The Central Saxon Hills (german: Mittelsächsische Hügelland, also called the ''Sächsisches Burgen- und Heideland''), is a region of ''
Hügelland
''Hügelland'' is a type of landscape consisting of low rolling hills (geology), rolling hills whose topography or surface structure lies between that of a lowland region (plains or river terraces) and that of a more rugged hill range or low mount ...
'' with indistinct boundaries in the centre of the German state of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
.
Geographic location
To the north the region extends roughly as far as the confluence of the
Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...
and
Zwickau
Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
Mulde rivers and along the Freiberg Mulde to
Nossen
Nossen ( hsb, Nosyn) is a town in the Meißen (district), district of Meissen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 80 km southeast of Leipzig. The town is dominated by a large Renaissance castle. Nossen is best known for its proximity to a mot ...
and on in the valley of the
Triebisch to just before
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
. Its short eastern boundary runs from Meissen along the Triebisch in a southerly direction to the
Tharandt Forest
The Tharandt Forest (german: Tharandter Wald) is a landscape in the centre of the German Free State of Saxony and lies southwest of the forest town of Tharandt, south of the town of Wilsdruff, roughly between the cities of Freiberg and Dresde ...
, continuing through it. In the south, the
hill country
The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Americ ...
is bounded by an artificial line from the Tharandt Forest and running north of the cities and towns of
Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...
,
Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
,
Glauchau
Glauchau (; hsb, Hłuchow) is a town in the German federal state of Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail ( its train station is on the Dresden–Werdau line). It is part of the ...
and
Werdau
Werdau () is a town in Germany, part of the Landkreis Zwickau in Saxony. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 8 km from Zwickau.
The town was mentioned as early as 1304, and in 1398 it was purchased by Frederick, then margrave of Meissen, ...
. In the west the region is bounded by the
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
n state border, the River
Pleiße
The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany.
The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn, then flows through Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing fr ...
and a line from
Frohburg
Frohburg is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 11 km northeast of Altenburg, and 34 km southeast of Leipzig. It includes the village of Flößberg and the town Kohren-Sahlis.
History
Frohburg castle ...
to the confluence of the two Muldes. According to other sources, the ''Lommatzscher Pflege'' and the so-called Oschatz Hill Country (''Oschatzer Hügelland'') - the latter only referred to in specialist literature - may be included.
The most important rivers in the Central Saxon Hills are the Mulde with its two headstreams, the Freiberger Mulde and Zwickauer Mulde. The largest towns are
Döbeln
Döbeln ( hsb, Doblin) is a town in Saxony, Germany, part of the Mittelsachsen district, on both banks of the river Freiberger Mulde.
History
* 981: First written mention of Döbeln (Margravate of Meissen).
* Around 1220: Döbeln is described ...
and
Grimma
Grimma ( hsb, Grima) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig (district), Leipzig district.
Location
The town is in ...
.
Geology and agricultural use
The region, with its ice age
loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
deposits (hence it is sometimes called the
Central Saxon Loess Hills
The Central Saxon Loess Hill CountryPetermanns ''Geographische Mitteilungen'', Volume 130, Perthes, J., 1986. p. 143. (german: Mittelsächsisches Lösshügelland), also called the Central Saxon Loess Hills is a natural region in central Saxony.
I ...
or ''mittelsächsisches Lößhügelland'') is heavily dominated by agriculture (
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
and
vegetable farming
Vegetable farming is the growing of vegetables for human consumption. The practice probably started in several parts of the world over ten thousand years ago, with families growing vegetables for their own consumption or to trade locally. At fir ...
), especially as a result of its very high
soil value Soil value (german: Bodenwertzahl) or BWZ is a comparative assessment of soil quality used in Germany. It is determined from soil sampling data and ranges from 0 (very low) to 100 (very high).
According to the Geological Service of the state of No ...
s. The low hills and almost level plains of the Central Saxon Hills are almost entirely unforested. Woods only occur on the valley slopes of the rivers bisecting the region.
See also
*
List of regions of Saxony
A classification of the various regions of Saxony cannot be achieved in any uniform or standard way, as the commonly used names usually represent a mixture of historical regions and geographical features. Many well-known names of regions, such as ...
*
Ore Mountain Foreland
The Saxon Uplands, Saxon HillsElkins, T H (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . or Ore Mountain Foreland (german: Erzgebirgsvorland}) is a strip of countryside of about 200 m to high, in the German state of Saxony, that l ...
Geography of Saxony
Natural regions of Germany