The Burgberg (also called the Burgberge) is a ridge of hills up to high in the German federal state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Geography

The Burgberg, which belongs to the Solling-Vogler Nature Park, is located in the district of

Holzminden Holzminden (; nds, Holtsminne) is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden. It is located on the river Weser, which at this point forms the border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Histor ...

in the

Weser Uplands The Weser Uplands (German: ''Weserbergland'', ) is a hill region in Germany, between Hannoversch Münden and Porta Westfalica, along the river Weser. The area reaches into three states, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Important ...

between the hill ranges of the

Vogler The Vogler is a range of hills, up to 460.4 m high, in the Weser Uplands in southern Lower Saxony (Germany). Together with the Solling, the Vogler forms the Solling-Vogler Nature Park which lies a couple of kilometres further south. Ge ...

to the north, the Homburgwald to the northeast, and the

Solling The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hills ...

to the south. It lies between the towns of Bevern in the southwest and

Golmbach Golmbach is a municipality in the district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

and

Stadtoldendorf Stadtoldendorf is a town in the center of the Holzminden district, Lower Saxony, Germany. Stadtoldendorf is the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Eschershausen-Stadtoldendorf. Government Allocation of seats in the loca ...

in the east. To the west flows the

River Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...

. A section of the B 64 federal road runs along the southern part of the Burgberg, linking

with Negenborn.

Sights

The ruined walls of the former castle of Everstein may be seen on the twin peaks of the Großer (Higher) Everstein () and Kleiner (Lower) Everstein. Everstein-Wappen

Since 1116, the noble lords and

Counts of Everstein Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

(also Eberstein) have been named after their castles on the Großer and Kleiner Everstein on the Burgberg. As followers and relatives of the Imperial House of

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

, the family expanded their own property in the Weser Uplands into a small state dominion. They also founded the ''Dobnagau'' in today's

Vogtland Vogtland (; cz, Fojtsko) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former ...

around 1100. The von Everstein family split into several lines around 1200. The Ohsen and Holzminden lines died out in the 14th century, another line in its Lower Saxon branch also at the end of the 14th century and in its Danish branch in 1453. Finally, in 1663, the Eberstein-

Naugard Nowogard () ( csb, Nowògard; formerly german: Naugard) is a town in northwestern Poland, in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. it had a population of 16,733. Name ''Nowogard'' is a combination of two Slavic terms: novi (new) and gard, which is P ...

line, which had been based in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

since 1274, died out. The tower of a former royal Prussian optical telegraph station, no. 28, part of the telegraph line from Berlin to Koblenz, can be seen on the central part of the ridge. Remains of the building foundations for the station have also survived. The tower is not open to the public. An information board describes the history of the optical telegraph. On the steep northern slopes of the Burgberg lies the ''Frauenschuhfläche'' ("Lady's Slipper Field"), a relic of the time when the slopes of the Burgberg were used to graze sheep and goats. The grazing of animals led to the creation of many areas of semi-dry grassland on which a specialised flora developed. These grasslands, with just a few sparse trees and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

bushes, became favourite habitats for the

Lady's slipper orchid Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and ''Selenipedium''. They ...

, hence the field's name, as well as the fringed gentian,

meadow clary ''Salvia pratensis'', the meadow clary or meadow sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The Latin specific epithet ''pratensis'' means "of meadows", referring to its ...

and wild majoram. It has been placed under nature conservation and is accessible via a footpath. An information board describes how it was formed and the vegetation of the area.Birgit Czyppull, Heike Molthan, Dirk Reuter: ''Landschaftsführer Naturpark Solling-Vogler''. Wartberg Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 1996, , S. 59f

Hills

The

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

s of the Burgberg ridge include the: * Großer Everstein () in the east of the Burgberg (with ruined walls of Everstein Castle) * Bonhagenkopf (341.0 m) west centre of the Burgberg * Burgberg (355.0 m) in the centre of the Burgberg (with its Telegraph Tower - not accessible) * Friedberg (308.0 m) in the west of the Burgberg * Kleiner Everstein (311.0 m) in the east of the Burgberg, also with ruined walls of Everstein Castle Source: Topographische Karte 4123 der Niedersächsischen Landesvermessung und Kenntnisse als Revierleiter der Revierförsterei Burgberg

Streams

The streams on the Burgberg ridge include the: * Beverbach (south and northeast on the Burgberg; eastern tributary of the Weser) * Forstbach (north on the Burgberg; eastern tributary of the Weser)

References

{{Coord, 51, 52.5, , N, 9, 31, , E, type:mountain_elevation:345_dim:2500_region:DE-NI, display=title Ridges of Lower Saxony Holzminden (district) Natural regions of the Weser-Leine Uplands