Osnabrück Land (german: Osnabrücker Land) is a region in southwest
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
in Germany, which extends into the 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 state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...
. Its centre is the city 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 populat ...
. The region is dominated by the
Teutoburg Forest
The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed th ...
and the River
Hase
The Hase is a long river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope ...
. Originally a variant of
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 ...
was spoken here which belonged to the
East-Westphalian
Westphalian or Westfalish (Standard High German: ', Standard Dutch: ') is one of the major dialect groups of West Low German. Its most salient feature is its diphthongization (rising diphthongs). For example, speakers say () instead of or f ...
dialect.
The region is generally identified with the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
and city 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 populat ...
, which largely corresponds to the
Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück
The Prince-Bishopric of OsnabrückAlso known as the Prince-Bishopric of Osnaburg) (german: link=no, Hochstift Osnabrück; Fürstbistum Osnabrück, Bistum Osnabrück) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1225 until 1803 ...
in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
. The Osnabrück Land Regional Association (''Landschaftsverband Osnabrücker Land'') looks after cultural issues for the region.
Location
The southern part of Osnabrück Land borders on
Münsterland in the 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 state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...
. To the west the
Tecklenburg Land is the natural continuation of the Osnabrück Land into North Rhine-Westphalia. To the southeast is the
Ravensberg Land.
Most of Osnabrück Land borders on other Lower Saxon regions: to the west on the
Emsland, to the north on the
Oldenburg Land and in the east on 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 ...
region.
External links
BfN landscape fact filefor the
Osnabrück Uplands
The Osnabrück Uplands, Osnabrück Hills or, less commonly, Osnabrück Hill Country (german: Osnabrücker Hügelland or ''Osnabrücker Bergland''), are the low hills, or ''Hügelland'', rarely over , in the northwest of the Lower Saxon Hills near ...
Osnabrück Land tourist associationOfficial website of Osnabrück district
Sources
* Stonjek, Diether: Landkreis Osnabrück. In: de Lange, Norbert und Stonjek, Diether (Hrsg.): Osnabrück und das Osnabrücker Umland. Bramsche 2004, (S. 51 - 66) (Schriftenreihe Kulturregion Osnabrück; herausgegeben vo
Landschaftsverband Osnabrücker Land e. V. Band 22).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osnabruck Land
Regions of Lower Saxony