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 **Ger ...

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 in the north. The next in the chain of hills to the south is the Kleiner Deister ("Little Deister") from which it is separated by the flat pass of the Deister Gate. It is surrounded by Springe, Wennigsen,

Barsinghausen Barsinghausen is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Deister chain of hills approx. 20 km west of Hanover. Barsinghausen belongs to the historic landscape Calenberg Land and was first mentioned i ...

Bad Nenndorf Bad Nenndorf (Northern Low Saxon: ''Nenndörpe'') is a small town in the district of Schaumburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Its population is 10,210 (2005). It is situated approximately 12 km east of Stadthagen, and 25 km west of Hanover, a ...

, 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 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 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 (''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,

mezereon ''Daphne mezereum'', commonly known as mezereum, mezereon, February daphne, spurge laurel or spurge olive, is a species of ''Daphne'' in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to most of Europe and Western Asia, north to northern Scand ...

, orchids, sundews,

globeflower ''Trollius'' is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants closely related to ''Ranunculus'', in the family Ranunculaceae. The common name of some species is globeflower or globe flower. The generic name is derived from the Swiss-German word ...

hard shield fern ''Polystichum aculeatum'', the hard shield-fern, is an evergreen fern native to Europe. It is most abundant in upland regions of the British Isles and western France, where it benefits from the combination of mild winters and moist summers, but ...

, 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.

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 and beech marten, stoat, polecat, 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, goshawk and red kite. 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. * Bröhn (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