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 A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

in central

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 ...

. It is bounded in the south to an extent by 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 Dresden. ...

. In the west the

Freiberger The Freiberger, also known as Franches-Montagnes, is a horse breed from Switzerland, from the Jura region, described as either a "heavy warmblood" or a "light coldblood". It was widely used as draft and pack horse in the Swiss army. It has ...

and

Zwickauer Mulde The Zwickauer Mulde () is a river in Saxony, Germany. It is the left tributary of the Mulde and in length. The source of the river is in the Ore Mountains, near Schöneck, in the Vogtlandkreis. It runs northeast to Aue, then northwest to Z ...

merge into the

Mulde The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long. The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (with ...

. The region is characterized by loess deposits from the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. On the plains there are virtually no woods. These are to be found exclusively on the valley slopes of the rivers (the Mulde and its headstreams, the Freiberger and Zwickauer Mulde). The Central Saxon Loess Hill Country is of great importance 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 ...

, e.g. for growing vegetables and fruit.

References

See also