The Soest Börde (german: Soester Börde) is an historical
territorial lordship and a
cultural landscape
Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the co ...
in the centre of the German region of
Westphalia, between
Sauerland
The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited.
The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in ...
in the south and
Münsterland in the north. It is known nationally for being a very fertile region thanks to the depth of its
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 ...
soils that, it terms of
yield are only exceeded in Germany by the
Magdeburg Börde.
The term "
börde" has a twin meaning here. Administratively it refers to a former juridical district and agriculturally to a fertile lowland.
Historically-administratively the Soest Börde comprised the former territorial lordship of the town of Soest in the present municipalities of
Soest,
Bad Sassendorf and
Welver. From a
natural regional perspective, it belongs to the
Hellwegbörden, whose eponymous centre it represents. Within the natural region classification, however, the Soest Börde, is not recognized as a unit. Instead the sub-regions of the ''Soest Upper'' and ''Lower Börde'' are used, the boundaries of which are not the same as the borders of the historical Soest Börde. The boundary between the two sub-regions runs just north of the
Hellweg.
See also
*
Haarstrang
*
Soest (district)
Literature
[Literature partly based on: ]
* Klaus Diekmann: ''Die Herrschaft der Stadt Soest über ihre Börde.'' Diss. jur., Münster, 1962.
* Arnold Geck: ''Topographisch-historisch-statistische Beschreibung der Stadt Soest und der Soester Börde.'' Soest, 1825. 430 pages.
* Marga Koske: ''Das Bördekataster von 1685.'' Soest 1960.
* Marga Koske: ''Geschichte der eingemeindeten Soester Stadtteile.'' In: ''Soester Zeitschrift'' 112, 2000, pp. 23–78.
* Hermann Rothert: ''Wie die Stadt Soest ihr Territorium, die Börde, erwarb.'' In: ''Westfälische Zeitschrift'' 106, 1956, pp. 79–111.
* Hans Weller: ''Die Selbstverwaltung im Kreis Soest 1817–1974. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der übergemeindlichen Selbstverwaltung.'' Paderborn, 1987.
* Hartmut Witzig: ''Die Rechtsverhältnisse der Bauern in der Soester Börde vom 14. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert.'' Diss. jur., Göttingen, 1967.
References
External links
Natural region mapsfrom the
1:200,000 map sheets by the ''Bundesinstitut für Landeskunde'' – the sheets that are mainly relevant here are nos. 542.12 and 542.22.
** ''Sheet 97 – Münster''
** ''Sheet 110 – Arnsberg''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soest Borde
Regions of North Rhine-Westphalia
Soest (district)