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the Degree Confluence Project
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France : Grand Est

3.3 km (2.1 miles) WNW of Schleithal, Bas-Rhin, Grand Est, France
Approx. altitude: 157 m (515 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 49°S 172°W

Accuracy: 4 m (13 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: View East #3: View South #4: View West #5: The confluence point lies in a patch of forest, just 30 meters from a road #6: All zeros! #7: The pretty Frence village of Altenstadt (Wissembourg), just north-west of the confluence point

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  49°N 8°E (visit #17) (secondary) 

#1: View North

(visited by Ross Finlayson)

09-Jul-2013 -- After an easy visit to 49N 9E, I decided to visit another easy-looking confluence point just to the West. I was especially interested in this point, because it lies just across the border in neighboring France, where I had yet to record any confluence visits.

The Alsace region - containing this confluence point - has swapped ownership between Germany and France throughout the centuries. It now belongs to France, but several of the towns in the region retain German (or gallicized German) names - for example, the town of "Wissembourg" (with its 'suburb' "Altenstadt"), which lies just to the north-west of the confluence point. With Europe now at peace, the confluence point will probably remain in France into the future, but it also means that visiting this confluence point from Germany will remain easy - with no border control.

The confluence point itself lies just inside a patch of forest, near a paved road. A picnic table - photographed by several of the previous visitors - lies just 30 meters from the point. Visiting the exact point from here was not entirely trivial, because a thick band of vegetation - containing some thorny vines and stinging nettle - was growing on the edge of the forest. But once I got past this band of vegetation, getting to the point was easy. With a thick forest canopy blocking the late-afternoon Sun, the scene was quite eery, reminiscent of old European fairy tales.

Continued at 50N 9E.


 All pictures
#1: View North
#2: View East
#3: View South
#4: View West
#5: The confluence point lies in a patch of forest, just 30 meters from a road
#6: All zeros!
#7: The pretty Frence village of Altenstadt (Wissembourg), just north-west of the confluence point
ALL: All pictures on one page