Spessart


The Spessart is a German low-mountain-range, which is largely located in Bavaria, but also in Hesse. The Spessart is essentially enclosed by three rivers: the Main between Gemünden and Hanau, the Kinzig in the north and the Sinn in the northeast. Mnemonic: "Kinzig, Sinn and Main enclose the Spessart all around" (in german it rhymes). The name is said to derive from Specht (woodpecker) and Hardt (mountain forest), so it essentially means "woodpecker forest". But there are also theories that it is derived from a Roman name.

This is, so to speak, the northwestern-most beginning of the South German Scarplands, the Vorspessart consists of diorite, gneiss and mica schist, i.e. bedrock, but the largest part consists of the lowest escarpment, the Buntsandstein (Lower Triassic). In the very southeast, a few remains of the Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic) can also be found.