The Hochblauen is a 1165 metre high mountain in the southern Black Forest

Black Forest

The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....

. The peak lies within the municipalities of Schliengen

Schliengen

Schliengen is a town in southwestern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the Kreis of Lörrach. Schliengen's claim to international fame is the Battle of Schliengen, fought between forces of the French Revolutionary army under Jean-Victor Moreau and the Austrian army under Karl von...

 and Malsburg-Marzell

Malsburg-Marzell

Malsburg-Marzell is a town in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The town's coat of arms bears a wooded hill on which rests a castle ruin. This is a reference to the nearby Sausenburg....

 in Landkreis Lörrach and the community of Badenweiler

Badenweiler

Badenweiler, a health resort and spa of the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, historically in the Markgräflerland. It is 28 kilometers by road and rail from Basel, 10 kilometers from the French border, and 20 kilometers away from Mulhouse...

 in LandkreisBreisgau-Hochschwarzwald

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald is a district in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Emmendingen, Schwarzwald-Baar, Waldshut, Lörrach and the French départements of the Haut-Rhin and the Bas-Rhin. The district-free city of Freiburg is surrounded by the district...

. It is an ideal viewpoint with views of the Black Forest, Vosges

Vosges mountains

For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...

, Jura Mountains

Jura mountains

The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...

, and the Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

.

Variation A of the "Westweg

Westweg

The Westweg, , is a long-distance hiking trail running north-south through the Black Forest from Pforzheim to Basel. The trail is around 285 kilometres long, and was founded in 1900. It is currently maintained under the auspices of the Schwarzwaldverein...

", a long distance trail maintained by the Schwarzwaldverein

Schwarzwaldverein

The Schwarzwaldverein, or Black Forest Association, was founded in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany in 1864, making it the oldest German hiking and mountaineering club. The Schwarzwaldverein has almost 90,000 members in 241 local chapters...

, leads over the Blauen. At the top there is an inn with a hotel.

On the Blauen stands a 21 Metre high metal lattice observation tower

Observation tower

An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision. They are usually at least tall and made from stone, iron, and wood. Many modern towers are also used as TV towers, restaurants, or churches...

, built in 1895 by the Schwarzwaldverein.

Southeast of the Hochblauen is the Stockberg castle ruins, the highest (in elevation) castle in Baden-Württemberg.

Transmission Tower

Also at the peak stands a 93 metre tall Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....

 VHF and microwave radio relay tower. The tower is a reinforced concrete

Reinforced concrete

Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...

 Typenturm

Typenturm

A Typenturm is a standardised telecommunications tower built of reinforced concrete the former German federal post office . Different types of tower were developed and built at different locations, like the series FMT 1 to FMT 16...

, built in 1985. The following radio stations are broadcast from this tower: SWR1 Baden-Württemberg (89.2 FM/8.4 kW), SWR2 (92.6 FM/8.4 kW), SWR3 (97.0 FM/8,4 kW), Deutschlandfunk

Deutschlandfunk

Deutschlandfunk is a German public broadcasting radio station, broadcasting national news and current affairs.-History:Broadcasting in the Federal Republic of Germany is reserved under the Basic Law to the states. This means that all public broadcasting is regionalised...

 (105.1 FM/10 kW), Radio Regenbogen (101.1 FM/8,4 kW) und baden.fm (106.0 FM/8,4 kW). The tower is also used by the amateur radio repeater

Repeater

A repeater is an electronic device that receives asignal and retransmits it at a higher level and/or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances.-Description:...

 DB0YE.

The tower serves mainly the southern Upper Rhine

Upper Rhine

The Upper Rhine is the section of the Rhine in the Upper Rhine Plain between Basel, Switzerland and Bingen, Germany. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometers 170 to 529 ....

 valley as well as a large portion of the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald is a district in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Emmendingen, Schwarzwald-Baar, Waldshut, Lörrach and the French départements of the Haut-Rhin and the Bas-Rhin. The district-free city of Freiburg is surrounded by the district...

 and Lörrach

Lörrach (district)

Lörrach is a Kreis in the south-west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald and Waldshut...

 rural districts. The stations transmitted from the Blauen are also easily received in northwestern Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. Until the end of the 1980s the former SWF broadcast could be heard well beyond the Vosges

Vosges

Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...

 mountains to the west. Since then the power of the transmissions toward France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

have been limited by international agreements.

External links

• http://www.schwarzwaldverein.de/
• http://www.paraglidingearth.com/en-html/index.php?site=7308
• http://www.berghotel-hochblauen.de/90ee9696fd01cc435/index.html - live webcam