Once upon a time there was this ridge of mountains from Basel to Frankfurt and then about 50 million years ago the middle part sank down and the ridge became a rift: the Upper Rhine Valley. On either side are mountain ranges, the higher altitude Black Forest and further to the north the lower altitude Odenwald on the right side of the river Rhine, and the French Vosges and again further up north the lower mountains of the Palatinate Forest.
The landscape between the mountains on either side is a densely populated and intensely used agricultural and industrial landscape, what can be called a cultural landscape, i.e. a man-made one.
Standing on one of the hills of the anterior Odenwald 50 kilometres of Rhine plain stretch before ones eyes and on clear days one can make out the hills of the Palatinate Forest.
At the back are the rolling soft rises of the Odenwald.
And looking in the other direction looking down at the Burg Starkenburg who was built around 900-years-old with the shut down nuclear power plant Biblis in the background.
The same castle from the plain looking up, the more common point-of-view.
A sunset, looking from east to west, showing the left Rhine side hills, with several towns in between, power pylons, industrial areas (only the largest chemical factory in the world), agricultural fields, a major city (Mannheim and Ludwigshafen on the other side of Germany’s largest river, the Rhine).
Lens-Artists Challenge #373: Landscape
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pictures imperfect blog 
What a beautiful collection! I like these expansive landscape views. They are vast and transport me to the place in the photo.
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Thank you, Egido. I appreciate your comments very much, — I don’t feel very comfortable with the grand vistas, to be honest (not fishing for compliments, that’s just a fact).
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These are wonderful landscapes Elke.
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I’m glad you like them. Leanne.
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Great landscapes. I always wonder why Germany isn’t a bigger tourist destination (for Brits, anyway). It has so much to offer.
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It can’t be the prices (mostly). The featured castle, Burg Starkenburg, is a youth hostel – nowadays open to everybody (you have to become a member of the organisation, at 30 Euro or so a year), you’re never put in a large room with stangers, usually have your own bathroom (that depends on the hostel, though), the food is not the worst,
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It’s not prices. Somehow, Germany is not yet no the radar for most people. Their loss.
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Great photos, fascinating perspectives.
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Thank you, John.
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Fascinating, vast landscapes. And forests!
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As much as Germany is populated, yes, we do have a lot of forests. Thanks for visiting.
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