Steigerkopf
| Steigerkopf | |
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The Steigerkopf and Schänzel tower in February 2012
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 613.6 m above sea level (NHN) (2,013 ft) |
| Coordinates | 49°17′49″N 8°01′34″E / 49.297056°N 8.026222°ECoordinates: 49°17′49″N 8°01′34″E / 49.297056°N 8.026222°E |
| Geography | |
 Steigerkopf
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| Parent range | Palatine Forest |
| Geology | |
| Type of rock | bunter sandstone |
The Steigerkopf, also colloquially called the Schänzel, near Edenkoben in the county of Südliche Weinstraße in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is a mountain, 613.6 m above sea level (NHN), in the Palatine Forest. At the summit, which lies on the territory of Gommersheim, is the Schänzel tower.
The Steigerkopf lies in the eastern part of the Palatine Forest in the eponymous nature park. Its summit rises about 7 kilometres west-northwest of the small town of Edenkoben on the western rim of a group of mountains that are all over 600 m; 4 kilometres to the northeast is the highest peak in the Palatine Forest, the Kalmit (672.6 m). The summit and those parts of the mountain in the northeast belong to the forest parish of Gommersheim, which form an exclave of this municipality around 17 km to the west of Gommersheim itself. Geologically the Steigerkopf is a northwestern outlier of the 661.8 m high Kesselberg, whose top is 2 km (as the crow flies) away. The Modenbach, a right tributary of Speyerbach, rises on the southwestern flank of the mountain on which the Gommersheim Forest lies.
Colloquially the Steigerkopf has also been referred to as the Schänzel ("little rampart") since about 4,500 Prussian soldiers built a sconce there in summer 1794. The earthworks were built to delay the 7,000 French Revolutionary troops who had been dispatched to conquer the German territories west of the Rhine. The French were victorious, however, following a decisive and bloody battle on 12 and 13 Jul 1794, after a local hunter from the nearby village of Dernbach had guided them into the rear of the Prussian position on the second day. The Prussian commander, General Theodor Philipp von Pfau (1727–1794), was taken prisoner after being severely wounded and died the same day.
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Wikipedia