The Barnim Plateau is a plateau which is occupied by the northeastern parts of Berlin and the surrounding federal state of Brandenburg in Germany.
The limits of the plateau are easily definable. The southern boundary is marked by the Berlin Valley, through which the River Spree flows. To the west, the boundary between Barnim and the Glien Plateau is marked by a north–south glacial valley. To the north and north east is the boundary with the Eberswald Valley, and in the east, Lubusz Land.
Traditionally the plateau is divided into the Upper and Lower Barnim, separated by a line running between Strausberg and Eberswalde. Typically, Lower Barnim does not reach higher than 80 metres above mean sea level (AMSL) whereas Upper Barnim is generally more than 100 metres AMSL. The highest point of the plateau is Semmelberg which stands at 157 metres AMSL.
Until the growth of Berlin in the 19th century, Barnim was only sparsely populated; in the eastern portion this continues to be the case. Excluding Berlin, only Bernau and Strausberg are the only settlements with more than 10,000 inhabitants. Werneuchen, Altlandsberg and Biesenthal are among the smaller towns in the area. Several once-independent towns such as Oranienburg and Wriezen, which were once independent towns, were incorporated into Berlin as a result of urban sprawl in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The southern edge of Barnim in the vicinity of Rüdersdorf unusually contains widespread deposits of limestone, Buntsandstein and Muschelkalk. The relatively high position of the limestone in the bedrock is explained by the presence of a salt dome; the migrating salt pushed the overlying sedimentary rock closer to the surface. The limestone deposits gave birth to an expansive quarry which provided building materials for the expanding Berlin, an example of which being the tower of St. Mary's Church.
The deposits of the first glacial motions during the Kansan glaciation were laid as deep as 100 metres below the surface. They are particularly prominent in tunnel valleys. Kansan sediment primarily consists of till and deposits in proglacial lakes. Thanks to superposition with Wolstonian Stage sediment, it is generally only found at the surface in isolation around the Oderbruchrand area. Generally, present-day Barnim there is very little surface evidence of the Kansan period remaining.
Only the two primary glacial motions of the Wolstonian Stage allowed the plateau to clearly emerge. Geologically, Barnim is composed mostly of deposits from the more recent Warthe Motion which extends as far as Fläming Heath. The till associated with the Wolstonian stage can be found on the surface or within a few metres of it in many places. The deposits of the older Drenthe Motion are much thinner and covered by deposits from younger movements.
The Wolstonian period also saw the formation of several terminal moraines; for this reason there are numerous places throughout the plateau where the soil consists of clay made of oligocene and miocene, which belong to the tertiary period which predates the Wolstonian Stage by several million years.
In the last glacial period, more commonly known as the last time the Earth experienced an ice age, glaciers reached 60 kilometres south of Barnim.
The principal drainage divide between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea runs across the Barnim plateau from Northeast to Southwest. It also runs between the drainage basins of the Elbe and Oder rivers. Its course roughly follows that of the Frankfurt push moraine. The main features along the divide include the Wandlitzer See and the Liepnitzsee.
The following streams drain into the Havel and Spree drainage basins:
The following tributaries flow into the Oder:
Despite being an area of Young Drift, Barnim has relatively few lakes. At the outwash plain, the deposition of glacio-fluvial sediment has led to a higher number of lakes, the most well-known of which are Wandlitzer See, Gamensee and Straussee.
As in the rest of the region, Barnim is located in the transition zone between the oceanic climate of Western Europe and the continental climate of Eastern Europe. Due to the relatively small height differential between Upper and Lower Barnim there is little difference between the climates of the two areas. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of -1 °C and the warmest is July, with an average temperature of 18 °C. The averages for Upper Barnim are marginally lower. [1]
The average annual precipitation for Lower Barnim is 550mm whereas in Upper Barnim it is 600mm. Due to the height of Barnim, the Oderbruch, which lies to the east and is on average 100 metres lower than Barnim, is in a rain shadow. This is compounded by the height of other surrounding areas such as Lubusz Land and Chorin. Whereas Barnim receives relatively high amounts of precipitation, the Oderbruch receives less than 500mm annually and is one of the driest regions in Germany. [ citation needed ]
There is evidence of settlement in Barnim at the time of the Allerød oscillation. Hunter-gatherers mainly followed the courses of rivers, confirmed by archaeological discoveries north of Berlin. Around 6000 years ago the first permanent agricultural settlements were established. Discoveries of sickles and troughs from the Bronze Age have been discovered in the west of Barnim.
The Germanic Semnones tribe settled in Barnim, and after their migration the Slavic stem of the Sprevane tribe followed in the 6th and 7th centuries and settled near Biesenthal and Wandlitz. [2]
While the Slavic peoples tended to settle in lowland parts of Barnim near the relatively few areas, subsequent settlement of the plateau began in the 1230s by the House of Ascania under the rules of John I, Margrave of Brandenburg and Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg as part of the German eastward expansion. Further settlement was also carried out under the House of Wettin, part of the Margravate of Meissen. The Wettiners expanded from the south with castles in Mittenwalde and Köpenick in Lower Barnim, whereas the Ascaniers expanded over the northern parts of Upper Barnim from Oranienburg to Strausberg. Conflicts over the question of territorial sovereignty contributed to the Teltow and Magdeburg Wars between 1239 and 1245 which were won by the Ascaniers. In a measure intended to cement Ascanian rule, the House founded the Chorin monastery and the Friedland convent, which is now a ruin. They are amongst the most significant medieval buildings in the region. [3]
After the Thirty Years' War a migration wave, mainly of Dutch colonists, arrived on Barnim. As with medieval settlement this was mainly confined to the areas along the rivers of Barnim. At the end of the 19th century the industrial revolution in Germany resulted in strong population growth in Berlin, which expanded into the plateau.
