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Concept
Wasserkuppe
Summary
The is a mountain within the German state of Hesse. It is a large plateau formation at an elevation of and is the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains. Great advances in sailplane development took place on the mountain during the interwar period, driven by annual contests. Near the summit there is still an airfield used by gliding clubs and pilots of light aircraft.
The German name is derived from Wasenkuppe, Asenberg or Weideberg and means Pasture mountain.
The Wasserkuppe lies in the administrative district Fulda north of Gersfeld. Other villages nearby are Poppenhausen ( west - south west) and Wüstensachsen ( east, part of Ehrenberg, Hesse). It is part of the Rhön Biosphere Reserve.
The Wasserkuppe sources the spring of the river Fulda (the western source of the Weser) and the river Lütter which joins the Fulda after .
The other peaks near the Wasserkuppe are Abtsrodaer Kuppe (north, NN), de (east, NN) and Pferdskopf (south west, NN).
Students from the Darmstadt University of Technology, then known as Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, began flying gliders from the Wasserkuppe as early as 1911, but interest in gliding in Germany increased greatly after 1918 when the Treaty of Versailles restricted the production or use of powered aircraft in the nation. From 1920 onwards, annual gliding competitions were held, leading to records being set and broken for height, distance and duration of unpowered flight. In 1922 de became the first glider pilot to use an updraft rising along a mountain slope to stay aloft for a lengthy period. He then founded the world's first glider pilot school at the Wasserkuppe.
The first competition was organised by Oskar Ursinus, who also built the first clubhouse on the Wasserkuppe in 1924 to replace the shipping containers that enthusiasts were using as accommodation up to that point. By 1930, the competition had become an international event, drawing pilots from all over Europe and even the United States.
Official source
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