The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoining it to the west. Siegen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Siegen-Wittgenstein is a Kreis (district) in the south-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen) is the largest in population (though only fourth in area) among Germanys 16 federal states. ... Altenkirchen is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the district Altenkirchen. ... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ...

Geologically, the Siegerland belongs to the Rheinschiefergebirge (Rhenish Slate Mountains). The point of highest elevation is the Riemen, at 678 metres above sea level.

The region around the cities of Siegen is one of the most populated areas of Germany. It includes the municipalities of Hilchenbach, Netphen, Kreuztal, Freudenberg and Siegen, and the communities of Wilnsdorf, Burbach and Neunkirchen, all in North Rhine-Westphalia, and in the Rhineland-Palatinate the municipalities of Kirchen, Herdorf and Betzdorf, with the community of Daaden. The population is approximately 300,000. Siegen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Siegen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Wilnsdorf is a municipality in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein. ...

Iron mining and working began in Siegerland in 600 BC (cf the blast furnace at Wilnsdorf, dated to 500 BC) and continued until 1965, when the closing of Grube Georg (Georg Pit) in Willroth on March 29 ended over 2,500 years of mining. Characteristic of the area are the coppices ("Hauberge") for the production of wood for charcoal burning. General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah... A blast furnace is a type of furnace for smelting whereby the combustion material and ore are supplied with air from the bottom of the chamber such that the chemical reaction does not take place only at the surface. ... March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). ... Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents of animal and vegetable substances. ...

The area now promotes its tourism industry and its capacities as a source of minerals and fossils.

External Links

(in German):

• Siegerland: general and tourist information
• History of the coppices, or Hauberge
• Information on and history of local mining
• Minerals in Siegerland

This article is based on that in the German Wikipedia