The Deister is a chain of

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 in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 ...

, about 15 mi (25 km) southwest of the city of

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 ...

. It runs in a north-westerly direction from

Springe Springe is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, southwest of Hanover. Town structure * Springe (core settlement, seat of the mayor), population 13,184 * Bennigsen, population 4, ...

in the south to

Rodenberg Rodenberg () is a town in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Deister hills, approx. 10 km east of Stadthagen, and 27 km west of Hanover. Rodenberg is also the seat of ...

in the north. The next in the chain of hills to the south is the

Kleiner Deister The Kleiner Deister is a ridge of hills (up to ) in the Calenberg Uplands which, together with the Nesselberg and the Osterwald, forms a group of three adjacent hill ranges in the northern part of the Leine Uplands. It lies between Springe and El ...

("Little Deister") from which it is separated by the flat pass of the

Deister Gate The Deister Gate (german: Deisterpforte) is a 550-metre-wide gap between the Deister and Kleiner Deister hill ridges in Springe in Hanover Region, Lower Saxony, Germany. The height of the pass varies between to . The River Haller rises in the ...

. It is surrounded by Springe,

Wennigsen Wennigsen is a municipality in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, approx. 15 km southwest of Hanover. Geography Wennigsen borders on (from north and clockwise) Gehrden, Ronnenberg, Spr ...

, Barsinghausen, Bad Nenndorf, Rodenberg and

Bad Münder Bad Münder (also: ''Bad Münder am Deister''; West Low German: ''Bad Münner'') is a town in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the south side of the Deister hills in the Deister-Süntel valley, about northeast of Ham ...

(counter-clockwise, starting in the south). It has a total length of 21 km (14 mi), and rises in the Hofeler to a height of 395 m (1,250 ft). The highest point is the

Bröhn The Bröhn (405 m), is the highest hill in the Deister range in the German state of Lower Saxony. It owes its name to the broom growing here (, but formerly known as ' or '). The highest point of the hill is close to the , an observation tower o ...

at 405 m (1,312 ft). The chain is well-wooded and abounds in game. From the 17th century on there were several coal mines; the last were abandoned in the 1950s. Sandstone from quarries in eastern Deister was used in several important buildings all over Europe, including the opera house in Hanover and the Reichstag in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Today the Deister is a popular target for people of the Hanover area for walking and cycling. The Deister is a border region since ancient times. Here one can find many places with memorial stones,

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

and ruins of castles.

Flora and fauna

The ridge is covered by a mixed forest of

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

and, in places, also beech and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. On the Cecilienhöhe near Bad Nenndorf, at the picnic area of

Lauenau Lauenau is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany, with about 4,200 inhabitants. It is situated in the east of the district of Schaumburg just off the A2 Autobahn at the foot of the Deister ridge in the Deister-Süntel valley. As well as Lauenau it ...

-Feggendorf and southwest of the old forester's lodge at Köllnischfeld are several examples of the rare, native

dwarf beech The dwarf beech, ''Fagus sylvatica'' Tortuosa Group, is a rare cultivar group of the European Beech with fewer than 1500 older specimens in Europe. It is also known as twisted beech or parasol beech. It is a wide-spreading tree with distinctive ...

(''Süntelbuche''). Image:Deister_Kammweg.jpg, Spruce and beech wood along the Deister ridgeway Image:FeggendorfGrillplatz.jpg, Dwarf beeches at the Feggendorf picnic site Amongst the rarer plants on the Deister are species of

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

, mezereon,

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

sundew ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginou ...

s, globeflowers, hard shield fern, and great

snowdrops ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single ...

. The Deister is home to the typical animals found in the German

Central Uplands The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (german: die MittelgebirgeN.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ...

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

are very common. Other wild animals occurring here are the

pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...

and

beech marten The beech marten (''Martes foina''), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is li ...

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

polecat Polecat is a common name for several mustelid species in the order Carnivora and subfamilies Ictonychinae and Mustelinae. Polecats do not form a single taxonomic rank (i.e. clade). The name is applied to several species with broad similarities ...

, dwarf weasel and

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

. Birds of prey include the

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

goshawk Goshawk may refer to several species of birds of prey, mainly in the genus ''Accipiter'': * Northern goshawk, ''Accipiter gentilis'', often referred to simply as the goshawk, since it is the only goshawk found in much of its range (in Europe and N ...

and

red kite The red kite (''Milvus milvus'') is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species currently breeds in the Western Palearctic region o ...

. Rarer small animals include the

mouse-eared bat The mouse-eared bats or myotises are a diverse and widespread genus (''Myotis'') of bats within the family Vespertilionidae. The noun "''myotis''" itself is a New Latin construction, from the Greek "''muós'' (meaning "mouse") and "''oûs''" (mea ...

and lesser horseshoe bat.

Hills

Most of the hills in the Deister have a tower at the top, used for various purposes. The one on the Großer Hals is for telecommunications, while the one on the Höfeler is used for

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

. The others are for sightseeing and restaurants. *

(405 m) and Anna Tower * Höfeler (395 m) and air traffic control tower * Reinekensiekskopf (382 m) and Nordmanns Tower * Hohe Warte (379 m) * Fahrenbrink (376 m) * Großer Hals (361 m) and telecommunications tower *

Ebersberg Ebersberg is the seat of the similarly named Ebersberg ''Landkreis'' (district) in the Oberbayern ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative region) in Bavaria, southern Germany. The ''Ebersberger Forst'' (forest) is one of Germany’s largest continu ...

(355 m) * Bielstein (344 m) and refuge hut * Egge (339 m) * Kniggenbrink (312 m) * Kalenberg (310 m) * Strutzberg (198 m) and Belvedere Tower

Notes

{{Authority control Hill ranges of Lower Saxony Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony

Flora and fauna

Hills

See also

Notes