Schwarzer Mann


The Schwarzer Mann is a mountain in the western part of the Eifel which is known as Schnee Eifel. With a height of 697.8 meters it is the highest peak in the Schnee Eifel and third highest in the Eifel.

Geography

Location

The Schwarzer Mann rises in the west of the Eifel in the Schnee Eifel, near the border with Belgium and within the High Fens-Eifel Nature Park. Its mountain summit lies around 3 kilometres west of Halenfeld, 3.8 km west-northwest of Wascheid and 3.3 km north of Sellerich; the boundary between Buchet and Sellerich runs over the top. In the vicinity is the town of Prüm to the southeast as well as the villages of Bleialf to the west-southwest and Ormont to the northeast. On the northern slopes of the mountain rises the Alfbach stream, on the eastern mountainside, the Litzenmehlenbach and on its southern slopes, the Mönbach.
Near the summit is the Tranchotstein. This small boundary stone was named after French geographer, Jean Joseph Tranchot, who undertook a survey of the Rhinelands by order of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Geology

The of Schwarzer Mann is made of quartzite which is also 15-kilometers-long.

Usage

The area surrounding of Schwarzer Mann is a well-developed hiking area and the largest skiing area in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Flora and fauna

The heavily wooded mountain ridge is covered mainly with spruce and is host to a number of rare wild species including the European wildcat.

Name

The name of the mountain is derived from the nearby abandoned lead ore mine in Bleialf from which the miners would return with blackened faces.