| Rothaar Mountains | |
|---|---|
 Map of the Rothaar Mountains
| |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Langenberg |
| Elevation | 843 m above NN |
| Dimensions | |
| Area | 2,250 km2 (870 sq mi) |
| Geography | |
| Country | Germany |
| States | North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse |
| Range coordinates | 51°05′N 8°15′E / 51.083°N 8.250°E |
| Parent range | Rhenish Slate Mountains |
| Geology | |
| Orogeny | low mountains |
The Rothaar Mountains[1][2][3][4][5] (German: Rothaargebirge, pronounced [ˈʁoːthaːɐ̯ɡəˌbɪʁɡə] , also Rotlagergebirge), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany.
It is believed that its name must once have been Rod-Hard-Gebirge, or "the cleared forest mountain range", as the range has nothing whatsoever to do with the colour red (rot in German), nor with hair (Haar).
- ^ Pollock, J.K. and Thomas, H.L. (1952). Germany in Power and Eclipse: the background of German development, Van Nostrand, p. 424.
- ^ Keller, R.E. (1979). German Dialects: Phonology and Morphology, p. 301.
- ^ Deutsche Lufthansa (1953-). The tourist's atlas of Germany, p. 20.
- ^ Lyde, L.W. (1926). The continent of Europe, Macmillan, pp. 306 and 329.
- ^ Clapham, Sir John Harold et al. (1941). The Cambridge Economic History of Europe from the Decline of the Roman Empire: The agrarian life of the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, p. 29.