Melibokus

Melibokus
Melibokus
Elevation	517 m (1,696 ft)
Location
Melibokus The location within Hesse
Location	Hesse, Germany
Range	Odenwald
Coordinates	49°43′30.75″N 8°38′12.54″E / 49.7252083°N 8.6368167°E / 49.7252083; 8.6368167Coordinates: 49°43′30.75″N 8°38′12.54″E / 49.7252083°N 8.6368167°E / 49.7252083; 8.6368167

The Melibokus (also Melibocus, Malchen or Malschen) is at 517 metres (1696 feet), the highest mountain in the Bergstraße region of southern Hesse, central Germany. The mountain overlooks the Rhine valley on the western fringe of the Odenwald region and is a local landmark, clearly visible for many miles. On the summit there is a small cafe, a public lookout tower and a US Army radio mast erected on the site of a previous stone tower, destroyed during World War II.

It is probably the mountain mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography (Book 2, Chapter 10) as Melobokon oros, dividing the Chamavi and Cherusci tribes. Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia, tells us that Melibocus mons was the northern border of the Cherusci.

The mediæval place name was Mons Malscus, and there is a settlement in the region, Malchen. One possible etymology^[1] derives the name from Old High German malsc, "conceited", which Julius Pokorny reports is from Indo-European mel- "grind" in the sense of "ground down" or "weak".

References

1. ^ Herbert Eisele (2001). "Die Ausstrahlung der Berge in ihrer Benennungsvielfalt". http://www.inst.at/berge/perspektiven/eisele.htm.  (German)

External links

• Melibokus web site (with live webcam)

Panorama of the view from the summit of Melibokus, overlooking Zwingenberg, Alsbach, Bickenbach with Seeheim-Jugenheim on the right. Alsbach Castle is visible in the centre

• 

  Melibokus viewing tower c. 1909