A more precise measurement once deprived a municipality in Saarland of the highest elevation in the state.

High, higher, high: In Saarland, there's a curious competition over the question of where the highest elevation lies. A community in the north of the small federal state wants to pile up soil to reclaim its title, which was lost due to more precise measurements.

This is Weiskirchen. For decades, the Schimmelkopf was the highest natural elevation in Saarland. In 2005, new, more precise measurements were taken. The result: The Schimmelkopf is 694.8 meters high, while the Dollberg near Nohfelden – a few minutes' drive away – is 695.4 meters high, 60 centimeters higher.

A difference so small that you can't notice it – but clearly big enough to keep Weiskirchen busy. Mayor Stephan Barth, in any case, wants the lost altitude record back, saying: "Not as a joke, but as a serious idea with tourism potential."

The idea is simple: The excavated material for new wind turbines in the region will not be transported away, but rather piled up into a hill – modeled after nature, landscaped, perhaps with a summit cross, a viewing platform, information boards, and a selfie point. Named "Roof of Saarland."

It sounds like a late April Fools' joke, but it's meant seriously. "It's a unique selling point for Weiskirchen," says Barth. The non-partisan politician already has the relevant authorities in mind – the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Tourism Promotion Agency.

The "Saarbrücker Zeitung" is writing about a "summit war in Saarland." Nohfelden, the municipality currently with the highest point, has so far reacted rather calmly. "Of course, we are not considering unnecessarily interfering with nature through artificial embankments," a spokesperson emphasizes. While Nohfelden is pleased to have the highest point in Saarland, "it has no real economic or identity-forming significance."

It's rare for peak heights to change, but it does happen: The highest peak in the Palatinate Forest, Kalmit, "grew" by a good meter to 673.64 meters in 2024 as a result of a survey. The reason was that the highest point had not been recorded previously. In Brandenburg, the Hagelberg near Belzig was long considered the highest elevation at 201 meters, but it was corrected to 200.24 meters in 2004. Thus, it lost the title to the Kutschenberg in Upper Spreewald-Lausitz (201 meters).