ODENWALD, a wooded mountainous region of Germany, almost entirely in the grand duchy of Hesse, with small portions in Bavaria and Baden. It stretches between the Neckar and the Main, and is some 50 m. long by 20 to 30 broad. Its highest points are the Katzenbuckel (2057 ft.), the Neunkircher Höhe (1985 ft.) and the Krähberg (1965 ft.). The wooded heights overlooking the Bergstrasse are studded with castles and medieval ruins, some of which are associated with some of the most memorable adventures of German tradition. Among them are Rodenstein, the reputed home of the wild huntsman, and near Grasellenbach, the spot where Siegfried of the Nibelungenlied is said to have been slain.
See F. Montanus, Der Odenwald (Mainz, 1884); T. Lorentzen, Der Odenwald in Wort und Bild (Stuttgart, 1904); G. Volk, Der Odenwald und seine Nachbargebiete (Stuttgart, 1900), and Windhaus, Führer durch den Odenwald (Darmstadt, 1903).