The Dümmer Nature Park (german: Naturpark Dümmer) in

North Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

is located in the Lower Saxon districts of Diepholz and

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every summer and has a h ...

and the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

n district of Minden-Lübbecke. It is about northeast of

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

and lies between Diepholz and Bohmte, Bersenbrück and

Rahden Rahden is a town in the far north of North Rhine-Westphalia between Bielefeld and Bremen and between Hanover and Osnabrück. Rahden is part of the Minden-Lübbecke District in East Westphalia-Lippe. Rahden was first mentioned in 1033 and 1816 t ...

. The

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

covers an area of almost and is bisected from north to south by the Weser-Ems watershed. Within the boundary of its protected landscape are the

Damme Hills The Damme Hills are a high, wooded ridge, up to , in the Oldenburg Münsterland in the southern part of the district of Landkreis Vechta, Vechta, in western Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Location The ridge of the Damme Hills, which is a ...

, the

Dümmer The Dümmer () or officially Dümmer See is a large lake in southern Lower Saxony (Germany). It has a surface of 13.5 km2 and an average depth of one metre. Its elevation is 37 metres. Dümmer is a popular resort for water sports, but a ...

lake (the focus of the nature park), the Stemweder Hills and numerous bogs such as the Großes Moor and the Oppenweher Moor). The Dümmer Nature Park and the Dümmer Lake in particular is a breeding and resting site for many

migrating birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting b ...

. Numerous water ditches as well as the

Hunte Hunte is a long river in north-western Germany (Lower Saxony), a left tributary of the Weser. The Hunte rises in the Wiehen Hills. In the North German Plain it flows through lake Dümmer. It flows generally northwards through the towns Bad Es ...

cross the park area. The extensive raised bogs have a unique flora and fauna. Discoveries from the

New Stone Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

indicate that people were attracted here in prehistoric times by the fertile soils and even settled here.

External links

umwelt nrw: ''Naturpark Dümmer: Fischerdörfer und Natur pur im Landesinnern''

Duemmer Duemmer Vechta (district) {{LowerSaxony-geo-stub

See also

External links