GERMANY German Empire has an area of 210,248 square miles. Broadly speaking, three great physical areas may be distinguished : the Alpine Foreland, the Central Highlands, and the Northern Low lands. The first of these regions, which slopes down towards the north, has an average elevation above sea level of about 1,600 feet, and extends from the Noric Alps in the south to the Danube in the north, and from the Lake of Constance in the west to the Inn in the east, while a slight extension lies to the north of the Danube between the Bavarian Forest and the Franconian Jura. The Central Highlands have a more varied topography. In the west, the rift valley of the Rhine, which has a length of about 200 miles, and a breadth of about 20, has been let down between the Black Forest and the Odenwald on the east, and the Vosges, Lower Vosges, and Haardt on the west. The southern parts of the Vosges and the Black Forest are both formed of ancient rocks, mainly granite and gneiss, but further north Bunter sandstone prevails, except in the west of the Odenwald, where crystalline rocks again come to the surface. After leaving the rift valley, the Rhine makes its way in a deep gorge through the Rhine massif, which consists mainly of Devonian schists and forms an undulating plateau with an average height of about 1,600 feet. The Taunus and the Westerwald lie on the right of the river, the Hunsriick and Eifel on the left. In the north, the Westerwald passes into the Sauerland, along the northern border of which is the Ruhr coal basin. The Eifel, which connects the Rhine massif with the Ardennes, shows many traces of recent volcanic activity. The Swabian Jura, which lies to the north of the Danube, and forms an acute angle with the Black Forest, consists of a broad undulating tableland of Jurassic limestone, which slopes down steeply to the Neckar, but gently to the Danube. Its average height is about
2,500 feet, and its rugged character has given to it the name of Rauhe Alp. Towards the east, the tableland formation is continued northwards under the name of the Franconian Jura which is hilly rather than mountainous. The whole area surrounded by the uplands just described, that is, the greater part of the basins of the Neckar and the Main, is covered by Triassic rocks, which form a scarped or terraced land. In the west, Bunter sandstone is the prevailing formation ; the centre is occupied by shell limestone or " muschelkalk," while in the east and south the red marls of the Keuper extend to the foot of the Jurassic escarpment. In the same way, it may be noted, the Vosges slopes westward to the plateau of the Faucilles. To the north of the scarp lands, the Triassic formation extends over the uplands of Hesse, though the Vogelsgebirge, the Rhongebirge, and other heights, are of volcanic origin ; it also covers the Thuringian basin, which lies between the Thuringian Forest and the Harz Mountains, both fragments of the ancient Variscan Chain. Along the course of the Weser, and following the same direction as the Harz, are the sub-Hercynian Hills, which include the Teutoburger, the Deister, and the Siintel, all of Secondary formation.
East of the Triassic lands lies the Bohemian massif, to be more fully described later. Belonging to it are the Bavarian Forest, the Erzgebirge, and the Sudetes, all of which form part of the borderland of the Empire. To the north of the Central Highlands is the North German Lowland, which stretches across the country from west to east, and lies within the plains of northern Europe. It is undulating rather than flat, but its elevation seldom exceeds 600 feet.