The Großes Moor ("Great Bog") is the proper name for a contiguous region of

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombro ...

between the towns of

Damme Damme () is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, six kilometres northeast of Brugge (Bruges). The municipality comprises the city of Damme proper and the villages of Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerk ...

, Lohne and

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta (district), Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every ...

and the village of

Goldenstedt Goldenstedt is a municipality in the district of Vechta, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hunte, approximately 12 km northeast of Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Ve ...

in the county of

on the one hand, and the villages of

Diepholz Diepholz (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Deefholt'') is a town and capital of the district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Hunte and Lohne, approximately 45 km northeast of Osnabrück, and 60 km southwes ...

and Barnstorf in

and

Bramsche Bramsche is a town in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is about north of Osnabrück, at . Population is 30,952 (2018). Subdivisions In 1971/72 12 previously independent municipalities were included into the town. *Achmer *B ...

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. 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 of 168 ...

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 ...

on the other, all within

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Confusingly, there are two smaller bogs in this region also called ''Großes Moor''; sources that use these name generally refer to be overall region as the "Great Bogs" (''Große Moore'').See e.g.: Hajo Hayen: ''Bohlenwege in den großen Mooren am Dümmer''. Cologne, 1977 One of the two smaller bogs named ''Großes Moor'' lies south of Damme; the other east of Vechta. Both are linked by a chain of intermediate bogs east of Steinfeld and Lohne. The entire region consists of partly near-natural areas, former agricultural peat cuttings and raise bog grassland.

Geography

Location

The Großes Moor lies in the southern part of the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland () is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north, Germany's ...

along the boundary between the counties of Vechta and Diepholz. It is part of the

natural region 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 ...

known as the " Ems-Hunte Geest and

Dümmer Geest Lowland The Dümmer Geest Lowland () is a natural region unit of the 3rd level in northwest Germany that mainly extends over southwestern Lower Saxony with a small area over the border in North Rhine-Westphalia. Its uniqueness consists in the very varied ...

". To the north and west of the bog near Damme are the

Damme Hills The Damme Hills are a high, wooded ridge, up to , in the Oldenburg Münsterland in the southern part of the district of Vechta, in western Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Location The ridge of the Damme Hills, which is about long and on ...

, whose spurs border the bog in the west in the region of the borough of Vechta. The southern part of the Großes Moor extends into the

Dümmer Nature Park The Dümmer Nature Park () in North Germany is located in the Lower Saxon districts of Diepholz and Vechta and the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Minden-Lübbecke. It is about northeast of Osnabrück and lies between Diepholz and Bohmte, B ...

, in which the lake of

Dümmer The Dümmer () or officially Dümmer See is a large lake in southern Lower Saxony (Germany). It has a surface of 13.5 km2 and an average depth of one metre. Its elevation is 37 metres. Dümmer is a popular resort for water sports, but a ...

is located. Not far south are the foothills of the

Wiehen Hills The Wiehen HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (, , also locally, just ''Wiehen'') are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long f ...

, which are part of the North Teutoburg Forest-Wiehen Hills Nature Park. In front of this hill ridge and so near the Großes Moor a section of the

Mittelland Canal The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (, ) is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of the country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connection. Its significanc ...

runs from east to west by the boglands. The northern part of the Großes Moor extends into the Wildeshausen Geest Nature Park. to the east the bogland is adjoined by the

Rehden Geest Moor The nature reserve of Rehden Geest Moor () is an extensive, open raised bog in the collective municipality of Rehden, in the county of Diepholz in Lower Saxony. It is a representative raised bog for the natural region known as the Diepholz Moor D ...

; to the southeast rises the Kellenberg. West of the Großes Moor runs the River Hase, east of that is the

Hunte Hunte () is a long river in north-western Germany (Lower Saxony), a left tributary of the Weser. The Hunte rises in the Wiehen Hills. In the North German Plain it flows through lake Dümmer. It flows generally northwards through the towns B ...

. Streams that flow into these rivers, drain the bog region.

References

External links

Radio Bremen: ''Widersprechen sich Torfabbau und Moorschutz im Dreieck Diepholz, Lohne, Vechta?''. 20 February 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosses Moor (Vechtadiepholz) Bogs of Lower Saxony BGrosses Moor Vechtadiepholz BGrosses Moor Vechtadiepholz North German Plain