The Weser Depression (german: Weserniederung) or Weser Lowlands is the region north of

Porta Westfalica Porta Westfalica () is a town in the district of Minden-Lübbecke, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name "''Porta Westfalica''" is Latin and means "gate to Westphalia". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of West ...

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 populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where the

River Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...

no longer flows through a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

, but a broad plain consisting of meadows and

river terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial te ...

s. The flat plain of the depression is interrupted by

geest Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash plai ...

ridges in places. From Langwedel, as far as the River

Lesum The Lesum is a river in northern Germany, right tributary of the Weser, navigable for Class III ships.Wümme Depression by a narrow ridge of

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

, on which the town of

Achim Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonly Achim bei Bremen, is a municipality and the largest town (population 30,059 in December 2006) in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, a ...

and the older districts of the city of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

lie. At many places, such as south of the mouth of the

River Aller The River Aller is a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England. It rises as several small streams around Tivington and Huntscott and flows through the Holnicote Estate passing Holnicote and through Allerford, where it passes under a packhor ...

or in Bremen- Huchting, the Weser Depression transitions to

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

without any clear boundary. The southern part of the Weser Depression belongs to 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 States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

, with its towns of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

and

Petershagen Petershagen is a town in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the Westphalian Mill Route. The core is formed by the districts of Petershagen and Lahde, located opposite each other on the Weser. Geography ...

. The borough of Petershagen includes Westphalia's northernmost Weser settlement,

Schlüsselburg Shlisselburg ( rus, Шлиссельбу́рг, p=ʂlʲɪsʲɪlʲˈburk; german: Schlüsselburg; fi, Pähkinälinna; sv, Nöteborg), formerly Oreshek (Орешек) (1323–1611) and Petrokrepost (Петрокрепость) (1944–1992), is ...

. North of that, the Weser passes the

Low Saxon Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...

town of

Stolzenau Stolzenau is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 20 km southwest of Nienburg, and 25 km northeast of Minden. During the second half of the 20th cen ...

. Below Hoya, the Weser reaches the Breslau-Magdeburg-Bremen glacial valley, which approaches from the southeast. As the Weser heads off in a northwestern direction, the edge of the

Wildeshausen Geest The Wildeshausen Geest (german: Wildeshauser Geest) is part of the northwest Germany's geest ridge, that begins near Meppen on the river Ems with the Hümmling, is broken by the Weser depression, continues with the Osterholz Geest and reaches the ...

bears away to the west and the Weser Depression broadens to a width of about . Here there are also carr landscapes. From Achim to Bremen-

Blumenthal Blumenthal is a German language, German name meaning "flower dale". The English name Bloomingdale (disambiguation), Bloomingdale is composed of the same Germanic languages, Germanic Root (linguistics), roots. A German Orthographic Conference of 190 ...

, the width of the depression reduces again to about . In the wide sections of the depression the soil does not just consist of river sediments or bog, but is also sandy in places. These areas of sand at the level of the depression are also known as 'foregeest' (''Vorgeest''), but are nevertheless separated by a boggy strip from the ascending edge of the geest itself. The largest are the

Schwarme Schwarme is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Diepholz (district), district of Diepholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The municipality Schwarme is located in the Mittelweserregion around 30 km south of Bremen. The towns Achim, Ver ...

Heath (''Schwarmer Heide'') and the Thedinghausen Foregeest (''Thedinghauser Vorgeest''). Downstream of Bremen, the marshlands of

Stedingen Stedingen is an area north of Bremen in the delta of the Weser river in north-western Germany. Founding In 1106, five Dutchmen journeyed from the mouth of the Rhine to Bremen to negotiate an arrangement with Archbishop Frederick I of Bremen to s ...

come close to the Weser. The river is separated from the northwestern edge of the geest by a wide, nowadays largely cultivated, strip of moor. The eastern edge of the Weser Depression lies closer to the river from the confluence of the

Aller Aller may refer to: Places Rivers * Aller (Germany), a major river in North Germany *Aller (Asturian river), a river in Asturias, Spain *River Aller, a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England Inhabited places in the United Kingdom *Aller, Devo ...

(near

Verden Verden can refer to: * Verden an der Aller, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany * Verden, Oklahoma, a small town in the USA * Verden (district), a district in Lower Saxony, Germany * Diocese of Verden (768–1648), a former diocese of the Catholic Chur ...

) to Bremen-Rönnebeck. In Bremen, the

Bremen Dunes Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, south of the Lesum, separate the Weser Depression from the Wümme Depression. North of the Lesum, the

Osterholz Geest The Osterholz Geest (Northern Low Saxon: ''Oosterholter Geest'') is an undulating, sandy area of ground moraine between the city of Bremen and the towns of Bremerhaven and Bremervörde. Geography The Osterholz Geest forms the southern part of ...

, near Bremen- Vegesack, forms a steep river bank. In the north, the Weser Depression transitions into the coastal marshes. Northwest of its confluence with the Hunte, there are no natural eminences between the Weser and the

Jade Bight The Jade Bight (or ''Jade Bay''; german: Jadebusen) is a bight or bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as ''Jade'' or ''Jahde''. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than an ...

. The height of this peninsula, comprising

Stadland Stadland is a municipality in the district of Wesermarsch, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 32 km northeast of Oldenburg, and 42 km northwest of Bremen. On the west side Stadland bordered to ...

and

Butjadingen Butjadingen is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and the east by the We ...

, lies between 0.8 metres under sea level (NN) and 1.2 metres above it (at a place on the 'neck' of the Jade Bight it reaches 2 metres). The first ridge of geest does not appear until the far side of the Jade Bight, the Friesische Wehde. On the eastern side of the Lower Weser, the edge of the Osterholz Geest peels away north of Bremen-BlumenthalOsterholz district, overview … (pdf)
/ref> to a distance of six to ten kilometres from the river. The marshland here is called Osterstade.

Administrative regions

Politically, the Weser Depression is divided between the following administrative units that belong to the state of Lower Saxony, apart from those in the district of Minden-Lübbecke and the city of Bremen: *

Minden-Lübbecke district Minden-Lübbecke is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Diepholz, Nienburg, Schaumburg, Lippe, Herford, Osnabrück. Geography This is the northernmost district of North ...

(

) *

Nienburg district Nienburg () is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Diepholz, Verden, Heidekreis, Hanover and Schaumburg, and by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Mind ...

Verden district Verden () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the centre of Lower Saxony, Germany. Adjoining it are (from the northwest clockwise) the districts of Osterholz, Rotenburg, Heidekreis, Nienburg, and Diepholz, as well as the city of Bremen. Geography The ...

Diepholz district Diepholz () is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the northeast and clockwise) the districts of Verden, Nienburg, Minden-Lübbecke (in North Rhine-Westphalia), Osnabrück, Vechta and Oldenburg, and by the cities of D ...

* the town of Delmenhorst * Free Hanseatic City of Bremen * Wesermarsch district

References and other external links

Natural regions in the district of Verden

Landscape fact file "Middle Weser Valley"

Sources

LGN
= Landesvermessung und Geobasisinformation Niedersachsen: Regionalkarten 1:100 000, Nr.10 "Mittelweser" und Nr.2 "Nordoldenburg". {{Coord, 52.439688, 9.009476, type:landmark_elevation:30_dim:150000_region:DE-NW/DE-NI/DE-HB, format=dms, display=title Landforms of North Rhine-Westphalia Landforms of Lower Saxony Landforms of Bremen (state) Plains of Germany Verden (district) Osterholz Minden Weser