Germany observation tower
Hochsimmer Tower
You can see 108 km from here, looking north-east.
Calculating the panorama…
Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.
The view
Up to 108 km away.
Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.
Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).
- 108 kmFarthest ridgelooking north-east
- 100%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 389Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 585 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 389 peaks you can name from here
From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.
From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.
The sun
The best sunsets are in April and from August to September.
When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.
- Jansouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset21%
- Febwest4 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Marwest6 min before the sea-level sunset30%
- Aprwest6 min before the sea-level sunset34%
- Maynorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset29%
- Junnorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset29%
- Julnorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Augnorth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset33%
- Sepwest6 min before the sea-level sunset36%
- Octwest4 min before the sea-level sunset28%
- Novsouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset20%
- Decsouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset19%
- Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
- Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
- %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).
The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.
The place
Hochsimmer Tower.
Observation tower near Etrringen, Rhineland-Palatinate
Hochsimmer Tower is an observation tower in Germany, 585 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 108 km away, looking north-east.
389 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Großer Feldberg (879 m), 90 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 100% of the circle.
The skies are clearest in April and from August to September.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.
- Reisemobilstellplatz am Viehmarkt Mayencampsite · 4.6 km · 10 within 10 km
- Pension Wolffplace to stay · 3.3 km · 144 within 10 km
- Ettringennearest town · 1.5 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in EttringenBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 46 km in a straight lineCar hire at HHN airport (Frankfurt am Main)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The viewpoint and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 45other viewpoints within 5 kmNitzblick, Aussichtspunkt Genovevahöhle, Fernblick Traumpfad and 42 more
- 15named peaks within 5 kmGänsehals, Auf Wolfsknöchel, Kleiner Simmer and 12 more
- 17marked trails within 3 kmOsteifelweg, Traumpfad Vulkanpfad, Traumpfad Vier-Berge-Tour and 14 more
- 54shelters and huts within 5 kmFinnenhütte, Pinterkreuz Hütte, Fünfkantenstein Hütte and 51 more
- 92car parks within 3 km
- 4visitor centres within 5 kmKlosterforum, Tourist-Info der Vulkanregion Laacher See, Verkehrsbetrieb Rhein-Eifel-Mosel GmbH and 1 more
- 3restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 10campsites within 10 kmReisemobilstellplatz am Viehmarkt Mayen, Siesta Campingplatz, Zeltwiese Laacherseehaus and 7 more
- 144places to stay within 10 kmPension Wolff, Eifeler Hof, Hotel zur Traube and 141 more
- cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
What you see from Hochsimmer Tower, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas295 mountains within 25 km
Birdyas8 birding sites within 25 km
Riveryasthe river nearbyFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The view, as people saw it.
Other viewpoints nearby.
Hochsimmer Tower
Germany
- 69Viewyas Score
- 108 kmFarthest ridge
- 389Peaks in view
- 585 mAltitude
Idarkopfturm
Germany · 56 km
- 76Viewyas Score
- 160 kmFarthest ridge
- 574Peaks in view
- 754 mAltitude
Wildenburg Castle
Germany · 65 km
- 76Viewyas Score
- 145 kmFarthest ridge
- 367Peaks in view
- 664 mAltitude
Foveaux-Häuschen
Germany · 41 km
- 62Viewyas Score
- 65 kmFarthest ridge
- 114Peaks in view
- 166 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q1622309) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Sun | J. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms |
| Peaks in view | Peakyas (Wikidata, CC0) |
| Panorama and altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Clouds | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Lakeyas, Birdyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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islands
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
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Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
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Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Visit