The Hildesheim
Börde
A ''börde'' (plural: ''börden'') is a region of highly fertile lowland in North Germany, a "fertile plain". These landscapes often cover great areas and are particularly important for arable farming on account of their rich soils.
These region ...
(german: Hildesheimer Börde or ''Braunschweig-Hildesheimer Lössbörde'') is a
natural region
A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate.
From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...
, 272 km
2 in area, in the northern part of
Hildesheim district, which is known for its especially rich
black earth loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
soil.
Location
The ''
börde
A ''börde'' (plural: ''börden'') is a region of highly fertile lowland in North Germany, a "fertile plain". These landscapes often cover great areas and are particularly important for arable farming on account of their rich soils.
These region ...
'' landscape is located in the pentagon of land between
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 ...
-
Peine
Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, and east of Hanover.
History
A deed from 11 ...
-
Brunswick -
Salzgitter
Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...
-
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...
and is dominated by arable countryside with no large towns or cities. The natural boundaries of the area are: to the west the
Leine
The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long.
The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver, t ...
, to the north the
Burgdorf-Peine Geest The Burgdorf-Peine Geest (german: Burgdorf-Peiner Geest) is a geest landscape, dominated by end and ground moraines, between Hanover and Brunswick in North Germany, with an area of about . Its natural borders are the Aller depression in the north, ...
, to the south the
Innerste Uplands
The Innerste Uplands (german: Innerstebergland) is a landscape region up to 359 m high and covering an area of over 900 km² in the northern part of the German Central Uplands. It lies within the eastern part of the Weser-Leine Uplands ...
and
Hildesheim Forest
The Hildesheim Forest (german: Hildesheimer Wald) is a range of hills up to in the district of Hildesheim in the German state of Lower Saxony.
Geography
The Hildesheim Forest is located in the Innerste Uplands, part of the Lower Saxon Hills ...
. To the west is the Calenberg Loess Börde of
Calenberg Land
The Calenberg Land (german: Calenberger Land) is a historic landscape southwest of Hanover in Germany, roughly formed by the countryside between the Leine and the Deister hills. The name of this region comes from the Principality of Calenberg rule ...
. To the east in the direction of Brunswick it transitions gradually into the
Magdeburg Börde
The Magdeburg Börde (german: Magdeburger Börde) is the central landscape unit of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and lies to the west and south of the eponymous state capital Magdeburg. Part of a loess belt stretching along the southeastern rim of th ...
. These Börde landscapes are part of the Central European loess zone, which lies north of the
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 ...
and stretches from
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in the west to
Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...
in the east.
Based on the type of land surface and drainage situation, the Hildesheim Börde is further divided into five areas:
*
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...
Börde
* Gödringen Hills
*
Ilsede
Ilsede is a municipality in the district of Peine, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Fuhse, approx. 7 km south of Peine, and 20 km west of Braunschweig.
Ilsede in its present borders was formed in 2015 by merging the ...
Börde
* Nettlingen Ridge
*
Lebenstedt Börde
Soils
The Hildesheim Börde region is almost entirely covered by a layer of
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
to a depth of up to 2 m. Its soils are the most fertile in Germany and it has been cultivated for 4,000 years. Today the soils of the börde secure annual record harvests for the local farmers. This enables demanding crops such as
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
and
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
to be grown. The land produces an average of 0.8 kg of wheat or 5.5 kg of sugar beet. The dark soil raises the temperature of the ground which extends the annual growing period.
Woods and settlements
The region has a gently undulating landscape with low hills. Large areas are used for arable farming and woods are rare in the Börde due to the intensive way in which the land is used, so much so that it is sometimes referred to as a 'wheat or sugar beet steppe'. Most of the trees are isolated and only hedges and bushes along the roads and streams break up the scene. Most of the settlements are clustered villages (''Haufendörfer''). Their houses were built close together in order not to waste valuable farmland.
Soil value
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the farmland at
Eickendorf in the Magdeburg Börde, where German
soil value Soil value (german: Bodenwertzahl) or BWZ is a comparative assessment of soil quality used in Germany. It is determined from soil sampling data and ranges from 0 (very low) to 100 (very high).
According to the Geological Service of the state of No ...
s were measured in 1934, was no longer available for
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
comparison testing due to the
division of Germany
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
* Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
* Division (military), a formation typically consistin ...
. As a result, a federal facility for testing soil values was established at
Harsum
Harsum is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km north of Hildesheim, and 25 km southeast of Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is t ...
, part of Machtsum, which was located within the Hildesheim Börde. This has fixed the agricultural comparator (''Landwirtschaftliche Vergleichszahl'' or ''LVZ'') at a value of 100. Machtsum lies 10 kilometres northeast of
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...
. On later measurements a still higher LVZ value of 102.8 was obtained near
Mölme, the highest value recorded in Germany to date. Mölme lies about 20 km east of Hildesheim and is part of the municipality of
Söhlde
Söhlde is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km east of Hildesheim, and 10 km northwest of Salzgitter.
Notable residents
* Gottfried von Cramm (1909- ...
.
Transport
The
AB 7 autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
crosses the western part of the Hildesheim Börde. From the
motorway services
Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...
of ''
Autobahnraststätte Hildesheimer Börde'', situated on a rise a few kilometres southeast of
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...
, there is a view of the landscape up to about 20 km away towards the north. The
Mittelland Canal
The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (german: Mittellandkanal, ) is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of that country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connec ...
runs north of the Börde in an east-west direction. The river
Fuhse
The Fuhse is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany, a left tributary of the Aller.
Spelled Fuse in maps of the 19th century and earlier, the name is thought to derive from the ancient Fosa flumen, after which the Germanic tribe of the Fosi took their ...
crosses the area from southeast to north.
Literature
* ''Hildesheimer and Kalenberger Börde. Natur and Landschaft im Landkreis Hildesheim.'' Mitteilungen der Paul-Feindt-Stiftung, Hildesheim 2005,
External links
Landschaftssteckbrief with Karte durch Bundesamt for Naturschutz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hildesheim Borde
Natural regions of Germany
Regions of Lower Saxony
Hildesheim (district)