Hohburg Hills

As Hohburger mountains, also known as Hohburger Switzerland, up to a 240 meter high mountain range in northern Saxony is called. It is located northeast of Wurzen near the eponymous town Hohburg in the community Lossatal.

Natural space

The Hohburger mountains are part of the natural space of the "North Saxon plates and hill country ", which is characterized in the vicinity of the mountains through large, mostly level to gently undulating glacial deposits. As part of the Leipzig lowlands here average altitude of 140 to 160 meters can be achieved. From this flat around the Hohburger mountains protrude by up to 120 meters above ground level. The highest elevation is the Löbenberg with (240 m above sea level. NN ). Other heights are the Gaudlitzberg (219 m above sea level. NN ), the Burzelberg (217 m above sea level. NN ) and the Gallows Hill (213 m above sea level. NN ). South of Hohburg is the "little mountain" with a height of 206 m above sea level. NN. In lying between the mountains Hohburger valley, the loss Abach flows through Müglenz, Hohburg, small and Großzschepa to dump at Thallwitz.

Geologic include Hohburger mountains for so-called Saxon Vulkanitkomplex. The upcoming here very solid pyroxene - quartz porphyry was formed by volcanic activity some 280 million years ago during the time of the Permian. The quartz porphyry is mined as stone since the 19th century. Partial took place before 60 million years ago, the weathering of the quartz porphyry to kaolin, which was also won in the 20th century.

During the Quaternary Ice Age, the rocks of the mountains Hohburger were surrounded by glaciers and reshaped through the ice into elongated hills. Bear testimony of glacier scrapes. The 1844 on Kleinenberg discovered by the Saxon geologist Carl Friedrich Naumann drag marks as a result of glaciation was of great importance, since it is a key indication for the theory of continental glaciation was laid as the foundation of the later Glaciology. The glaciers and wind sections in the Hohburger mountains are among the 77 most important of the Academy of Geosciences at Hannover eV 2006 prädikatisierten national geotopes in Germany.

A 301 hectare area of Hohburger mountains is protected as a conservation area "Mountains to Hohburg and spine Reichenbach ".

History

The Hohburger mountains were shaped by decades of intensive stone building industry; There were steep cliffs and some lakes in the remaining holes. The up to forty meters high rock walls are used for climbing since 1925. Climbers around, like Felix Simon, took advantage of the landscape as a training ground for the Alps. Many climbs out of that time were the continuing quarry operation to the victim. As of 1965, the " Black Wall " for alpine training (technical climbing) was used. Since the mid- 1990s originated in a further development of many new wave, sometimes very hard routes. Currently, there are over 200 climbing routes in different quarries.