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For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges (department).
Location Vosges.PNG
Location of the Vosges
Highest point
Peak (Grand Ballon (Alsatian: Großer Belchen))
Elevation 1,424 m (4,672 ft)
Length 120 km (75 mi)
Area 5,500 km2 (2,100 sq mi) up to 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi) depending on the natural region boundaries selected
Carte topographique des Vosges.svg
Map of the Vosges Mountains
State Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté (France)
Range coordinates 48°N 7°E﻿ / ﻿48°N 7°E﻿ / 48; 7Coordinates: 48°N 7°E﻿ / ﻿48°N 7°E﻿ / 48; 7
Orogeny Low mountain range
Age of rock

Gneiss, granite and vulcanite stratigraphic units: about 419–252 MYA

Bunter sandstone stratigraphic unit: 252–243 MYA
Type of rock Gneiss, granite, vulcanite, sandstone
Typical landscape of the Vosges (Chajoux valley, La Bresse, France)
Waterfall in the eastern Vosges

The Vosges (French pronunciation: ​[voʒ]) (German: Vogesen [voˈɡeːzn̩]), also called the Vosges Mountains, are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and low mountain range of around 8,000 square kilometres (3,100 sq mi) in area. It runs in a north-northeast direction from the Burgundian Gate (the BelfortRonchampLure line) to the Börrstadt Basin (the WinnweilerBörrstadtGöllheim line), and forms the western boundary of the Upper Rhine Plain.

The Grand Ballon is the highest peak at 1424 m, followed by the Storkenkopf (1366 m), and the Hohneck (1364 m).[1]


The elongated massif is divided south to north into three sections:

  • The Higher Vosges or High Vosges[2] (Hautes Vosges), extending in the southern part of the range from Belfort to the river valley of the Bruche. The rounded summits of the Hautes Vosges are called ballons in French, or "balloons".
  • The sandstone Vosges or Middle Vosges[2] (50 km, or 31 miles), between the Permian Basin of Saint-Die including the Devonian-Dinantian volcanic massif of Schirmeck-Moyenmoutier and the Col de Saverne
  • The Lower Vosges or Low Vosges[2] (48 km, or 30 miles), between the Col de Saverne and the source of the Lauter.

In addition, the term "Central Vosges" is used to designate the various lines of summits, especially those above 1000 metres in elevation. The French department of Vosges is named after the range.

From a geological point of view, a graben at the beginning of the Paleogene Period caused the formation of Alsace and the uplift of the plates of the Vosges, now considered in eastern France, and those in the Black Forest, now in Germany. From a scientific view, the Vosges Mountains are not mountains as such, but rather the western edge of the unfinished Alsatian graben, stretching continuously as part of the larger Tertiary formations. Erosive glacial action was the primary catalyst for development of the representative highland massif feature.


The Vosges in their southern and central parts are called the Hautes Vosges. These consist of a large Carboniferous mountain eroded just before the Permian Period with gneiss, granites, porphyritic masses or other volcanic intrusions. In the north, south and west, there are places less eroded by glaciers, and here Vosges Triassic and Permian red sandstone remains are found in large beds. The grès vosgien, (a French name for a Triassic rose sandstone) are embedded sometimes up to more than 500 metres in thickness. The Lower Vosges in the north are dislocated plates of various sandstones, ranging from 300 to 600 metres (1000 to 1850 ft.) high.

The highest points are located in the Hautes Vosges: the Grand Ballon, in ancient times called Ballon de Guebwiller or Ballon de Murbach, rises to 1424 m (4,670 ft); the Storckenkopf to 1366 m (4,481 ft); the Hohneck to 1364 m (4,475 ft); the Kastelberg to 1350 m (4,429 ft); and the Ballon d'Alsace to 1247 m (4,091 ft). The Col de Saales, between the Higher and Central Vosges, reaches nearly 579 m (1,900 ft), both lower and narrower than the Higher Vosges, with Mont Donon (1008 m, 3307 ft.) being the highest point of this Nordic section.

