Vogelsberg Mountains

The Vogelsberg Mountains or Vogelsberg (German for Bird's Mountain) are a large volcanic massif in eastern Upper Hesse separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda River and its valley. Arising approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg, Germany's only shield volcano, is also Central Europe's largest basalt formation, consisting of a multitude of layers which, having flowed over each other, fall downward from their peak in ring-shaped terraces to the base.

The main peaks of the Vogelsberg are Taufstein, 773 m (2,536 ft), and Hoherodskopf, 763 m (2,503 ft), both now enclosed in a nature park, the Hoher Vogelsberg Nature Park.