The Burgdorf-Peine Geest (german: Burgdorf-Peiner Geest) is a

geest Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash plai ...

landscape, dominated by

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

and

ground moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice she ...

s, between

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and Brunswick in North Germany, with an area of about . Its natural borders are the

Aller Aller may refer to: Places Rivers * Aller (Germany), a major river in North Germany *Aller (Asturian river), a river in Asturias, Spain *River Aller, a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England Inhabited places in the United Kingdom *Aller, Devo ...

depression in the north, the

Hildesheim Börde The Hildesheim Börde (german: Hildesheimer Börde or ''Braunschweig-Hildesheimer Lössbörde'') is a natural region, 272 km2 in area, in the northern part of Hildesheim district, which is known for its especially rich black earth loess soil. L ...

and, in places, the

Mittelland Canal The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (german: Mittellandkanal, ) is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of that country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connec ...

in the south the

Oker The Oker is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meaning of the name The ...

valley in the east and the

Hanoverian Moor Geest The Hanoverian Moor Geest (german: Hannoversche Moorgeest) is a gently rolling landscape between Hanover and Nienburg in the German state of Lower Saxony covering an area of around . It belongs to the raised bog regions of northwest Germany, which ...

in the west. Today it is bordered by the cities of Hanover and Brunswick and the towns of Burgdorf,

Uetze Uetze �ʏt͡səis a municipality in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Fuhse, approximately east of Hanover. Geography Uetze is the easternmost municipality in the Hanover Region. It is bordered by ...

Vechelde Vechelde is a municipality in the district of Peine, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km southeast of Peine, and 10 km west of Braunschweig. Municipal subdivisions Twinned cities Vechelde is twinned with: ...

Peine Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, and east of Hanover. History A deed from 11 ...

and Lehrte. The whole geest region with its rural settlements has a distinctly rural character, with the exception of the town of Peine. The area is crossed from east to west by the

, the A 2 motorway and the B 188 federal road. This area, also called the Burgdorf-Peine Geest (or Sand) Plateaus, belongs to the Lower Saxon

countryside, that covers large parts of the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland) is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Balti ...

. The surface of the Burgdorf-Peine Geest is gently rolling. It is divided into depressions like the

Fuhse The Fuhse is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany, a left tributary of the Aller. Spelled Fuse in maps of the 19th century and earlier, the name is thought to derive from the ancient Fosa flumen, after which the Germanic tribe of the Fosi took thei ...

(running from north to south) and valleys with

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...

country. In many areas the original forests have been cleared to make way for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. One remaining large area of woodland is the Hämeler Forest near Hämelerwald. The landscape is dominated by arable fields, in which rye,

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

and

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es produce good returns.

Asparagus Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified in ...

is also widely grown on the dry, sandy soils, Burgdorf Asparagus (''Burgdorfer Spargel'') being particularly well known in Germany as a whole. The grazing of cattle is also a common mode of farming due to the poor soils. Near Hänigsen a loamy

rises close to the surface which improves the soil quality. The sandy parts of the geest are mainly covered with pine woods exploited by the forestry industry. Deciduous woods occur here and there in the shape of

English oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

woods.

External links

Landscape fact file and map by the Bundesamt für Naturschutz
{{coord, 52.3800, N, 10.0644, E, source:wikidata, display=title Hanover (region) Peine (district) Regions of Lower Saxony Geest