The Vosges is greatly similar to the corresponding range of the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine: both lie within the same degrees of latitude, have similar geological formations, and are characterized by forests on their lower slopes, above which are open pastures and rounded summits of a rather uniform altitude. Both areas exhibit steeper slopes towards the Rhine River and a more gradual descent on the other side. This occurs because both the Vosges and the Black Forest were formed by isostatic uplift, in a response to the opening of the Rhine Graben. The Rhine Graben is a major extensional basin. When such basins form, the thinning of the crust causes uplift immediately adjacent to the basin. The amount of uplift decreases with distance from the basin, causing the highest range of peaks to be immediately adjacent to the basin, and the increasingly lower mountains to stretch away from the basin.


The highest mountains of the Vosges (with Alsatian or German names in brackets) are:

The following is a selection of other peaks in the Vosges:


Meteorologically, as a consequence of the Foehn effect the difference between the eastern and western mean slopes of the range is very marked. The main air streams come generally from the west and south-west, so the Alsatian central plains just under the Hautes-Vosges receive much less water than the south-west front of the Vosges Mountains. The highlands of the arrondissement of Remiremont receive as annual rainfall or snowfall more than 2 metres of water yearly, whereas some dry country near Colmar receives less than 500 mm of water in the event of insufficient storms. The temperature is much lower in the west front of the mountains than in the low plains behind the massif, especially in summer. On the eastern slope economic vineyards reach to a height of 400 metres (1300 ft.); on the other hand, in the mountains, it is a land of pasture and forest.

The only rivers in Alsace are the Ill coming from south Alsace (or Sundgau), and the Bruche d'Andlau and the Bruche which have as tributaries other, shorter but sometimes powerful streams coming like the last two from the Vosges Mountains. The Moselle, Meurthe and Sarre rivers and their numerous affluents all rise on the Lorraine side.


Settlement and language[edit]

Over the centuries, settlement increased gradually, as was typical for a forested region. Forests were cleared for, inter alia, agriculture, livestock and early industrial factories (charcoal works and glassworks) and the water mills used water power. Concentrations of settlement and immigration took place and not only in areas where minerals were found. In the mining area of the Lièpvrette valley, for example, there was an influx of Saxon miners and mining specialists. From time to time, wars, plagues and religious conflicts saw the depopulation of territories - in their wake it was not uncommon for people to be relocated there from other areas.



Relief map of Vosges Mountains


On the lower heights and buttresses of the main chain on the Alsatian side are numerous castles, generally in ruins, testifying to the importance of this crucial crossroads of Europe, violently contested for centuries. At several points on the main ridge, especially at Sainte Odile above Ribeauvillé (German: Rappoltsweiler), are the remains of a wall of unmortared stone with tenons of wood, about 1.8 to 2.2 meters (6 to 7 ft) thick and 1.3 to 1.7 meters (4 to 5 ft) high, called the Mur Païen (Pagan Wall). It was used for defence in the Middle Ages and archaeologists are divided as to whether it was built by the Romans, or before their arrival.

During the French Revolutionary Wars, on 13 July 1794, the Vosges were the scene of the Battle of the Vosges.

From 1871 to 1918, they formed the main border line between France and the German Empire. The demarcation line stretched from the Ballon d'Alsace to Mont Donon with the lands east of it being incorporated into Germany as part of Alsace-Lorraine.

During the First World War, the Vosges were the scene of severe and almost continuous fighting.[3] And during the Second World War, in autumn 1944, they were the site of brief but sharp fighting between Franco-American and German forces.



Nature parks[edit]


See also[edit]

References and notes[edit]

  1. ^ IGN maps available on Géoportail
  2. ^ a b c Dickinson, Robert E (1964). Germany: A Regional and Economic Geography (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 540. ASIN B000IOFSEQ.
  3. ^  Reynolds, Francis J., ed. (1921). "Vosges Mountains". Collier's New Encyclopedia. New York: P.F. Collier & Son Company. 

Further reading[edit]

General texts:


List of majors periodicals concerning Lorraine and South Lorraine:

  • Annales de l'Est (et du Nord), Nancy.

On the First World War:


External links[edit]