Rothaar Mountains

The Rothaar Mountains (, , also Rotlagergebirge), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany. It is believed that its name must once have been Rod-Hard-Gebirge, or "the cleared forest mountain range", as the range has nothing whatsoever to do with the colour red (rot in German), nor with hair (Haar). Geography Location The thickly wooded Rothaar, rich in mineral deposits, is found (mostly) in Westphalia sandwiched between the Sauerland Mountain Range to the north, the Upland mountain range (northeastern foothills of the Rothaar) to the northeast, Wittgenstein Land to the southeast and the Siegerland to the southwest. The range's southeastern foothills are lies in Hesse, and is the only part that lies outside of Westphalia. It stretches from the upper Eder and the Lenne from the Kahler Asten (841 m) southwest of the Winterberg Tableland (Winterberger Hochfläche) some 30 km to the southwest and drops off steeply towards the west, but much less sharply towards the east.