The Westphalian Lowland, [1] also known as the Westphalian Basin [2] is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine (in the extreme southwest) and in Lower Saxony (on the northern periphery). Together with the neighbouring Lower Rhine Plain to the west, it represents the second most southerly region of the North German Plain, after the Cologne Bight. It is variously known in German as the Westfälische Bucht (Westphalian Bay), the Münsterländer or Westfälische Tieflands- or Flachlandsbucht (Münsterland or Westphalian Lowland or Plain).
The Westphalian Lowland consists of the individual regions of Münsterland, the Emscherland in the (western) south, and regions even further south that flank the Sauerland around the Hellweg.
The Westphalian Lowland is classified as a major unit group within the natural regions of Germany and is number 54 in the Handbook of the Natural Regional Divisions of Germany (Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands) and region D34 in the BfN system; both using the same boundaries.
From a natural region perspective the Westphalian Lowland major unit group is sub-divided into the following three-figure major units: [3] [4]
The Westphalian Lowland has the character of a basin because it is bounded by ridges of the Lower Saxon Hills from the northeast to east and by the northern part of the Süder Uplands to the south. These hills rise to heights of several hundred metres above the basin floor.
The boundary of this natural region runs, clockwise from the north, as follows: From Rheine southeastwards along the southern edge of the Teutoburg Forest, from southwest of Osnabrück heading southwest of Bielefeld to the point where the Teutoburg Forest meets the Eggegebirge. From here the boundary runs to the Paderborn Plateau in front of the Egge heading south-southwest via Paderborn and Büren.
From east of Rüthen its boundary with the North Sauerland Oberland (including the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park) runs in a westerly direction, passing the Möhnesee immediately south of the Haarstrang and then runs south of the Hellweg to the edge of the Lower Sauerland to south of Dortmund, from where its course takes it further west, north of the Ardey Hills and the adjoining parts of the Lower Berg-Mark Hills (Niederbergisch-Märkisches Hügelland) heading south of Bochum and Essen to the vicinity of Mülheim.
From east of Mülheim its unremarkable boundary with the Lower Rhine Plain runs northwards via Bottrop, Dorsten, Borken and finally along the state border with the Netherlands, to Gronau. [5]
The largest centres of population in the Westphalian Lowland are the cities of the central and eastern Ruhrgebiet north of the River Ruhr in the southwest of the region and the cities of Münster in the centre, Gütersloh in the north and Paderborn on the eastern periphery. The city of Bielefeld itself lies outside the region over the other side of the Teutoburg Forest, however parts of the borough lies within the northern part of the basin (Brackwede, Senne, Sennestadt).
The most populous cities in the Westphalian Lowland are (in brackets their population in thousands):
The most important river systems are:
The area is occasionally called in German, the Münsterländische Bucht (Münsterland Bay), because a large part of this low-lying plain lies in central and eastern Münsterland. It is therefore used pars pro toto for the whole region.
The use of the term Bucht ("bay" or "bight") stems from the geological origin of the region which is half surrounded by the ridges of the Central Uplands. At one time it formed a bay in the coastline of the Cretaceous Sea the shape of which can be discerned from the topography.
The majority of the population of the Westphalian Lowland live in the area bordering the southern perimeter, in the region of the historic Hellweg east–west trade route through Germany, and especially in the northern Ruhr.
At various sites in the Westphalian Lowland giant ammonites have been found in Cretaceous layers of rock below the surface, for example when the underground railway network was being built in Dortmund. These cephalopods, with a shell diameter of more than two metres are the largest known invertebrates.
Westphalia is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 20,210 square kilometres (7,800 sq mi) and 7.9 million inhabitants.
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a state (Land) in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in Germany. Apart from the city-states, it is also the most densely populated state in Germany. Covering an area of 34,084 square kilometres (13,160 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest German state by size.
The Ruhr, also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km2 and a population of over 5 million (2017), it is the largest urban area in Germany. It consists of several large cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 10 million people, which is the third largest in Western Europe, behind only London and Paris.
