The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low,

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

s in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

states of

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 ...

and

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 inha ...

. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed the ''Teutoburg Forest'' in 1616 in commemoration of the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius ...

in 9 AD, which most likely took place at

Kalkriese Kalkriese is a village now administratively part of the city of Bramsche in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the northern slope of the Wiehen Hills, a ridge-like range of hills, north of Osnabrück. The '' Kalkrieser B ...

instead.

Geography

The Teutoburg Forest is a peripheral section in the north of the German

Central Uplands The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (german: die MittelgebirgeN.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ...

, and forms a long narrow range of hills (comprising three ridges) extending from the eastern surroundings of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

in the south to the western surroundings 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 population ...

in the northwest. South of the city centre of

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

, a gap called the Bielefeld Pass bisects the range into the ''Northern Teutoburg Forest'' (two thirds) and ''Southern Teutoburg Forest'' (one third). In addition, the northeastern and southwestern ridges are cut by the exits of the longitudinal valleys between the ridges. The geologically oldest ridge is the northeastern one, which consists of limestone of the Triassic. Most of the ridges and part of the valley are covered by

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals ...

. Parts of the valley areas are used for agriculture, especially production of

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

. The highest elevation in the Southern Teutoburg Forest is the

Velmerstot The Velmerstot is the northernmost and highest hill in the Eggegebirge ridge in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has two summits, the Prussian Velmerstot (''Preußische Velmerstot'') (468 m), which lies on the territory of Ste ...

() south of Horn-Bad Meinberg. In the Northern Teutoburg Forest the highest elevation is the Dörenberg () north of Bad Iburg. The river Ems has its source at the western base of the southernmost portion of the Teutoburg Forest. The southern half of the range, situated about southwest of the Weser valley, is part of the watershed between the Ems basin in the west and the Weser basin in the east. The drainage towards the Weser is effected by the

Werre The Werre is a river in the Detmold region (Regierungsbezirk) of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, left tributary of the Weser. Its source is near Horn-Bad Meinberg. The Werre flows generally north through the towns Detmold, Lage, Bad Salzuflen, ...

river. The northwestern half of the range is drained to the river Ems on both sides. The neighbouring landscapes are the Westphalian Lowland in the west,

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 s ...

valley in the north, the hilly Ravensberg Basin in the northeast, Lippe Uplands in the east, and Egge Range (german: Eggegebirge) in the south. Except for a short area south of

, which belongs to the Bundesland of

, the whole forest is part of

. A long-distance hiking trail called ' runs for along the length of the Teutoberg Forest, from

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx. west of Osnabrück a ...

in Münsterland to Leopoldstal near Horn-Bad Meinberg. File:Winter im Teutoburger Wald18.jpg, alt=, Winter Scenery at the Teutoburg Forest File:Herbst im Teutoburger Wald 04.jpg, alt=, Fall Scenery at the Teutoburg Forest File:Donoperteich09.jpg, alt=, Donop's Pond (Donoperteich) File:Externsteine-2021 (4b).jpg, alt=, Externsteine File:Hermannsdenkmal (11).jpg, alt=, Hermannsdenkmal File:Velmerstot lip.jpg, alt=, Tip of the Velmerstot Mountain

History

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD occurred in or near this region, though the exact location is disputed. The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus identified the location of the battle as ''saltus Teutoburgiensis'' (''saltus'' meaning a forest valley in Latin). Recent excavations suggest that at least the final stages of the battle took place further northwest, at

, north of

. the Teutoburg Forest comprises two separate

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

s: # TERRA.vita Nature Park, northwest part between

and

Teutoburg Forest / Egge Hills Nature Park The Teutoburg Forest / Egge Hills Nature Park (german: Naturpark Teutoburger Wald / Eggegebirge) is a nature park founded in 1965 in the northeast of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. After being expanded in 2008, the nature park is no ...

between

and river Diemel

Hills

Hermann's Memorial and the renaming of the Osning

Arminius Arminius ( 18/17 BC – 21 AD) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of ge ...

(also known as Hermann the Cherusker), leader of the Germanic tribes during the battle, became something of a legend for his overwhelming victory over the Romans. During the period of national renaissance in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, German people saw him as an early protagonist of German resistance to foreign rule and a symbol of national unity. A monumental statue of Arminius commemorating the battle, known as the Hermannsdenkmal (the "Hermann monument"), was erected on the hill of Grotenburg near

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...

, close to the site where the most popular theory of the time placed the battle. Emperor

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

, the first ''

Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

'' of the unified

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, dedicated the monument in 1875. In order to create a national landscape the Osning Hills were given the name "Teutoburg Forest", ''see also Teutonic''. The first to use that name had been historian and geographer Philipp Clüver in 1616, later it became more common when Ferdinand of Fürstenberg used it in his history and had it printed on maps. However, the old name survived among the local population and the part of the ridge around the Ebberg () near

is still known as the Osning today. The

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

liked to take walks in this forest during his stay in

Websites

Arminius / Varus. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest - Internet-Portal "Westfälische Geschichte", LWL-Institut für westfälische Regionalgeschichte, Münster

Teutoburg Forest as a holiday destination - site of regional tourism board

References

External links

* {{Authority control Forests and woodlands of Germany Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Mountains and hills of North Rhine-Westphalia