The Hellweg Börde (German: ''Hellwegbörde'') is a ''

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 and

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 ...

on the southern edge of the

Westphalian Lowland The Westphalian Lowland, also known as the Westphalian Basin is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine (in the extreme southwest) and in Lower Saxony (on the nor ...

in the German state of

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

, which embraces the old

Hellweg In the Middle Ages, Hellweg was the official and common name given to main travelling routes in Germany. Their breadth was decreed as an unimpeded passageway a lance's width, about three metres, which the landholders through which the Hellweg pas ...

trading route cities and towns of

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

Unna Unna is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Cologne, Münster, Hamm, D ...

Werl Werl (; Westphalian: ''Wiärl'') is a town located in the district of Soest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Werl is easily accessible because it is located between the Sauerland, Münsterland, and the Ruhr Area. The Hellweg road ...

and Soest extending to

Salzkotten Salzkotten is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name Salzkotten (in English, "Salt cottages") is based in the former salt production, which gave Salzkotten its raison d'être. Salt was found in the salty ...

and from there in an ever narrower strip to its northeastern tip at

Schlangen Schlangen is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Schlangen has about 9.000 inhabitants (2013) and enjoys relative prosperity. Located a few kilometers away from Detmold, the municipality stretches from the edge ...

on the edge of the town of

Bad Lippspringe Bad Lippspringe () is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Bad Lippspringe is situated on the western slope of the Teutoburger Wald, approximately north-east of Paderborn. The river Lippe has its sour ...

. It is characterised by its heavy deposits of post ice age loess soils. The region can be further divided into the Werl-Unna Börde,

Soest Börde The Soest Börde (german: Soester Börde) is an historical territorial lordship and a cultural landscape in the centre of the German region of Westphalia, between Sauerland in the south and Münsterland in the north. It is known nationally for b ...

and

Geseke Börde ''Geseke'' () is a town in the administrative district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Geseke is situated approximately 12 km south-east of Lippstadt and 20 km south-west of Paderborn. The city is located at th ...

. In the west the loess soils of the Hellweg Börde continue into the

Westenhellweg Westenhellweg is the main shopping street in Dortmund, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous ...

region.

History

By the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

(around 4,000 B.C.) grain was already being cultivated here on the fertile, calcareous land. The oldest trace of a

neolithic 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 ...

culture was the discovery of pottery from the La Hoguette Culture dating to the middle of the 6th millennium B.C.

Sources

Hellwegbörde article on German Wikipedia Regions of North Rhine-Westphalia Cultural landscapes of North Rhine-Westphalia {{NorthRhineWestphalia-geo-stub

History

See also

Sources