunus peaks. Along with the Great Feldberg ( 881.5 m above sea level. NN ) and the Kleiner Feldberg ( 826 m above sea level. NN ), it forms the core of the Hoch-Taunus ( Feldberg Taunus ridge ).

The Altkönig belongs to the city of Kronberg and is about 20 km northwest of the city center of Frankfurt am Main. The area around the Altköniggipfel is free of traffic. From all directions, however, trails lead to the summit, with the shortest distance to a public road is about 1.5 km as the crow.

Around the year 1900, the summit plateau of Altkönigs was still free of trees, since contemporary sources report that you could see the white ring on the ramparts Altkönig from Frankfurt even with the naked eye on a clear.

Celtic settlement

→ Main article: Ring Wall Altkönig

In the La Tène period, around 400 BC Celts inhabited the Altkönig. From the time two ring and annex walls come to the summit plateau. They are about 980 m and 1390 m long and highly visible today. On the timing and reasons for abandoning the settlement of Altkönigs there has been no reliable evidence.

Name

Documented changing names of the mountain are preserved. 1496 he is referred to as " ald kune ", 1511 "old kune ", 1586 as " altkünn " and " old kin ," 1780 " Altkün " and " Altküng ". Helmut Bode bears the name back to the Celtic " alkyne " (height ). Erasmus Alberus used in 1534 in his poetry the name Altköng and calls him the seat of the German king. In Oberursel is since 2004 in the former Camp King sculpture by Inga Dilcher - Hassenstein (* 1908 in Usingen ) " The Altkönig " that picks up the motif of a legendary ancient king künstlerlich.

Altköniggipfelplateau in winter

Altköniggipfelplateau in summer

Apex of Altkönigs

Inside Celtic ring wall

Inside Celtic ring wall