Gladenbach Uplands


The Gladenbach Uplands, 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, Westerwald, Hintertaunus 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- 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. The Gladenbach Highlands is largely coextensive with the Lahn-Dill Uplands Nature Park which extends further west, however, but is somewhat less extensive in the southeast and whose boundaries tend to line up with those of the sponsoring municipalities. In addition, not insignificant areas belong to the historical Hessian Hinterland, which is why the two named articles refer to one another, as far as regional associations, culture and history are concerned. Geology and mining will be largely covered in the article on the Lahn-Dill Region

Geography

Location and boundaries

On the rivers Lahn and Dill the following towns - clockwise from the north - border the Gladenbach Uplands:
The northwest transitions to the Rothaar Mountains are comparatively fluid. Here the watershed between the Lahn tributaries of the Banfe and Perf define the boundary.

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 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:

→ to full list
Name
Parent
river
Length

Catchment-
area

Drains
into

Mouth
elevation

Natural regions

Roads
DGKZ
DietePerf 8,824,64310Breidenbach BottomB 25325814-6
GansbachPerf 11,123,17349Bottenhorn Plateaux,
Breidenbach Bottom		L 304225814-2
PerfLahn 20,0113,131776285Bottenhorn Plateaux,
Breidenbach Bottom		L 3049,
B 253		258-14
DautpheLahn 8,841,81533245Bottenhorn Plateaux,
Upper Lahn Valley		B 453258-16
Elnhauser WasserOhe 5,924,25171195Elnhausen-Michelbach Basin258326-6
OheAllna 11,544,28337195Damshäuser Kuppen,
Elnhausen-Michelbach Basin		L 338725832-6
AllnaLahn 19,192,02665172Damshäuser Kuppen,
Elnhausen-Michelbach Basin		L 3387258-32
WenkbachLahn 7,220,77107168Salzböde Valley,
Marburger Lahn Valley Basin		258-332
SalzbödeLahn 27,6137,851322164Zollbuche,
Salzböde Valley,
Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest,
Marburger Lahn Valley Basin		L 3050,
B 255,
L 3048		258-34
VersSalzböde 8,442,55188Salzböde ValleyL 306125834-8
BieberLahn 13,534,68217155Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest,
Gießen Lahn Valley Basin		L 3474,
L 3286		258-394
LempDill 11,734,97274170Krofdorf-Königsberg Forest,
Krofdorf-Königsberger/Hörre		L 30522584-92
AarDill 20,6148,761602210Niederweidbach Basin,
Hörre/Schelde Forest,
Lower Dill Valley		B 2552584-6
SiegbachAar 12,228,67260Bottenhorn Plateaux,
Zollbuche		- / L 3050,
- / L 3049		25846-6
ScheldeDill 12,035,03426221Schelde ForestL 30422584-56
DietzhölzeDill 23,788,441431233Rothaar Mountains, Upper Dill ValleyB 2532584-4

The outer boundary of the Gladenbach Uplands is formed by the Lahn and Dill accompanied in the north by the B 62, in the east by the B 3 Marburg-Gießen, in the east, south of the B 49 Gießen-Wetzlar and in the southwest by the A 45. The Bundesstraße 253 Dillenburg-Biedenkopf roughly closes the remaining gap.

Waterbodies

The most important reservoir in the Gladenbach Uplands is the Aartalsee in the Niederweidbach Basin, followed by the Perf Reservoir in the Breidenbach Bottom.

Hills

The hills of the Gladenbach Uplands, arranged by ridge or natural region, include the following:

. In the foreground is the Gladenbach village of Runzhausen
and the castles of Vetzberg and Gleiberg to the 498 m high Dünsberg
. Centre rear: the 357 m high Lammerich; left: northern foot of the 361 m high Kirchberg.
. Background: the Schwarzenberg and the Sackpfeife.
and the 631 m high Sackpfeife spur of Hainpracht