The Gladenbach Uplands (German: Gladenbacher Bergland), named after their central town of Gladenbach, is a range of hills up to 609 m high in the Rhine Massif in Germany, on the junction of the Rothaar Mountains (north and northwest), Westerwald (southwest), (Eastern) Hintertaunus (in the south) and West Hesse Highlands in the east. It lies in Central Hesse within the districts of Marburg-Biedenkopf, Lahn-Dill and Gießen within the so-called Lahn-Dill-(Dietzhölze-) loop. Small parts of the Upper Lahn Valley in the northwest belong, together with the town of Bad Laasphe, also to the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Gladenbach Uplands are geographical unit 320 which is part of the natural region 32, the Westerwald, in the Germany's system of natural regions.
Rivers and streams
The natural regions mentioned above are generally divided between the catchment areas of the der Lahn and Dill tributaries and the landscapes separated by these rivers.
The most important watercourses, in addition to the boundary rivers of the Lahn, Dill and Dietzhölze – are the Aar, the Salzböde, the Perf sowie, and Allna.
The following rivers and streams are sorted in clockwise order i.e. down the Lahn and up the Dill, beginning with the upper reaches of the Lahn in the north and cover a catchment area of over 20 km²:
(the natural regions are linked in the column of their most important river!)
→ to full list
The outer boundary of the Gladenbach Uplands is formed by the Lahn and Dill accompanied in the north (upper reaches of the Lahn) by the B 62, in the east by the B 3 Marburg-Gießen (mostly autobahn-like, clearly external in the Marburg area), in the east, south of the B 49 Gießen-Wetzlar (mostly autobahn-like) and in the southwest (lower reaches of the Dill) by the A 45. The Bundesstraße 253 Dillenburg-Biedenkopf (see above) roughly closes the remaining gap.
The most important reservoir in the Gladenbach Uplands is the Aartalsee (57 ha, 270 m above NN) in the Niederweidbach Basin, followed by the Perf Reservoir (18 ha, 301 m) in the Breidenbach Bottom (Breidenbach Bottom).
The hills of the Gladenbach Uplands, arranged by ridge or natural region, include the following:
(Location of the natural regions with the Gladenbach Uplands and location of the hills within the natural region)
Bottenhorn Plateaux - northwest of the centre
Angelburg (609 m) - west of the centre; occasionally counted as part of the Schelde Forest
Schmittgrund (590 m) - southern spur of the Angelburg, occasionally counted as part of the Schelde Forest
Mattenberg (578 m) - north west
Kurzbeul (566 m) - extreme west
Würgeloh (563,9 m) north Hartenrod / Bad Endbach
Madche (560 m) - northwest
Daubhaus (551,8 m) - extreme east, north of Rachelshausen
Allberg (528 m) - northeast of the Daubhaus
Hünstein (504 m) - north of the Allberg; not really an independent summit, but has an observation tower; gives its name to Holzhausen am Hünstein
Bolzeberg (520 m) - extreme northeast
Steffenberg (489 m) - extreme (west) north, gives its name to the municipality of Steffenberg
Schelde Forest (in the narrow sense) - west
Eschenburg (590 m NN) - north, above the Dietzhölze Valley (which lies to the northwest)
Hohe Koppe (540.2 m) - northeast
Stockseite (516 m) - east
Breidenbach Bottom - extreme north(west)
Hemmerichskopf (562 m) - western boundary with the Rothaar Mountains
Schwarzenberg (561 m) - northeast; centre eines großen zusammenhängendes Waldgebiet southwest of Biedenkopf and east of Breidenbach
Hachenberg (552 m) - northern subpeak
Nimerich (533 m) - southeastern subpeak; highest point in the municipality of Dautphetal
Schadenberg (545 m) - southwest of the centre
Galgenberg (541 m) - extreme southwest
Entenberg (535 m) - northwestern boundary zum Rothaar Mountains
Zollbuche - centre
Hirschhohl (503 m) - northweste boundary with the plateaux
Schönscheid (498 m) - west, northwest Günterod
Bad Endbacher Platte (up to 488 m) - centre
Hemmerich (475.7 m) - east; forms with Koppe and Dreisberg the eastern trio of hills of the Gladenbach Uplands
Koppe (454 m) - with observation tower; near Gladenbach-Erdhausen
Dreisberg (448 m)
Damshäuser Kuppen - northeast
Rimberg (498 m) - east north; with observation tower
Kappe (494 m) - west north
Schweinskopf (472 m) - north west, near Dautphetal-Herzhausen
Eichelhardt (465 m) - northwest
Dusenberg (457 m) - extreme west, near Dautphetal-Herzhausen
Hornberg (451 m) - extreme northwest
Hungert (412 m) - extreme northeast; pyramidal Kuppe on the boundary with the Marburg Ridge
Auersberg (385 m) - east, between Elnhausen, Nesselbrunn and Dilschhausen
Donnerberg (370 m) - southeast, northeast of Gladenbach
Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest - south and southeast
Dünsberg (498 m) - east centre; volcanic singularity with Celtic excavation sites, TV transmission tower and observation tower
Altenberg (442 m) - northwest centre, observation tower
Ramsberg (ca. 435 m) - north; Hohensolms Castle
Forst Krofdorf (up to 357 m) - east; large contiguous forest region that links the Dünsberg to the east with the Lahn Valley
Königsstuhl (348 m) - south; one of the southernmost hills of the Gladenbach Uplands
Hörre - southwest
Alteburg (445 m) - in the centre
Roßberg (392 m) - northeast, south of Bischoffen
Koppe (354 m) - south, west of Kölschhausen
Niederweidbach Basin - south of the centre
Bergwald (im east up to 392 m) - east of the centre
Salzböde Valley - northeast, east and southeast of the centre
Kirchberg (362 m) - north, east of Gladenbach
Lammerich (357 m) - north, southwest of Gladenbach
Meynen, Emil (ed.): Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands. Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen, 1953-1962 (Part 1, contains issues 1-5), ISBN B0000BJ19E
Meynen, Emil (ed.): Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands. Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen, 1959-1962 (Part 2, contains issues 6-9), ISBN B0000BJ19F
