Kickelhahn
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| Kickelhahn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 861.1 m above sea level (NHN) (2,825 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 145 m (476 ft) |
| Isolation | 5.8 km (3.6 mi) |
| Coordinates | 50°39′56″N 10°52′53″E / 50.665556°N 10.881389°E |
| Geography | |
| Parent range | Thuringian Forest |
Kickelhahn is a mountain in the northern edge of the Central Thuringian Forest in the municipal area of Ilmenau, Germany. Its summit has an altitude of 861.1 metres (2,825 ft) a.s.l.
Kickelhahn is the highest point in the municipal area of Ilmenau and is situated about 3.3 km (2.1 mi) southwest of the town centre, 2 km (1.2 mi) from Manebach and 4 km (2.5 mi) from Stützerbach. Its summit rises about 400 m above the valley of Ilm river. Historically, it was also the highest point of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Its massif extends over about 4 km (2.5 mi) in the north-south direction and 3 km (1.9 mi) in the east-west direction. It is situated between the valleys of the rivers Ilm in the west and the north, Gabelbach in the east and Langebach in the south, so that the mountain is part of the Ilm catchment area. Some minor streams have their sources on Kickelhahn. An about 750 m high saddle in the southeast between the sources of Gabelbach and Langebach forms a pass between Kickelhahn and neighbouring Hohe Tanne (850 m a.s.l.). Secondary summits in the Kickelhahn massif include Hohe Schlaufe (735 m), Gabelbachskopf (704 m), and Dachskopf (686 m). Großer Hermannstein and Kleiner Hermannstein are notable rock formations northwest of the summit.[2]
The mountain is completely wooded, with trees on the summit being shaped by the wind. The forest is dominated by spruce monocultures and is property of Ilmenau town. Storms like Kyrill have repeatedly caused major damage to the forest.
Geologically, Kickelhahn consists mostly of porphyric igneous rocks.[3] Coal has been mined on its western flank in Manebach episodically from 1732 until 1945.[4]
History and cultural significance
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Until the 18th century the mountain, together with the parts of Manebach on the right bank of Ilm river, was called Cammerberg. Its current name which translates roughly into "crowing rooster" is probably derived from a vernacular name for the wood grouse which was native to the region, making the area a popular hunting ground of the Weimar court.[5] According to another theory the name is a pun on the former lords of the area, the counts of Henneberg, whose coat of arms shows a chicken.
The mountain became well known through Johann Wolfgang Goethe who visited the area first in 1776 when he – as minister of the mines – inspected the coal mines of Manebach on the western slope. On 7 May 1776 he visited Großer Hermannstein for the first time and returned several times until his last visit there on 29 August 1813. This location may have inspired him to a passage in Faust, Part One, lines 3228 to 3234.[6] In 1776 he also sketched a view from Kickelhahn across the "brumous valleys" of the Thuringian Forest for Charlotte von Stein.
Goethe visited Ilmenau 28 times, and between 1780 and 1831 he walked several times to Kickelhahn, often accompanying Duke Karl August. In a hunters' cabin, later named Goethehäuschen ("Goethe's cabin"), he wrote his poem Wanderer's Nightsong on the wall of the building in the night from 6 to 7 September 1783. He last visited the mountain and the cabin in 1831 together with geologist Johann Christian Mahr and wrote in a letter to the composer Carl Friedrich Zelter about it.