Barnim is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by Poland, the district of Märkisch-Oderland, the city state of Berlin and the districts of Oberhavel and Uckermark.
Märkisch-Oderland is a Landkreis (district) in the eastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring this district are the district of Barnim, the country of Poland, the district-free city of Frankfurt (Oder), the district of Oder-Spree and the Bundesland of Berlin. The administrative seat is the town of Seelow but the largest town is Strausberg.
Bad Freienwalde is a spa town in the Märkisch-Oderland district in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany.
Biesenthal is a town in the district of Barnim in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Amt Amt Biesenthal-Barnim.
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.
Hohenfinow is a municipality in the Barnim district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is part of the Amt Amt Britz-Chorin-Oderberg.
The Schwielochsee is a lake in Lower Lusatia, the south-eastern part of Brandenburg, eastern Germany. Its area is 13.3 km2 (5.1 sq mi), so it's the largest lake in this area. It is fed and drained by the river Spree. The Spree flows in from the west and leaves the lake to the north in the direction of Beeskow. Part of the lake lies within the territory of the municipality Schwielochsee, that was named after the lake.
An urstromtal is a type of broad glacial valley, for example, in northern Central Europe, that appeared during the ice ages, or individual glacial periods of an ice age, at the edge of the Scandinavian ice sheet and was formed by meltwaters that flowed more or less parallel to the ice margin. Urstromtäler are an element of the glacial series. The term is German and means "ancient stream valley". Although often translated as "glacial valley", it should not be confused with a valley carved out by a glacier. More accurately some sources call them "meltwater valleys" or "ice-marginal valleys".
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The Berlin/Brandenburg metropolitan region or capital region is one of eleven metropolitan regions of Germany, consisting of the entire territories of the state of Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg. The region covers an area of 30,545 square kilometres (11,793 sq mi) with a total population of about 6.2 million.
Muhre is a river of Brandenburg, Germany.
John I, Margrave of Brandenburg was from 1220 until his death Margrave of Brandenburg, jointly with his brother Otto III "the Pious".
Otto III, nicknamed the pious was Margrave of Brandenburg jointly with his elder brother John I until John died in 1266. Otto III then ruled alone, until his death, the following year.
Rotes Luch is a reclaimed fen area, known locally as a luch, and extends to a width of about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) over a length of approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from southwest to northeast. It is located in the southwestern corner of the nature reserve Märkische Schweiz of Brandenburg, Germany.
The Nauen Plateau is a low plateau in the German states of Brandenburg and Berlin. It rises above the surrounding countryside by an average of 15 metres (49 ft) and is a largely contiguous upland area that was formed during the Saale and Weichselian glaciations. It consists predominantly of ground moraine deposits, partly overlain by gently rolling end moraine formations. Whilst the neighbouring regions of Zauche to the south, the Teltow to the southeast and the Barnim to the northeast have the same name as their geological formation, the cultural landscape on the Nauen Plateau bears the historical and regional name of Havelland. That said, the river country of the Havelland extends beyond the plateau to include the Havel valley and other lowland areas.
Teltow is both a geological plateau and also a historical region in the German states of Brandenburg and Berlin. As an historical region, the Teltow was one of the eight territories out of which the March of Brandenburg was formed in the 12th and 13th centuries. As a result of the Teltow War (1239–1245) the question of territorial lordship of the newly created heart of the expanding march was finally decided here. Between 1835 and 1952 there was also a county, Teltow district; in addition a town immediately south of Berlin, in the present-day county of Potsdam-Mittelmark, bears the name Teltow.
Fürstenwalde (Spree) station is the station of the city of Fürstenwalde/Spree in the German state of Brandenburg. It was opened on 23 October 1842 on the Berlin-Frankfurt railway. The station was then about one kilometre north of the town on Müncheberger Chaussee. The station building still exists and is one of the oldest in Germany.
The Barnim Panorama, owned by the municipality Wandlitz, was created in September 2013 by combining the Agrarmuseum Wandlitz and the visitor center of the Barnim Nature Park. It has the largest agricultural collection in Brandenburg and offers six themed rooms to give visitors an insight into the 200-year-old history of agriculture in Brandenburg. The museum in the quarter Wandlitz was built in 1955 and could only use provisional arrangements until 2013. Because of the growing demand for more exhibition space and better opportunities to present its collection, the quarter decided to construct a new building across the street from the original museum.
The Teltow and Magdeburg Wars were fought between 1239 and 1245 over possession of Barnim and Teltow in the present-day federal German state of Brandenburg. They took place in the 13th century during the course of the Eastern German Expansion. The opposing sides during the armed conflict, which took place on two fronts simultaneously, were:
Märkisch-Oderland – Barnim II is an electoral constituency represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 59. It is located in eastern Brandenburg, comprising the Märkisch-Oderland district and southern parts of the Barnim district.
