Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Vosges Mountains

VOSGES MOUNTAINS, a range of hills in the E. of France, bounding the valley of the Rhine on the W. and parallel with the Schwarzwald in Baden. They are connected in the N. with the Hardt in Rhenish Bavaria, in the S. W. with the Faucilles, the Côte-d'Or, and the Cévennes, and in the S. they unite with offsets from the Jura. The summits are usually rounded, hence called ballons, and are covered with a rich green turf, on which for six months of the year large herds of cattle graze. Their sides are clothed with forests of fir, oak, and beech. Their highest summits range from 3,000 to over 4,000 feet, culminating in Ballon de Gebweiler, 4,700 feet above the sea. In those mountains was carried on severe and almost persistent fighting during the World War.