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A ''börde'' (; plural: ''börden'') is a region of highly fertile lowland in
North Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...
, a "fertile plain". These landscapes often cover great areas and are particularly important for arable farming on account of their rich soils. These regions coincide closely with areas of flat, fertile
loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, 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 loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...
soil and few trees. ''Börden'' are found in Germany, especially in the North German
Old Drift Old and Young Drift are geographic names given to the morainic landscapes that were formed in Central Europe; the Old Drift during the older ice ages and the Young Drift during the latest glaciations – the Weichselian in North Germany and ...
region on the northern edges of
Central Uplands The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (N.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 ''-gebirge'' = "range").) ...
. The resulting black earth soils are some of the best soils in Germany.


Etymology

These landscapes are restricted to, or concentrated on, those regions where the Eastphalian and Westphalian dialects are spoken. There are two opposing explanations for the name. According to one, the term is connected with the
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
word ''giburida'' ("judicial district") or the plattdeutsch word ''bören'' ("to bear"). The ''börde'' in this context is seen as a district in which the inhabitants had to "bear" public charges, i.e. it was effectively a taxation district.F. Kluge: ''Etymologische Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache''. De Gruyter, Berlin, New York, 1999. This may thus be a dialect variation of '' :de:Bürde'' ("burden", "heavy load"). Because of the fertility of the ''börden'' another connexion has been made to the word ''bören'', whose primary meaning was "yield" or "output", thus a ''börde'' would be a "land that produced a rich yield".
Semasiological Semasiology (from , ', "signification") is a discipline of linguistics concerned with the question "what does the word ''X'' mean?". It studies the meaning of words regardless how they are pronounced. It is the opposite of onomasiology, a branc ...
comparisons are made in this regard to the word ''tragen'' ("to carry", "to bear"): the related words ''Ertrag'' ("yield") and ''Getreide'' ("grain") stem from the
Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...
''getregede'' ("that which is borne"). In the heraldic motto of the House of Alsleben is the term ''Vorborde'', which is translated today as "for the ancestral land".


Geomorphology

''Börden'' extend from the North German
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 outw ...
to the perimeter of the German Central Uplands and consist of loess that has been predominantly deposited by east winds. In some places the loess lies over
boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
(on the rivers
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 o ...
,
Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver ...
and
Oker The Oker () is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller (Germany), Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meanin ...
), in others over
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
and
Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
s (in the Hellwegbörden and the foreland of the
Harz Mountains The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The nam ...
). The loess layers are up to 10 metres thick and tend to attenuate differences in relief. In the (sub-)oceanic climatic region the loess has been largely decalcified and
loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...
ified. The northern edge of the loess region is not only a soil and vegetation boundary, but also a settlement zone - cities like
Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...
,
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
or
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
lie on the loess boundary.


''Börde'' as a name


Landscapes with the name "Börde"

* Brunswick-Hildesheim Loess Börde, including the Hildesheim, Ilsede and Lebenstedt Börde * Calenberg Loess Börde * Fritzlar Börde *Heberbörde of the Heber *
Hellweg Börde The Hellweg Börde (German: ''Hellwegbörde'') is a '' börde'' landscape and natural region on the southern edge of the Westphalian Lowland in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which embraces the old Hellweg trading route cities and tow ...
, including the Soest, the Geseke and the Werl-Unna Börde * Hildesheim Börde * Jülich-Zülpich Börde or the individual Zülpich Börde, Jülich Börde and Erkelenz Börde * Magdeburg Börde (High and Low Börde) * Soest Börde * Warburg Börde


Districts with the name ''Börde''

* the former Bördekreis (
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...
) * the district of
Börde A ''börde'' (; plural: ''börden'') is a region of highly fertile lowland in North Germany, a "fertile plain". These landscapes often cover great areas and are particularly important for arable farming on account of their rich soils. These reg ...
(Saxony-Anhalt)


Administrative units with the name ''Börde''

* Westliche Börde, a collective municipality in Saxony-Anhalt * Börde Lamstedt, a collective municipality in
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...


Towns and villages with the name ''Börde''

* Niedere Börde (Saxony-Anhalt) *
Bördeland Bördeland is a municipality in the district Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated south-west of Schönebeck. History The municipality was formed on 29 December 2007 from the former municipalities Biere, Germany, Biere, Eggersdo ...
(Saxony-Anhalt) * Hohe Börde (Saxony-Anhalt) * Bördeaue (Saxony-Anhalt) * Stadt
Wanzleben-Börde Wanzleben-Börde is a town in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Bottmersdorf, Domersleben, Dreileben, Eggenstedt, Groß Rodensleben, Hohendodeleben, Kle ...
(Saxony-Anhalt)


Roads, squares and town quarters with the name ''Börde''

* ''Potthoffs Börde'' and ''Hüskenbörde'' (two neighbouring roads in Essen)


See also

* Beauce and the terms Gau and Gäu as part of the name of various landscapes or administrative districts


References


Literature

* Wilhelm Strumfels, Heinz Bischof: ''Unsere Ortsnamen – im ABC erklärt nach Herkunft und Bedeutung''. 3rd edn., Ferd. Dümmlers Verlag, Bonn, 1961. {{DEFAULTSORT:Borde Soil science Rural geography Agriculture in Germany Geomorphology