Geest is a type of

landform A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, ...

, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash plain and now usually mantled by a heathland vegetation on the glacial deposits left behind after the last ice age during the Pleistocene epoch.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 214. . The term '' geest'' is a substantivisation of the

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

adjective ''güst'', which means "dry and infertile". It is an Old Drift landscape, characterised by the sandy depositions of the Ice Age. In the depressions between the raised flats are wet meadows and, where drainage is poor,

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s. Geest lands are made up of

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

s and sandurs. They are almost always next to flat marshlands, the geest being higher and better protected against flood but, compared to the marsh, with poor soil for agriculture. Where the geest borders the sea directly, sand cliffs exist. The oldest settlements in Northern Germany and Denmark lie on geest, since it provided better protection against storm floods. Many important towns are on the boundary between geest and marshland where people could enjoy the flood-protection of the geest but still use the much more fertile soil in the marsh. Examples of regions characterised by geest are: * the Burgdorf-Peine Geest * the Cloppenburg Geest near Cloppenburg * the geest hillsides between

Wedel Wedel is a town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approximately south of Elmshorn, and west of Hamburg. History Foundation and Middle Ages The first known mention of ...

, Altona and Hamburg-Neustadt and between

Hamburg-St. Georg St. Georg (Sankt Georg; ) is a central quarter in the borough Hamburg-Mitte of Hamburg, Germany. In 2020 the population was 11,349. History In 1410 the articles 17 and 18 of a contract (''Rezeß'') between the Senate and the citizens were reg ...

, Bergedorf, Geesthacht and Lauenburg north of the Elbe (see also: Elbe Urstromtal) * the central geest areas of the islands of Amrum, Föhr and Sylt * the Hanoverian Moor Geest * the

Heide-Itzehoe Geest The Heide-Itzehoe Geest (german: Heide-Itzehoe Geest) is a division of a larger natural region in the west of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It belongs to the Hohe Geest and thus to the Schleswig-Holstein Geest natural region. It covers ...

* the

Linteln Geest The Linteln Geest (German: ''Lintelner Geest'' or ''Lint(e)ler Geest''), shown on some maps as the Verden Heath, (German: ''Verdener Heide'Die Generalkarte, Nr. 5 - Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover'', ADAC regional club and ADAC office, Mairs Graphische ...

near

Kirchlinteln Kirchlinteln is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its central village is situated approximately 6 km east of Verden, and 40 km southeast of Bremen. It is surrounded by the Linteln Geest (also called ...

* the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

in Lower Saxony * the Rehden Geest Moor * the

Schleswig Geest The Schleswig Geest (german: Schleswigsche Geest, da, Slesvigsk Gest, Midtslesvig or Midtsletten) lies between the North Frisian Marsh and Schleswig-Holstein Uplands in the north of Schleswig-Holstein (Southern Schleswig) in Germany. To the south ...

* the

Stade Geest The Stade Geest (German: ''Stader Geest''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Stoder Geest'') is a natural region of low, sandy heath (geest) in the North German Plain. It includes a large part of the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the cities of Hamburg, Bremen a ...

near

Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

(including the

Zeven Geest The Zeven Geest (german: Zevener Geest), which is part of the Stade Geest, is an area of sandy terrain in the northeast of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is named after the town of Zeven. Geography The Zeven Geest lies in the Elbe-Weser ...

and

Wesermünde Geest The Wesermünde Geest (german: Wesermünder Geest; Northern Low Saxon: ''Wersermünner Geest'') is the collective name for several geest ridges in the west of Cuxhaven district and Bremen's in northern Germany. The ridges are separated from one a ...

) * the

Wildeshausen Geest The Wildeshausen Geest (german: Wildeshauser Geest) is part of the northwest Germany's geest ridge, that begins near Meppen on the river Ems with the Hümmling, is broken by the Weser depression, continues with the Osterholz Geest and reaches the ...

in Lower Saxony * the Wingst northwest of Hemmoor (Lower Saxony)

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* {{Authority control Oronyms

See also

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