The Rauher Kulm is a small basalt mountain located in the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) region of the state of Bavaria, Germany.

The observation tower offers views of the northern Franconian Switzerland, the southern wall of the Fichtel Mountains, and the Upper Palatinate Forest.

Since 1949, the mountain has been protected as a federal monument in the Northern Upper Palatinate Forest Nature Park.

According to the Bavarian State Geology Office, during the Tertiary, now also called Paleocene-Pliocene period, a number of active volcanoes produced liquid magma in Northern Bavaria, mostly due to the continental collision of Europe and Africa.

As a result, not only the Alps but a number of fissure vents and cracks began to form throughout central Europe where magma could rise.