The Rauher Kulm is a small basalt mountain located in the Upper Palatinate

Upper Palatinate

The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...

 (Oberpfalz) region of the state of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is located 23 kilometers southeast of Bayreuth and 5 kilometers south of Kemnath

Kemnath

Kemnath is a town in the district of Tirschenreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated near the Fichtelgebirge, 24 km southeast of Bayreuth....

. The town of Neustadt am Kulm

Neustadt am Kulm

Neustadt am Kulm is a municipality in the district of Neustadt , in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 29 km northwest of Weiden in der Oberpfalz, and 23 km southeast of Bayreuth. Neustadt am Kulm is situated directly west of the Rauher Kulm....

 is situated at the base of the western side of the mountain.

The mountain is 682 meters (2,238 ft) tall and has a 25 meter (82 ft) tall observation tower at its peak. The observation tower offers views of the northern Franconian Switzerland

Franconian Switzerland

The Little Switzerland is an upland in Upper Franconia, northern Bavaria and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the Pegnitz River in the east and the south, the Regnitz River in the west and the Main River in the north, its relief reaches 600 metres in height.The Franconian Switzerland is...

, the southern wall of the Fichtelgebirge

Fichtelgebirge

The Fichtelgebirge is a mountain range in northeastern Bavaria, Germany. It extends from the valley of the Red Main River to the Czech border, a few foothills spilling over into the Czech Republic. It continues in a northeastern direction as the Ore Mountains, and in a southeastern direction as...

 mountain range, and the Upper Palatinate Forest

Upper Palatinate Forest

The Upper Palatinate Forest is a mountain range on the European continent that is divided between Germany and the Czech Republic. The German side of the range is in the Upper Palatinate region of Bavaria and borders the Bavarian Forest...

. Since 1949, the mountain has been protected as a federal monument in the Northern Upper Palatinate Forest Natural Park. There are several well marked hiking paths up the mountain and around the surrounding forests.

The mountain is one of the most imposing basalt mountains of Bavaria. According to the Bavarian State Geology Office, during the Tertiary

Tertiary

The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

, now also called Paleocene-Pliocene period, a number of active volcanoes produced liquid magma in Northern Bavaria, mostly due to the continental collision of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. As a result, not only 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....

 but a number of fissure vent

Fissure vent

A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure or simply fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is usually a few meters wide and may be many kilometers long. Fissure vents can cause large flood basalts and lava channels...

s and cracks began to form throughout central Europe where magma

Magma

Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...

 could rise. Most of the Rauher Kulm's magma cooled below the surface.

During the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 a castle was built on top of the Rauher Kulm. During the Second Margrave War

Second Margrave War

The Second Margrave War was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, it involved numerous raids, plunderings and the destruction of many towns and castles in the empire, especially in...

the castle was destroyed after a long siege.

External links

• Photos of the Rauher Kulm (German)
• Vulkanlandschaft Rauher Kulm auf Naturpark nördlicher Oberpfälzer Wald (German)
• Archäologische Ausgrabungen am Rauhen Kulm 2004 (Landschaftsmuseum Obermain)(German)
• Ausführliche geologische Beschreibung (German)