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© Dipl.-Geogr. Martin Werner
Elevation Map
of the Rhineland-Palatinate
Mean annual rainfall
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Gundersheim
is located along the main road of ancient times from Worms to Bingen.
The favorable
position had positive effects on the further development of the town of Gundersheim. Already
in the year 1863 the first railway from Worms to Alzey was opened and a railway station in
Gundersheim was built. The extension of the railway line until Bingen
followed only seven years later.
With the completion of the connection to Mainz in the north
and Mannheim in the south the access to the fast-developing agglomerations Rhein-Main and
Rhein-Neckar was now possible. Despite of the improvement of infrastructure the economic and
rural character of the villages was not essential influenced.
After World War II., motorization increased. In the 70's the motorway A61 (popularly called
"the Rheinhessenlinie") from Worms to Bingen
was built and as the result, Gundersheim as well as the whole region henceforth was connected to
the supra-regional traffic network of Europe.
First, the native wine-growers and the gastronomers yielded a profit due to the favorable connection
to the neighboring regions.
In the 80's and 90's some business enterprises and companies established their facilities in the
industrial zone of Gundersheim. In the meantime the exit No. 56 of the motorway A61 is well-known
to many tourists, passing the motorway from north to south and vice versa.
Position of Gundersheim in Rheinhessen:
Topography
Coordinates (geographic) : 8° 11' / 49° 42'
Coordinates (according to Gauss-Kruger) : 3442200 / 5506400
Gundersheim
is situated in the south-easterly part of Rheinhessen between Alzey and Worms.
The structure of landforms is presented by tablelike upland area and hilly country.
Do we look in a smaller scale, the region of Rheinhessen is
embedded picturesque inbetween the surrounding subdued mountains:
the Rhenanian Slate Mountains in the north and northwest, the mountains of the
North-Palatinate in the west, the so-called "Pfälzerwald" in the south and the mountainous
region of the Odenwald in the east.
At the position of Gundersheim, the plateau inclines to northeast and southeast: in the northeast
the "Wetterau" beneath Frankfurt is visible, in the southeast, the industrial cities Ludwigshafen/
Mannheim extend in the plain of the river Rhine.
Strictly speaking, Rheinhessen is a flat upland
area, only interrupted from large troughs. All towns are founded in the valley and on the
valley heads because of the availibility of water. There are no towns to find on the upland area
with the exception of Hochborn, which is situated above the valley end on the plateau.
Only after measures of drainage the valley floors could be included in the settlements.
Due to its position in the weather-protected side of the vicinity the climatic conditions
of Rheinhessen can be considered as exceptional favorable: with an area of 25.000 hectares
Rheinhessen is one of the most important wine-growing regions of Germany.
The climatic conditions in Gundersheim are similar to those in the whole region but essential more
pronounced (see:"Climatic conditions")
The so-called erosion-zone of Gundersheim/Eppelsheim extends from west to east directly to
the valley of the Rhine and is situated between the plateau of Hochborn
in the north and the plateau of Zell in the south.
Climatic conditions
Due to its position, Gundersheim is characterised by special climatic conditions.
These peculiarities result from its situation in the leeside to the dominating
westerly winds. Especially advective precipitation is being influenced by the
topography. This matter of fact applies to the whole region of Rheinhessen,
but is in the case of Gundersheim of fundamental more importance.
The secondary mountains in the west, namely the Ardennes, Eifel, Hunsruck,
mountainous region of Saar-Nahe and the northern part of the Pfalz provoke
a considerable reduction of rain falls.
The advective air masses loose humidity in the named subdued mountains (the
mean average annual precipitation lies between 800 and 1.000 mm).
The Donnersberg as the highest mountain
of the Pfalz (687 m a.s.l.) is the characteristic "cornerstone" of
Rheinhessen. He devides the air masses arriving from west, so that they flow
to north and south. As the result a funnel-shaped zone of reduced
precipitation is visible which opens to the east.
The mean annual sum of rainfall in Rheinhessen differs between 500 and 600 mm.
Rheinhessen is therefore considered to be one of the most dryest regions
of Germany. There are several precipitation stations of the
German Weather Office (DWD) in Rheinhessen. Mainz (585 mm), Worms (584 mm)
and Ober-Olm (561 mm) receive the most rainfall per year, whereas the stations
Alzey (523 mm), Hochborn (522 mm), Flonheim (519 mm) and Wollstein (519 mm)
receive remarkable less precipitation.
Considered on a larger scale
the peculiar feature of Gundersheim is its multi-leeside-effect due to the
plateau above the village and the opening of the valley
to the east.
It is supposed that this effect will cause a reduction to the mean annual sum of rainfall.
To proove this, a long term study is being established since 1992.
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