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THURINGIAN FOREST (Thiiringerwald)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 902 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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THURINGIAN See also:

FOREST (Thiiringerwald) , a range of hills in See also:Germany, extending in an irregular See also:line from the See also:neighbour-See also:hood of See also:Eisenach in the N.W. to the Lobensteiner See also:Kulm on the Bavarian frontier on the S.E. On the S.E. it is continued directly by the See also:Frankenwald Mountains to the See also:Fichtelgebirge, while on the N.E. it approaches the Harz Mountains, and thus takes its See also:place in the See also:great Sudetic See also:chain of central Germany. The length of the Thuringian chain is70 m., and its breadth varies from 6 to 22 m. It nowhere rises into peaks, and only a few of its rounded summits reach 3000 ft.; the successive hills See also:form a continuous See also:comb; the See also:north-See also:west slopes are precipitous and seamed with winding See also:gorges. This range encloses many charming valleys and glens; the most prominent feature of its scenery is formed by the forests, chiefly of pines and firs. The north-west See also:part of the See also:system is the loftier and the more densely wooded as well as the more beautiful; the highest summits here are the Grosser Beerberg (3225 ft.), Schneekopf (3203) and the Finsterberg (3104), all in the duchy of See also:Gotha. The See also:south-See also:east part of the Thuringian Forest is the more populous and See also:industrial; the See also:chief summits are the Kieferle (2848 ft.), the Blessberg (2834 ft.), the Wurzelberg (2841 ft.) and the Wetzstein (2575 ft.). The See also:crest of the Thuringian Forest, from the Werra to the See also:Saale, is traversed by the Rennsteig or Rainsteig, a broad path of unknown antiquity, perhaps referred to in a See also:letter of See also:Pope See also:Gregory III. dated 738. The name means probably " frontier-path "; and the path marks in fact the boundary between Thuringia and See also:Franconia. It may be also regarded as part of the boundary line between north and south Germany, for See also:dialect, customs, See also:local names and See also:costume are different on the two sides. The rocks are largely volcanic, the stratification being complex. The See also:mineral resources have been nearly exhausted, but the See also:district is an important centre of small See also:industries (glassware, earthenware, See also:meerschaum-See also:ware, See also:iron castings and toys being among its See also:principal products) and a favourite resort for tourists.

See Regel, Thuringen, ein landeskundlicher Grundriss (See also:

Jena, 1897) ; Trinius, Thiiringer Wanderbuch (8 vols., See also:Minden, 1896–1902) ; Prescholdt, " Der Thuringer Wald and See also:seine nachste Umgebung," in Forschungen zur deutschen See also:Landes- and Volkskunde, vol. v. (See also:Stuttgart, 1891) ; See also:Walther, Geologische Heimatskunde von Thuringen (Jena, 1906) ; and See also:Meyer's Reisebuch, Thuringen " (18th ed., See also:Leipzig, 1906).

End of Article: THURINGIAN FOREST (Thiiringerwald)

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