Schnee-Eifel

The Schnee Eifel is a maximum of 699.1 m above sea level. NHN high and heavily wooded hilly landscape of the West Eifel in the German -Belgian border.

Origin of the name

The name of the Schnee Eifel likely to have been derived at the time of Prussia in the 19th century by the ridge Schneifel who has, however, linguistically nothing to do with "snow" or " Eifel ", but regionally as much means as glade.

Geographical location

Geographically, the Schnee Eifel covers the area of the southern part of the High Fens -Eifel. In the north the Kyll forms the border to the northern Eifel, which begins with the Zitterwald at Hallschlag and Kronenburg; in the east the Kyll border river is to high Eifel. In the south the snow ranges to the south Eifel Eifel to Pronsfeld in Prüm country. Their greatest height they reached on the Schneifel ridge with 699.1 m ( ⊙ 50.2658888888896.3747777777778 ) near the Black man ( 697.8 m).

Frequently in publications the term Schneifel is also used for the entire Schnee Eifel. However, the area is not congruent. The actual Schneifel is the uninhabited central mountain range in the Schnee Eifel; whose territory extends beyond the narrow definition of Schneifel and includes a landscape area and the southern headwaters of the Kyll and their headwaters and southeast of the main ridge of the adjoining forest Prüm.

The largest city in the Schnee Eifel is Prüm on the eponymous river. Well-known ski are the black man and the Wolf's Glen. They are located about 15 km north-west and 5 kilometers north of Prüm.

Geology

The Eifel belongs largely to the system of the Rhenish Massif. The Schnee Eifel and in particular the Schneifel, its highest range, represents a trunk mountain, the rest of the unfolded during the Devonian Variscan high mountains. After a long rest period with strong erosion was only lifted in geologically recent ( Quaternary ) again. Scattered are still old Verebnungsflächen recognizable, but hardly time determine. From them protrude, especially in the northern part of the " Prüm country," single distinctive ridges of harder rock up on how the current from Emsquarzit back of Schneifel.

The long ridge of the Schnee Eifel towers above the less-structured old plateau at about 100 m and demonstrates the resilience of the local quartz rock against the forces of weathering. It is characterized by its longitudinal extent of 15 km with an average width of only 2 km. He retires with only a few meters in altitude of fire to Scheid against Ormont at Stadtkyll to where it ends with the Steinberg ( 657.8 m).

Because of their remote location, the Schnee Eifel is a very original landscape, in their area of ​​distribution of rare plants and animals are endemic, including the European wild cat and for some years the lynx.

In the village of Winterspelt on the novel by Alfred Andersch, which deals with the last months of World War II plays.