FRANKENWALD

frankenwald, a mountainous district of germany, forming the geological connexion between the fichtelgebirge and the thuringian forest. it is a broad well-wooded plateau, running for about 30 m. in a north-westerly direction, descending gently on the north and eastern sides towards the saale, but more precipitously to the bavarian plain in the west, and attaining its highest elevation in the kieferle near steinheid (2900 ft.). along the centre lies the watershed between the basins of the main and the saale, belonging to the systems of the rhine and elbe respectively. the principal tributaries of the main from the frankenwald are the rodach and hasslach, and of the saale, the selbitz. see h. schmid, _fuehrer durch den frankenwald_ (bamberg, 1894); meyer, _thueringen und der frankenwald_ (15th ed., leipzig, 1900), and guembel, _geognostische beschreibung des fichtelgebirges mit dem frankenwald_ (gotha, 1879).