Short answers, pulled from the story.
Großer Feldberg, at 878 metres, is the highest peak in the Taunus and in the entire Rhenish Slate Mountains. Other notable summits include Kleiner Feldberg at 825 metres and Altkönig at 798 metres.
The Taunus is located in the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, northwest of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. It spans the districts of Hochtaunuskreis, Main-Taunus-Kreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Limburg-Weilburg, and Rhein-Lahn.
The Taunus range is known for its geothermal springs and mineral waters, which formerly attracted members of the European aristocracy. By the 19th century, Wiesbaden, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Bad Nauheim, and Bad Soden am Taunus were among the most famous spa destinations in the region.
The name Taunus derives from Tacitus's Annals, which mention a castellum in monte Tauno, likely referring to what is now Friedberg. Before this name took hold, the range was known simply as die Höhe, meaning the height, a term still preserved in place names such as Bad Homburg vor der Höhe.
The Taunus was shaped during the Variscan orogeny, which folded and thrust the rock strata into their present southwest-to-northeast orientation. The oldest rocks identified in the range are phyllites near Bierstadt dated to about 480 million years ago, from the Early Ordovician epoch.
The Taunus yielded iron ore with up to 50 percent iron content, silver ore, roofing slate, diabase, lead ore, and quartzite. Mining ran from the 17th century through the 20th century; the last active lead and silver ore mine, the Heftrich pit, closed around 1924.