The Külf is a ridge, up to , in the

Leine Uplands The Leine Uplands (, ) is a region in Germany's Central Uplands which forms a part of the Lower Saxon Hills and lies along the River Leine between Göttingen and Hanover. It borders on the Weser Uplands in the west, the Innerste Uplands in th ...

in the district of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

in the German state of

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 ...

Location

With seven main summits, the Külf stretches for about 9 kilometres, lying in a triangle formed by the settlements of Gronau,

Alfeld Alfeld (Leine) () is a town in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. Located on the Leine river and situated approximately 20 km southwest of Hildesheim, it is the second biggest city in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim in sou ...

and

Duingen Duingen is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km southwest of Hildesheim, and 40 km south of Hanover. Since 1 November 2016, the former municipalities Co ...

. It is located between Eime and Banteln to the north, Dehnsen to the east, Limmer to the southeast, Brunkensen to the south and

Hoyershausen Hoyershausen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2016, it is part of the municipality Duingen Duingen is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in L ...

, Lübbrechtsen and Deinsen to the west. West of the Külf is another ridge, the

Thüster Berg The Thüster Berg is a ridge, up to , in the Lower Saxon Hills in central Germany. It is situated in the districts of Landkreis Hameln-Pyrmont, Hameln-Pyrmont and Landkreis Hildesheim, Hildesheim in the federal state of Lower Saxony. Location T ...

, to the southwest is the

Duinger Berg The Duinger Berg is a hill range, up to , in the Lower Saxon Hills and the district of Landkreis Hildesheim, Landkreis in the German state of Lower Saxony. Location The Duinger Berg lies in the western part of the Leine Uplands, a northern sec ...

and to the east are the seven hills of the

Sieben Berge The Sieben Berge ("Seven Hills") are a ridge of hills up to in the Lower Saxon Hills in the district of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. Together with the Vorberge and the Sackwald the Sieben Berge belong to the geological formation of the ...

. The B 3 federal road runs through the

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 ...

valley from Gronau to Alfeld east of the Külf.

Geology

Geologically the Külf is part of the Alfeld Saddle, to which the Rettberg and Hackeberg to the south also belong (and extending to the north from

Freden Freden () is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 25 km south of Hildesheim. Since 1 November 2016, the former municipalities Everode, Landwehr and ...

). Its underlying rocks consist of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

s of the

muschelkalk The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; ) is a sequence of sedimentary rock, sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 m ...

, hard ''Trochitenkalk'' (Upper

) and ''Wellenkalk'' (Lower

Name

The name of this hill range is alluded to in almost all the settlements that border it, not least the road names ''Am Külf'' (in Dehnsen), ''Külftalstraße'' (in

) as well as the names of local shops, such as the ''Külf-Apotheke'' ("Külf Chemists") and ''Külf-Backerei'' ("Külf Bakery"), both in Eime.

Cölle Tower

In the north of the Külf there is an observation tower, the Cölle Tower (''Cölleturm''), at an elevation of , that has stood here since about 1835.

Hiking in the Külf

The going on the various hiking trails in the Külf varies depending on the season as a result of forestry activity. Unlike the trails in the better known ridges and hills like the

Solling The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hill ...

and

Hils The Hils is a range of hills in Germany's Central Uplands that is up to 480.4 m high. It is located in the districts of Landkreis Holzminden, Holzminden, Landkreis Hildesheim, Hildesheim and Landkreis Northeim, Northeim, in the state of Lowe ...

, those of the Külf are less frequently used. The ridgeway itself is very narrow in places and has steep drops to the side. It runs from about 10 kilometres from north to south. On the eastern side there are views over the

valley to the Sieben Berge. To the west the view ranges over the villages of Hoyershausen, Lübbrechtsen and Deinsen. On the northern side there are hiking car parks at the entrance to Deinsen. There is a longer path through the Feldmark with a slow climb from Banteln.

References

Sources

* Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde und Raumforschung: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme 1:200000. Naturräumliche Gliederung Deutschlands. Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 86 Hannover.'' Bad Godesberg 1960. * Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde und Raumforschung: ''Geographische Landesaufnahme 1:200000. Naturräumliche Gliederung Deutschlands. Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 99 Göttingen.'' Bad Godesberg 1963. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kulf Central Uplands Hill ranges of Lower Saxony Hildesheim (district) Regions of Lower Saxony Natural regions of the Weser-Leine Uplands