View source for Siebengebirge

{{Distinguish|Siebenbürgen}}
{{Infobox mountain
|name = Seven Hills
|native_name = {{native name|de|Siebengebirge}}
|photo = Siebengebirge-1900.jpg
|photo_caption = Seven Hills, 1900
|country = Germany
|state_type = Region
|region = [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] and [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]
|border =
|geology = | period=Oligocene | orogeny=Volcanic
|area_km2 = | length_km=| length_orientation=
|width_km = | width_orientation=
|highest = [[Großer Ölberg]]
|elevation_m = 460
|range_coordinates = 
|coordinates = {{coord|50|40|46|N|07|14|54|E|type:mountain_region:DE_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|map_image = Siebengebirge Übersichtskarte.png 
| map_caption=Area map of Seven Hills
}}
[[Image:Sg fexx 04.JPG|thumb|The castle [[Schloss Drachenburg]] is one of the landmarks of Seven Hills]]

The {{lang|de|'''Siebengebirge'''|italics=no}}({{audio|De-Siebengebirge.ogg|German pronunciation}}), occasionally '''Sieben Mountains''' or '''Seven Mountains''', are a [[hill range]] of the German [[Central Uplands]] on the east bank of the [[Middle Rhine]], southeast of [[Bonn]].

== Description ==
The area, located in the municipalities of [[Bad Honnef]] and [[Königswinter]], consists of more than 40 hills. The hills are of ancient [[volcano|volcanic]] origin and came into being between 28 and 15 million years ago. Much of the territory covered by Sieben Hills belongs to the Sieben Hills Nature Park (''Naturpark Siebengebirge''), which is under environmental protection.

The highest peak is the [[Großer Ölberg|Ölberg]] at 460 metres above sea level. It is a popular [[tourism|tourist]] destination for hiking, because of its natural environment.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

== Hills ==
The seven most important hills:{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

* [[Großer Ölberg]] (460 m)
* Löwenburg (455 m)
* Lohrberg (435 m)
* Nonnenstromberg (335m)
* [[Petersberg (Siebengebirge)|Petersberg]] (331 m, Former name: ''Stromberg'')
* Wolkenburg (324 m)
* [[Drachenfels (Siebengebirge)|Drachenfels]] (321 m)

Other hills:

* Himmerich (366 m)
* Trenkeberg (430 m)
* Weilberg (297 m)
* Stenzelberg (287 m)
* Broderkonsberg (378 m)
* Mittelberg (353 m)
* Leyberg (359 m)
* Jungfernhardt (320 m)
* Geisberg (324 m)
* Schallenberg (310 m)
* Großer Breiberg (313 m)
* Kleiner Breiberg (288 m)
* Wasserfall (338 m)
* Kleiner Ölberg (332 m)
* Limperichsberg
* Scharfenberg
* Zickelburg (182 m)

== Origin name ==
Although some sources translate the name literally as ''Seven Hills'',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kdrfAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Seven+Hills%22+Rhine&pg=PA308 ''The Castles of the Rhine''] by Robert R. Taylor (2009). Retrieved 10 Feb 2015.</ref> where ''sieben'' is modern German for "seven" and a ''Gebirge'' is a hill range, alternative derivations for the name have been suggested. Three theories exist:

# The oldest name<ref>Moller, 1590</ref> was not ''Siebengebirge'', but ''Sieben Berge'' (''septem montes'', seven hills). Depending on the viewpoint near the river Rhine, one notices almost exactly seven hills, which are not always the same and not even the highest. Also, the number [[7|seven]] used to denote an arbitrary amount of items, was connected to magic and thus had a highly symbolic meaning. This makes it an obvious name for an area that was said to be sinister and impenetrable before the 19th century.
# The word ''sieben'' is derived from the word ''[[siefen]]'' which, in turn comes from the [[Middle Low German]] word ''sîpe'' "wet depression" or "little stream, brook",<ref name="SchillerLübben1">{{citation|surname1=Karl Schiller; August Lübben|title=Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch|volume=4|publisher=Verlag von J. Küthmanns Buchhandlung|publication-place=Bremen|page=215|date=   1878|language=German
}} {{Digitalisat|1=http://drw-www.adw.uni-heidelberg.de/drw-cgi/zeige?db=dig&darstellung=v&index=buecher&term=Schiller-Luebben+IV&seite=g214-215}}</ref> the verb ''sîpen'' means "trickle, drip".<ref>See the entry ''[http://www.woerterbuchnetz.de/DWB?lemma=siepen siepen]'' in the [[Deutsches Wörterbuch]].</ref>
# The name ''Siebengebirge'' emerged from the word ''Siedengebirge'' which indicated the presence of soap boilers ("Seifensieder"), who were banned from the valleys because boiling soap smelled so bad.

== References ==
{{more citations needed|date=May 2015}}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Siebengebirge}}
* [http://www.ich-geh-wandern.de/siebengebirge Information and pictures about the Siebengebirge]
* [http://www.rhinedragon.de Rhine Dragon The Seven Mountains: a virtual tour, history, old and new legends, nature]
* [http://www.honnefer-bilderbogen.de Honnefer Bilderbogen with pictures of the Siebengebirge]

{{German Central Uplands}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Siebengebirge| ]]
[[Category:Mountains and hills of North Rhine-Westphalia]]
[[Category:Natural regions of the Middle Rhine area]]
[[Category:Regions of the Westerwald]]