Hausberg

Hausberg (lit.: "house mountain", plural: Hausberge) is German for a prominent mountain or hill in the immediate vicinity of a village, town or city, usually located on its municipal territory, but outside the built up area. It means something like the "local mountain" or "local hill" closely associated with a settlement by its population. The Hausberg forms a backdrop to its home settlement and also offers a prominent viewing point looking over the settlement. As a result, many Hausberge have cable cars or gondola lifts to transport visitors to the top. "Hausberg" is also the proper name of numerous local mountains and hills in German-speaking countries.

The Hausberg does not have to lie within the town's municipal boundaries: The Pfänder, the Hausberg of the town of Bregenz in Austria, is in the municipality of Lochau and the highest summit of the Pilatus, the Hausberg of Lucerne, is even just outside the Canton of Lucerne.

A hill within a town or city itself is usually referred to in German as a Stadtberg.

Hausberg (Taunus)

The Hausberg is a mountain with an elevation of 486 m next to Butzbach in Hesse, Germany. It is part of the Taunus mountain range and located at its easternmost part bordering the fertile landscape of the Wetterau, which is of a much lower altitude. Therefore the mountain is well situated for look-out and in 1873 a first look-out tower was erected on its top. In 1875 a storm damaged the tower severely, but it was repaired in the following year and remained in use until 1941 when it was demolished due to being in disrepair. More than 60 years later in June 2007 the construction of a new tower started and was completed in May 2008. The new tower has a total height of 23 m and a roofed observation deck at 19 m.

The Hausberg and its neighbouring Brülerberg were the site of an ancient Celtic ringfort from the La Tène period. The excavation and research of its remains started in 1911. In the neighbourhood there are also remains from the Roman period. The Limes Germanicus traverses through the foothills of the Hausberg and one of its smaller forts the Hunnenkirchhof is located close to the mountain.