Reisberg

The Reisberg rises above the valley of the Scheßlitzer Ellernbach in the Franconian Switzerland nature park. Its wooded plateau drops steeply on three sides and is joined to the high plateau of the Franconian Jura only on the east. The Leitenbach tributary winds through the valley west of the hill, while the A70 motorway runs along its southern flank between Scheßlitz and Roßdorf am Berg. Excavations show a prehistoric rampart and ditch system on the summit, later a 5th-century hilltop settlement protected by a timber-laced wall. Finds of silver-gilt objects link the site to Bohemian cultural circles during the Childerich period. After a brief abandonment the hill was reoccupied in the later Merovingian and Carolingian-Ottonian centuries. Today the Reisberg belongs to the Franconian Switzerland–Veldenstein Forest landscape protection area. Its southern and south-eastern slopes form part of the larger FFH site Albtrauf from Dörnwasserlos to Zeegendorf, safeguarding local flora and fauna. Walkers can follow quiet forest paths across the plateau and enjoy wide views over the surrounding valleys.