The Regen Depression (german: Regensenke) is a wide river valley in the Bavarian Forest along the River Regen. As natural region major unit no. 404 the Regen Depression belongs to the

Upper Palatine-Bavarian Forest The Upper Palatine-Bavarian Forest (german: Oberpfälzisch-Bayerische Wald), (no. D63 or 40) is a natural region in Germany in the northeast of Bavaria. It mainly comprises the low mountain ranges of the Bavarian Forest and Upper Palatine Forest wh ...

and covers an area of 667 km². It separates the Anterior Bavarian Forest in the southwest from the High Bavarian Forest in the northeast. In the northwest it is adjoined by the Cham-Furth Depression and, in the southeast, the Abteiland. The Regen Depression is a large region, divided into various basins, at a height of 600 to 700 metres above sea level. The Regen flows through this gently rolling terrain in large curves. The river is impounded at the Regener See, Höllensteinsee and Blaibacher See. Heavily eroded, strongly weathered

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

es and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

s are common. These are remains of weathered Tertiary platforms and Pleistocene

solifluction Solifluction is a collective name for gradual processes in which a mass moves down a slope ("mass wasting") related to freeze-thaw activity. This is the standard modern meaning of solifluction, which differs from the original meaning given to it ...

soils. Compared to other areas of the Bavarian Forest, the climate is relatively mild. At 800 to 1200 mm per year, precipitation is lower than on the surrounding mountain ranges and temperatures are higher during the growing season. In winter, however, pockets of cold air are formed in the valleys. The area is a wooded, increasingly intensively farmed agricultural landscape characterized by

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

. Throughout its length, the Regen is traversed by the

Bavarian Pfahl The Pfahl is a 150-kilometre-long quartz vein (geology), vein that runs through the northeastern Bavarian Forest in Germany. From a geomorphological point of view, it represents a residual (landform), residual ridge that has been formed by weat ...

, an unusual geological structure. The largest settlements are the towns of Regen,

Viechtach Viechtach is a town in the district of Regen in Bavaria in 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 p ...

and

Bad Kötzting Bad Kötzting (; before 2005: Kötzting; Northern Bavarian: ''Bad Ketzing'') is a town in the district of Cham, in Bavaria, Germany, near the Czech border. It is situated in the Bavarian Forest, southeast of Cham. Overview Bad Kötzting has the ...

. Much of the landscape is near-natural, especially the around the river, but also parts of the Pfahl with its pine and birch stands. Otherwise grassland dominates, while the hillsides are mainly covered with spruce. The original beech and fir forests have been reduced to small remnants between the farmland and grassland on steeply sloping terrain. Most of the Regen Depression lies within the Bavarian Forest Nature Park, the northwestern part belongs to the Upper Bavarian Forest Nature Park.

Literature

* Ulrich Pietrusky, Günther Michler, Donatus Moosauer: ''Niederbayern – im Fluge neu entdeckt'', Verlag Morsak, Grafenau, 2nd edn. 1982,

External links

Landscape fact file of the Bundesamt für Naturschutz
{{coord missing, Bavaria category:Bavarian Forest category:Regen (district) category:Cham (district) category:Regions of Bavaria ! Regen Depression