Lautertal (Odenwald)

The Felsberg is a hill in the Odenwald range in Hesse, Germany.

Modautal is a municipality in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. Approximately 5,050 inhabitants live in 11 districts on an area of 31 km2 with about 38.7% wood. The first historical chronicles date back to the 13th century.

Balkhausen is a village of 693 inhabitants forming part of the municipality Seeheim-Jugenheim, Darmstadt-Dieburg district in Hesse, Germany.

Seeheim-Jugenheim is a municipality in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of approximately 17,000. Seeheim-Jugenheim consists of seven villages: Balkhausen (population 693) Jugenheim (population 4,448) Malchen (population 1,004) Ober-Beerbach (population 1,269) Seeheim (population 9,060) Steigerts (population 81) Stettbach (population 144)The municipality was formed on 1 January 1977 through the unification of the previously separate municipalities of Seeheim and Jugenheim. Until 1 January 1978 the municipality was known as Seeheim; after that it became known as Seeheim-Jugenheim. It is known for its mountain bike trails to the nearby mountain Melibokus. Seeheim-Jugenheim has been home to several notable residents throughout history, including Tsar Nicholas II of Russia as well as writers Georg Kaiser and Helene Christaller. Further it has been an ancient Jewish Community. Industrial and commercial activity in Seeheim-Jugenheim is close to nonexistent; thus, most of its residents work in the nearby cities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt or Heidelberg. The local football team is called Spielvereiningung Seeheim Jugenheim.

Schloss Heiligenberg is a castle to the east of Jugenheim, part of Seeheim-Jugenheim, about 12 kilometres to the south of Darmstadt, Germany. It is built on the Heiligenberg, with panoramic views of the Rhineland as far as the Palatinate. It is now the headquarters of the Amt für Lehrerbildung, though its 'Gartensaal' is occasionally used for concerts and art exhibitions.

The Krehberg (German pronunciation: [ˈkʁeːbɛɐ̯k]) is a 576-metre (1,890 ft) high hill in the Odenwald, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Lindenfels. On the Krehberg there is the Krehberg transmission tower for FM, TV and directional radio services, consisting of a lattice tower with a guyed mast on the top.

The Melibokus (also Melibocus, Malchen or Malschen) is at 517 metres (1696 feet), the highest hill in the Bergstraße region of southern Hesse, central Germany. It was also the name of a hill in Germania described by classical sources. But the two are probably not the same. Melibokus overlooks the Rhine valley on the western fringe of the Odenwald region and is a local landmark, clearly visible for many miles. On the summit there is a small cafe, a public lookout tower and a US Army radio mast erected on the site of a previous stone tower, destroyed during World War II. The hill is accessible from Zwingenberg/Bergstrasse by foot. The "Nibelungensteig" hill trail leads you from the railway station in Zwingenberg towards the east. Despite the modern use of the classical name, the mountain mentioned in classical sources was probably either the Harz mountains, or Thuringian Forest or both. Ptolemy's Geography (Book 2, Chapter 10) mentions the Melobokon oros, as being just to the south of the Cherusci, corresponding to the mountainous "Silva Bacenis" which Julius Caesar mentioned as separating the Cherusci and the Chatti in Hesse. The medieval place name of the modern Melibokus was Mons Malscus, and there is a settlement in the region, Malchen. One possible etymology derives the name from Old High German malsc, "conceited", which Julius Pokorny reports is from Indo-European mel- "grind" in the sense of "ground down" or "weak".

Mühltal is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg, which is located in Hesse, Germany. It is situated southeast of Darmstadt from which it is separated by the Stadtwald (City Forest). Historically, there have been many watermills on Modau river and its tributaries. This gave rise to the name Mühltal ("Mill Valley, Mill Dale"), a district through which the river flows.

Frankenstein Castle (German: Burg Frankenstein) is a hilltop castle in the Odenwald overlooking the city of Darmstadt in Germany. This castle may have been an inspiration for Mary Shelley when she wrote her 1818 Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

The Odenwaldschule was a German school located in Heppenheim in the Odenwald. Founded in 1910, it was Germany's oldest Landerziehungsheim, a private boarding school located in a rural setting. Edith and Paul Geheeb established it using their concept of progressive education, which integrated the work of the head and hand. The school went bankrupt and was closed in 2015, following the revelation of numerous cases of sexual abuse of students.

The Neunkircher Höhe (605 metres) is the highest elevation of the Hessian part of the Odenwald. The hill is located near the village Neunkirchen and is the origin of the rivers Modau, Gersprenz and Lauter. A viewing tower, 34 metres high, was built on the summit in 1906 and replaced an older predecessor, which had been built in 1888 and destroyed by a storm in 1904.

Auerbach Castle is one of several fortresses along the Bergstrasse in southern Hesse, Germany. The castle was originally built by King Charlemagne (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) and rebuilt by Count Diether IV of the Katzenelnbogen dynasty in the second quarter of the 13th century. Today it remains standing atop a hill known as Urberg (part of the Melibokus) above the town of Bensheim-Auerbach.