Collmberg

Collmberg, regionally and colloquially called Collm, is the highest elevation in the Nordsachsen district and of the Northwest Saxon Basin, situated 6 km west of Oschatz near the small village of Collm. Until the 19th Century it was also called Spielberg and has also been known as Oschatzer Collm.Its height is 312.8 metres above sea level, although map data vary between 312 m and 318 m depending on the source. Collmberg is a landmark in Wermsdorf Forest.GeologyCollmberg consists chiefly of quartzitic Greywacke originating from the Ordovician more than 500 million years ago, also of quartzite and conglomerates. The hill was shaped in the Pleistocene epoch. Collmberg is the site of the oldest known exposed rocks in Northern Saxony. Its Greywacke can be traced towards East-northeast across the neighbouring hills until Weinberg hill near Borna and Käferberg hill near Zaußwitz.About 1 km east of Collmberg lies Windmühlenberg (251 m a. s. l., also called Spitzcollm due to its pointy shape) and further east, north of Striesa village, Eichberg (175 m a. s. l.). These, together with some less prominent hills, form a ridge called Collmrücken.HistoryA medieval hill fort on top of the mountain has been dated archeologically to the epoch of 900 to 930 C. E., but no historical documentation exists. An earthen wall encloses an area of 200 m length and 100 m width, there exist also three more walls on the western slope.