Kickelhahn is a mountain in the northern edge of the Central Thuringian Forest in the municipal area of Ilmenau, Germany.

An about 750 m high saddle in the southeast between the sources of Gabelbach and Langebach forms a pass between Kickelhahn and neighbouring Hohe Tanne (850 m a.s.l.).

[5] According to another theory the name is a pun on the former lords of the area, the counts of Henneberg, whose coat of arms shows a chicken.

[6] In 1776 he also sketched a view from Kickelhahn across the "brumous valleys" of the Thuringian Forest for Charlotte von Stein.

He last visited the mountain and the cabin in 1831 together with geologist Johann Christian Mahr and wrote in a letter to the composer Carl Friedrich Zelter about it.

When Ilmenau developed into a health resort in the 1830s, an observation tower was seen as worthwhile, but the town was not able to finance such a project at the time.

From its basement, sheltered trenches led to hides where the hunters could lay in wait for the game.

[12] Berghotel Gabelbach is located south of the summit at an altitude of about 700 m. It was built as a health resort and opened in 1912.

[13] After World War II it was used as a recreation home by the Central Committee of the SED and for the accommodation of foreign dignitaries and was not accessible to the general public until 1990 when it was bought by an investor from Nuremberg.

The area is also used for sports, with runners and mountain bikers dominating in the summer, and cross-country skiing in the winter.

Sledding is popular on the descent towards Ilmenau, the run with an altitude difference of more than 350 m (1,150 ft) takes about 15 minutes.