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Melibokus

Bergstraße (district)Hills of Hesse
Melibokus von Schloss Auerbach
Melibokus von Schloss Auerbach

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".

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Melibokus (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Melibokus
Flieger-Schneise, Bensheim

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Latitude Longitude
N 49.725208333333 ° E 8.6368166666667 °
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Flieger-Schneise
64625 Bensheim
Hesse, Germany
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Melibokus von Schloss Auerbach
Melibokus von Schloss Auerbach
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Hessische Bergstraße
Hessische Bergstraße

The Hessische Bergstraße (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛsɪʃə ˈbɛʁk.ʃtʁaːsə]; lit. 'Hessian Mountain Road') is a defined region (Anbaugebiet) for wine in Germany located in the state of Hesse among the northern and western slopes of the Odenwald mountain chain. With only 467 hectares (1,150 acres) of vineyards it is the smallest of the 13 German quality wine regions. At 21% red grape varieties and 79% white varieties, it is planted with primarily Riesling (40% as of 2019), Pinot gris (12%) and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir, 11%). Hessische Bergstraße is divided into two districts (Bereiche) – Umstadt and Starkenburg – three collective vineyard sites and 24 individual vineyard sites.The region produces mostly dry wines (14,000 hl in 2019), some off-dry (5,000 hl in 2019) but does have a sizable production of Eiswein. The wines from the best producers are in a style similar to that of Rheingau.The majority of the region's wine is produced by a winemaking cooperative based in the city of Heppenheim, to which about 620 of 850 growers of the region deliver their grapes. The state government of Hesse, through the Hessian State Wineries (Hessische Staatsweingüter) is the biggest single vineyard owner with 38 hectares (94 acres) since 2008 processed in the central cellar of the state wineries at the Steinberg, Kloster Eberbach, site.Because of the small production and a location rather close to densely populated areas, most of the wines is sold locally, and it is very uncommon to see Bergstraße wines outside of Germany.