Grinde (landform)

A grinde (plural: grinden) is an almost treeless area of wet heathland found on the rounded bunter sandstone ridges of the Northern Black Forest in Germany.

The grinden reached their greatest extent in the early 19th century when they ran from the Kniebis mountain near Freudenstadt in the south to the heights near Dobel in the north.

Today they are restricted to the highest parts of the Northern Black Forest around the summits of the Hornisgrinde, Schliffkopf and Kniebis (900 to 1,163 m above sea level (NHN)).

Conservation measures and careful grazing by robust breeds of cattle (especially the Hinterwald), goats and sheep should enable the remaining grinden to be preserved for their great ecological value and as an important feature of the landscape.

The grinden lie on nutrient-poor soils of the main conglomerate of the bunter sandstone, which has a major effect on the characteristic grinde ecology.