The Baumberge are the highest hills in the natural regions of Münsterland and

Kernmünsterland The Kernmünsterland is a major landscape unit in western Germany. It covers an area of about 2700 km² and lies at the heart of the Westphalian Basin and the historic region of Münsterland in the north of Westphalia. It is bounded to the west, ...

with a maximum height of . They are located between

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

and

Coesfeld Coesfeld (; Westphalian: ''Koosfeld'') is the capital of the district of Coesfeld in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. History Coesfeld received its city rights in 1197, but was first recorded earlier than that in the biography of St ...

, which is itself close to the southwest edge of the Baumberge. The hilly terrain has several

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...

, hydrographic and

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

features.

Natural regions

The Baumberge and their immediate foothills are subdivided into natural regions as follows:Geographische Landesaufnahme: The natural region units on ''Sheet 83/84 - Osnabrück/Bentheim'' (Sofie Meisel 1961; centre of sheet), ''Sheet 95/96 - Kleve/Wesel'' (Wilhelm von Kürten 1977; east) and ''Sheet 97 - Münster'' (Sofie Meisel 1960; west) - Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg �
maps
/ref> * ''(to 54

Westphalian Basin The Westphalian Lowland, also known as the Westphalian Basin is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine (in the extreme southwest) and in Lower Saxony (on the nort ...

)'' ** ''(to 541

)'' *** ''(to 541.0 Burgsteinfurt Land)'' **** 541.00 Osterwick Hills (''Osterwicker Hügelland'') - 128 m; gently rolling, NW foothills, separated from the Schröppingen Ridge by the

Vechte The Vechte () (in German and in Low Saxon (Dutch Low Saxon pronunciation: ̯ɛxtəThe places near the Vechte in the County of Bentheim have the same pronunciation or Vecht (in Dutch) (), often called Overijsselse Vecht () in the Netherlands to a ...

river **** 541.02 Schöppingen Ridge (''Schöppinger Rücken'') - 158 m; N foothills of the Baumberge **** 541.03 Baumberge - 188 m **** 541.05 Altenberge Ridge (''Altenberger Rücken'') - 117 m; NE gently rolling ridge, parallel to the Baumberge and Schöppingen Ridge, separated by the stream of the Steinfurter Aa **** 541.07 Coesfeld-Darup Heights (''Coesfeld-Daruper Höhen'') - 166 m; SW foothills of the Baumberge

Location

The Baumberge lie within the Münsterland district of

running in a northwest to southeast direction between

Billerbeck Billerbeck ( Westphalian: ''Billerbiëk'') is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Geography Neighbor towns/cities Billerbeck has boundaries to Rosendahl, Laer, Altenberge, Havixbeck, Nottuln and Coes ...

in the west, the

Rosendahl Rosendahl is a municipality in the Coesfeld (district), district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately north-west of Coesfeld. In this municipality is located the Castle of Darfeld, internation ...

villages of

Darfeld Rosendahl is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately north-west of Coesfeld. In this municipality is located the Castle of Darfeld, internationally famous for hav ...

in the northwest,

Havixbeck Havixbeck ( Westphalian: ''Havkesbierk'' or ''Havkesbieck'') is a municipality situated on the north-east edge of the Baumberge in the district of Coesfeld, in northern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 15 km west ...

in the east, Nottuln- Schapdetten in the southeast and

Nottuln Nottuln (; Low German: ''Notteln'') is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Nottuln is situated in the Baumberge, approx. 20 km west of Münster. Neighbouring municipalities ...

in the south, Schapdetten being situated on the southeastern slopes of the hills themselves. On the other side of the Nottuln–Billerbeck state road (''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...

'') the hills are separated by a saddle from the Coesfeld-Darup Heights which are up to 166 m high, the southwest foothills of the southern slopes. To the north the Baumberge transition into the Schöppingen Ridge, which after depression of only a little over 100 m reach a height of 158 m at the Schöppinger Berg. The A 43 motorway runs past the Baumberge just 2 km to the south (south of Schapdetten) and the A 1 passes 8 km to the east. The northern part of the range is separated by the

Baumberge Railway The Baumberge are the highest hills in the natural regions of Münsterland and Kernmünsterland with a maximum height of . They are located between Münster and Coesfeld, which is itself close to the southwest edge of the Baumberge. The hilly ...

Landscape

The Baumberge rise over the otherwise flat landscape to around 100 m reaching their highest point in the Westerberg ; whose summit is crowned by the

Longinus Tower The Longinus Tower (''Longinusturm'') is a 32-metre-high observation tower located in Nottuln, Germany. It was erected by the Baumberge Club between 1897 and 1901 on the summit of the 182.61-metre-high Westerberg hill. The Longinus Tower is made o ...

. Typical of this landscape a relatively level and treeless plateau with steep wooded edges of uniform height. The plateau is sparsely populated due to its aridity. The highest elevations around the Baumberge are the Schöppinger Berg near

Schöppingen Schöppingen is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately south-west of Steinfurt. The Master of the Schöppingen Altarpiece derives his name from an altarpiece that ...

at 157.6 m, Bentheim Ridge (''Bentheimer Hohenrücken'') near

Bad Bentheim Bad Bentheim (; nds-nl, Beantem) is a town in the southwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany, in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim on the borders of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands roughly 15 km south of Nordhorn and 20 km ...

at 91.9 m the Gildehaus Ridge (''Gildehäuser Höhenrücken'') west of it near Gildehaus at around 80 m, the Altenberge Ridge (''Altenberger Höhenrücken'') at 113.0 m and the Buchenberg near

Burgsteinfurt Steinfurt (; Westphalian: ''Stemmert'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From roughly 1100-1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north- ...

at 110 m.

Karst hills

The substratum of the Baumberge consists of a calcareous sandstone that is very porous. As a result, rainwater on the plateau soaks away to a great depth. The farms here have, for centuries, had to bore wells 40 m to 50 m deep to collect drinking water – frequently, however, they had to use rainwater cisterns until, in the early 1970s, a drinking water main was laid to them. The rainwater that drains away reappears at the edges of the Baumberge in spring horizons again; sometimes even entire streams can appear at the surface after just a few metres. Several other features of a

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

hill range like

ponor A ponor is a natural opening where surface water enters into underground passages; they may be found in karst landscapes where the geology and the geomorphology is typically dominated by porous limestone rock. Ponors can drain stream or lake wate ...

s and

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s are also found in the Baumberge.

References

External links

Baumberge tourism

Natural region map
from the individual 1:200,000 sheets by the ''Bundesinstitut für Landeskunde'' - the Baumberge are "541.03" on **''Sheet 83/84 - Osnabrück/Bentheim'' (centre of sheet) **''Sheet 95/96 - Kleve/Wesel'' (east) **''Sheet 97 - Münster'' (west) {{Authority control Hill ranges of Germany Landforms of North Rhine-Westphalia Münster (region) Westphalian Lowland