The Teutoburg Forest is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed the Teutoburg Forest in 1616 in commemoration of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, which most likely took place at Kalkriese instead.
Bundesautobahn 33 is an autobahn in Germany which connects the Bundesautobahn 30 in the north and the A 44 in the south.
Borgholzhausen is a town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Teutoburg Forest, approx. 20 km north-west of Bielefeld.
The Duchy of Westphalia was a historic territory in the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 1102 to 1803. It was located in the greater region of Westphalia, originally one of the three main regions in the German stem duchy of Saxony and today part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The duchy was held by the archbishop-electors of Cologne until its secularization in 1803.
The Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 to 1933, and of Nazi Germany from 1933 until 1945.
In the Middle Ages, Hellweg was the official and common name given to main travelling routes in Germany. Their breadth was decreed as an unimpeded passageway a lance's width, about three metres, which the landholders, through which the Hellweg passed, were required to maintain.
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 Central Uplands to the south, by the Netherlands to the west and Poland to the east.
This division of Germany into major natural regions takes account primarily of geomorphological, geological, hydrological, and pedological criteria in order to divide the country into large, physical units with a common geographical basis. Political boundaries play no part in this, apart from defining the national border.
The Paderborn Plateau in central Germany is, geologically speaking, the southeastern element of the Westphalian Bight and, at the same time, the largest limestone and karst landscape in Westphalia.
The Beckum Hills, named after the town of Beckum, are a range of low hills, up to 174.4 m above sea level (NN), in the region of Münsterland in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Along with the Baumberge and its foothills and the Haltern Hills they are among the few prominent elevations in the otherwise gently rolling Münsterland, the River Werse passes the ridge at 100 m to the east and the Lippe passing it at a height of 60 m near Hamm-Uentrop at some distance away from their highest point.
The Ardey Hills are a range of wooded hills, up to 273.8 m above sea level (NN), in the territory of the city of Dortmund and the districts of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis and Unna in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The hills form part of the eastern Rhenish Massif and, to a lesser extent, to the Berg-Mark Hills.
The Haar or Haarstrang is a ridge of hills on the southern edge of the Westphalian Basin in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From a natural region perspective it is the southern, submontane part of the Hellweg Börde, which stands opposite the northern area of the Süder Uplands, north of the Möhne and Ruhr rivers.
The Kernmünsterland is a major landscape unit in western Germany. It covers an area of about 2700 km2 and lies at the heart of the Westphalian Basin and the historic region of Münsterland in the north of Westphalia. It is bounded to the west, north and east by the sandy countryside of the Westmünsterland and Ostmünsterland, whilst in the south it is bordered by the loess landscapes of the Hellweg Börde and Emscherland. Geologically it rises clearly over the surrounding area on a bed of thinly covered Upper Cretaceous strata.
The Rhein-Hellweg-Express is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), running from Kassel via Dortmund, Bochum, Essen, Duisburg and Düsseldorf Airport to Düsseldorf Hbf. It is named after the Rhine and the Westphalian Hellweg. The line is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) network and is operated by National Express.
The Hellweg net consists of the four Regionalbahn lines in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia: RB 50, RB 59, RB 69 and RB 89. It has a length of about 370 km. The RB 50 is referred to as Der Lüner, the RB 59 as Die Hellweg-Bahn and the RB 69 and RB 89 together as Die Ems-Börde-Bahn. On 14 December 2008 operations were taken over by eurobahn. Previously these four Regionalbahn services were operated by DB Regio NRW.
The Soest Börde is an historical territorial lordship and a cultural landscape in the centre of the German region of Westphalia, between Sauerland in the south and Münsterland in the north. It is known nationally for being a very fertile region thanks to the depth of its loess soils that, it terms of yield are only exceeded in Germany by the Magdeburg Börde.
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 juxtaposition of different landscape elements of the Northern Lowlands of which the Dümmer Geest Lowland is a part.