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29-731: 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

58-618: 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

87-503: Is first mentioned as Suderland in an official document from 1266. After 1400 the letter 'd' started to disappear. Therefore, Sauerland = southern country is the most convincing meaning, opposed to the theory that Sauer is from the German word sauer meaning sour (poor "sour" soil). Linguistically, "suder-“ is similar to the Old Saxon sûðar (southbound). Before 1800 the western part of

116-583: 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

145-774: Is part of the Rhine Massif ( Rheinisches Schiefergebirge ) including 'Bergisches Land', Westerwald , Siegerland , and, separated by the Rhine valley, the Eifel , Hohes Venn and Hunsrück . The Rheinisches Schiefergebirge was subjected to folding and faulting in the Variscan orogeny in Carboniferous times and eroded to a peneplain in the Permian . The tectonic uplift to the present-day low mountain range began approximately 500,000 years ago and

174-464: Is still going on. Most of the bedrock underneath the Sauerland originates from a Middle and Upper Devonian period, when it was under a marginal and shallow sea. This has meant that slates , sandstones and greywackes are the most abundant rock types in the Sauerland. In some areas limestones from an ancient reef fringe prevail and are karstified . The Sauerland has several caves, especially in

203-612: 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 : 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

232-509: The Early Modern period, with the rise of the coal and steel industries, medieval towns founded along the trading route, e.g. Gelsenkirchen , Bochum , Essen or Dortmund , evolved into industrial hubs and absorbed most of the population growth of the region. The name Hellweg , connoting the wide "bright" clearway ( heller Weg ) through the forest, derives from Low German helwech with this same significance. Another etymology for Hellweg

261-533: The Eurasian eagle-owl , the great grey shrike , the red-backed shrike and the whinchat . There have been reports of free-roaming wolves , which had been wiped out in Germany until a few specimens returned to the country in 2000. In 2007, Cyclone Kyrill caused severe damage to the coniferous forests. In addition, massive outbreaks of bark beetles have been killing up to 60 % by area of forest in some regions of

290-932: 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

319-832: The Ruhr area industrialisation and the mining of its coal took place. Today there are only a few remains of this early heavy industry ; wire production is still important in Altena and a number of small factories still occupy the old industrial areas. Warsteiner is Germany's largest privately owned brewery. Sauerland has become a popular tourist area, attracting many visitors from the Ruhr Area and relatively close Netherlands. The forests and picturesque small towns are attractive for hikers and outdoor sports. There are more than 30,000 km (19,000 mi) of tagged hiking trails in Sauerland region maintained by Sauerland hiking association (SGV). Some of

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348-674: The Teutoburg Forest , linking the imperial cities of Duisburg , at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers, and Paderborn , with the slopes of the Sauerland to its south. At Paderborn, it very probably continued into at least two other main imperial roads leading further east and north to the Harz mountains and the middle Elbe river, and the lower Weser and lower Elbe rivers, respectively. The Westphalian Hellweg, as an essential corridor that operated in overland transit of long-distance trade ,

377-655: The Alps is the Atta Cave in Attendorn . The Sauerland can be reached by car or train. The drive either via the BAB 4 from Cologne or via the BAB 45 and BAB 46 from Dortmund , takes about one hour; from Kassel or Frankfurt - Rhine-Main (via the Sauerlandlinie ) the journey takes about two hours. The closest commercial airport is Dortmund Airport . In the region, railways were once

406-401: The Sauerland as well as, to a minor extent, the limestones are still exploited in numerous quarries. Some of these caves are now becoming modest attractions to tourists. Several areas of the Sauerland have the status of biological reserves. The biodiversity of the Sauerland is significant. It is the main habitat of many species within Germany, for example for the wisent , the black stork ,

435-706: The Sauerland was part of the County of the Mark based in Altena ; the eastern part adhered to the County of Arnsberg , later became known as the Duchy of Westphalia and was owned by the Archbishops and Electorate of Cologne . The Duchy of Limburg covered a very small area in the lower Lenne river valley. After the Napoleonic Wars the area became part of Prussia and was integrated into

464-403: The Sauerland. The largest town of the Sauerland is Iserlohn ; other larger towns are Lüdenscheid and Arnsberg . Meschede is the home of an abbey. Another abbey is placed at Bestwig . Parts of the Sauerland, especially the major valleys in the northwest, represent an old industrial region. The availability of iron ore and the abundance of wood and water allowed iron production long before

493-691: 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

522-640: The biggest reservoirs being the Möhne and Bigge . Although the highest elevation of the Sauerland is the Langenberg (843 m) near Olsberg , the much more renowned summit, which is well known for the nearby skiing facilities, its weather station and observation tower, is the slightly lower Kahler Asten (842 m) near Winterberg . Both Langenberg and Kahler Asten are peaks in the Rothaargebirge mountains. The Sauerland has six reservoir lakes. The Sauerland

551-455: 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

580-549: The most important means of transportation, but between 1950 and 1990 many smaller branch lines were closed and rail travel is now only present in the major valleys. The most important lines are: 51°15′00″N 8°00′00″E  /  51.2500°N 8.0000°E  / 51.2500; 8.0000 Hellweg In the Middle Ages , