The Alpine Foreland, less commonly called the Bavarian Foreland,Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 585-586. . Bavarian Plateau or Bavarian Alpine Foreland (german: Bayerisches Alpenvorland), refers to a triangular region of plateau and rolling foothills in Southern Germany, stretching from

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

in the west to beyond Linz on the Danube in the east, with the

Bavarian Alps The Bavarian Alps (german: Bayerische Alpen) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps within the German state of Bavaria. Geography The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the Eastern Alps that ...

forming its south boundary and the Danube its northern extent.

Geography

The Alpine Foreland has been shaped under the influence of the ice ages and has a rich variety of

landform A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, ...

s. A

molasse basin The Molasse basin (or North Alpine foreland basin) is a foreland basin north of the Alps which formed during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The basin formed as a result of the flexure of the European plate under the weight of the orogenic ...

of extensive Tertiary and

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

sediments — silt and clay, sand and

sedimentary rocks Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles t ...

from Alpine erosion— overlay the Alpine nappes. Features such as the morainic hills, gravel sandar and lakes have left a record of various glaciation stages in this region. The Alpine Foreland is crossed by the rivers Iller,

Wertach Wertach is a small town in the Oberallgäu district, southern Bavaria, (Germany), in the German Alps. It is situated on the river Wertach, southeast of Kempten. The town was the childhood home of the writer W. G. Sebald. History Wertach was ...

, Lech,

Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...

and Inn, its western boundary roughly being formed by the border of the Bavarian administrative district of

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

with the State of Baden-Württemberg, and its eastern boundary being the Salzach river on the border with Austria. The numerous lakes include

, Lake Starnberg and

Chiemsee Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The Alz flows in ...

. The largest cities of the region are Munich, located in the centre of the Alpine Foreland on the River Isar, and Augsburg, located in the very centre of Southern Germany on river Lech.

Classification

According to the ''

Handbook of Natural Region Divisions of Germany The ''Handbook of Natural Region Divisions of Germany'' (german: Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands) was a book series resulting from a project by the former German Federal Institute for Regional Studies ('' Bundesanstalt für La ...

'', the Alpine Foreland is commonly subdivided into three

natural regions 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 ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and f ...

: *Northern Alpine Foreland: ** Iller-Lech Plateau (D64) south of the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...

range **

Lower Bavarian Upland The Lower Bavarian Upland, Lower Bavarian Hill Country (German: ''Niederbayerisches Hügelland'') or Lower Bavarian Hills, are part of the tertiary ''Hügelland'' or hill country south of the River Danube and cover much of the land within the Bava ...

(D65) south of the Franconian Jura and Bavarian Forest ( Bohemian Massif) *Southern Alpine Foreland (D66) at the foot of the Northern Limestone Alps In the west, the Alpine Foreland stretches along the Danube up to its sources in the Black Forest and beyond Lake Constance continues as the Swiss Plateau. In the east, the Austrian Alpine Foreland comprises the Flachgau region of Salzburg, the adjacent

Innviertel The Innviertel (literally German for "Inn Quarter"; officially called the ''Innkreis''; ) is a traditional Austrian region southeast of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bavari ...

Hausruckviertel The Hausruckviertel (literally German for the ''Hausruck'' quarter or district) is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria the others being Traunviertel, Mühlviertel, and Innvier ...

and

Traunviertel The Traunviertel (literally German for the ''Traun'' quarter or district) is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria the others being Hausruckviertel, Mühlviertel, and Innviertel. ...

of Upper Austria, as well as the

Mostviertel (English: ''Most Quarter'') is the southwestern quarter of the four quarters of Lower Austria (the northeast state of the 9 states in Austria). It is bordered on the north by the Danube and to the south and west by the state borders of Styria ...

region of Lower Austria up to the

Tulln Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The C ...

Basin.

Geography

Classification

References

See also