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buttererer · 1 year

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KEVIN DRUMM / LOESSLAND - Current Issues

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#Kevin drumm #LOESSLAND #JMY #Bandcamp

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thatswhywelovegermany · 7 years

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The Natural Regions of Germany (2): The Northern German Plains

The Northern German plains are part of the vast Northern European plains, which extend from Eastern England to Eastern Poland.

Directly adjacent to the North Sea coast, there are the marshlands, extremely flat terrain at sea level, which consist of sediments that the ocean has deposited there since the last ice age.

Further inland, there is the Geest belt, a chain of slightly elevated terrain consisting mostly of sand deposited by the glaciers of the ice age. The soil is not very fertile and wrong treatment centuries ago has led to a steppization of some areas known today as the Luneburg Heath. In late summer, the purple flourishing heath attracts tens of thousands of visitors.

Further inland from the Baltic Sea Coast, however, there is the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau. With the Müritz, the largest lake that belongs entirely to Germany, it is a popular tourist area for people who love boating and other water activities.

Further south, the morains, sandy hills, change with boggy valleys, the meltwater valleys or urstromtäler: The glaciers of the ice ages reached until here. The swampy lowlands were major obstacles in the course of the ancient trade routes. Narrow points were preferred places for crossing the swamps, and towns developed there. One of them became Germany’s metropolis: Berlin – the name of Slavic origin can be interpreted as “swamp town”. The valleys are now popular with bicycle tourists who enjoy the easy ride in the flat terrain along the rivers, for instance on the Elbe Cycle Route.

Another notable city is Hannover, capital of the state of Lower Saxony and historic residence of the Kings of Hannover and Great Britain and Ireland. In the present days, it is known for its trade fair, the Hannover Messe.

The southernmost parts of the Northern German plains are the Loesslands adjacent to the following Central German highlands. These are exremely fertile areas and the granary of Germany. They are ancient cultivated land and carry some of Germany’s most important historic places: The city of Magdeburg was founded by Charlemagne and was the preferred residence of Emperor Otto I. There were many imperial palaces scattered in that area during the time of the traveling emperors in the middle ages, the best preserved one being the Palace of Goslar.

The southwestern corner used to be Germany’s powerhouse until the persisting coal and steel crisis, and the importance of heavy industry declined. During the 100 years from 1880 to 1980, Germany’s biggest and most populous multinuclear urban agglomeration, the Ruhr area, kept constantly growing. It is now home to 5.1 million people, In the wider sense, the agglomeration encompasses the big cities, Duisburg, Essen, Bochum, Dortmund, and a number of smaller cities. In a wider sense, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Wuppertal can also be associated with this metropolitan area. The last coal mines are being closed in the near future, and steel production has significantly declined. The region is still struggling to cope with the structural transformation.