The Haußelberg is a hill, above NN, in 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 the north German district of

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

. It is a popular viewing point in the otherwise very flat terrain of the

Südheide Nature Park The Südheide Nature Park ("Southern Heath Nature Park", German: ''Naturpark Südheide'') is a large protected area of forest and heathland in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. It has been designated as a protected nature ...

. In 1820

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

of the United Kingdom tasked the Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Observatory at Göttingen University,

Carl Friedrich Gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...

, to survey the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Han ...

. The mathematician Gauss used the summit of the Haußelberg as one of the

triangulation station A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

s for his land surveys, triangulating it to the

Falkenberg Falkenberg is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran (river), Ätra ...

, AMSL, further west near Wardböhmen and to the

Wilseder Berg At , the Wilseder Berg is the highest point on the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. Due to its position in the middle of the nature reserve Lüneburg Heath it is a popular tourist destination, especially in the period when the heather is in flo ...

, AMSL, to the north. Another triangle was formed by the Haußelberg, the Falkenberg and Breithorn (Breitenhorn), AMSL, south of

Unterlüß Unterlüß is a village and former municipality in the district of Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany. It became part of the municipality of Südheide on 1 January 2015. It is about 30 km north-east of Celle and 25 km south-west of Uelzen. ...

. It has to be deduced that these points - the Breithorn, Haußelberg and Falkenberg - which are all hidden by woods today, were then on open, unforested hilltops, probably surrounded by heathland. Not until the large, systematic afforestation in the 2nd half of the 19th century did today's wooded hilltops emerge. In 2005 a new trig point was erected on the Haußelberg, near the original

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. Part of the triangulation network used for Gauss's survey was pictured on the reverse side of the 4th series of 10 Deutschmark banknotes.10DM note, on the reverse side: Sextant and triangulation network
/ref> Whilst he surveyed from the Haußelberg, Gauss lived for 10 days on the farm of ''von der Ohe'' in Oberohe (today in the municipality of

Faßberg Faßberg (ang. Fassberg) is a municipality in the Celle (district), district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 35 km north of Celle, and 30 km west of Uelzen. History :''The pre-war history of Fassberg air ...

). In a letter to his friend Dr. Olbers he wrote:

References and footnotes

Overview of the surveyed triangulation systems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hausselberg Hills of Lower Saxony