Weißer Stein | |
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Boardwalk leading to the Weißer Stein rocks in Belgium
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 693.3 m (2,275 ft) |
Coordinates | 50°24′30″N 6°22′9″E / 50.40833°N 6.36917°ECoordinates: 50°24′30″N 6°22′9″E / 50.40833°N 6.36917°E |
Geography | |
Location | Liège, Belgium |
Parent range | Eifel |
The Weißer Stein (German for White Stone; in English also written as Weisser Stein) is located in the forest of Mürringen, a hamlet of the Büllingen municipality in the Belgian East Cantons. It is the highest point of this village and the second highest point of Belgium. It also lies on the border with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
German measurements (until 1920 the area belonged to Germany) indicated an altitude of 689 m (NN, German standard) at the nearby located measuring point, and a small higher area surrounded by the 690 meter altitude line. In 2007 the University of Liège executed measurements and found a height of 692 m (TAW, Belgian standard). The altitude meter of Google Earth caused some doubt about Signal de Botrange (694 m TAW) as Belgium's highest point because its vertical reference EGM96 deviates a couple of meters from the German Normalnull and the Belgian TAW, thereby suggesting an altitude of 701 m for the Weißer Stein. An accurate control by the Belgian National Geographic Institute in 2010 showed the Weißer Stein to be at maximum 693.3 m TAW (=691 m NN), with which it differs by less than 1 m from Signal de Botrange.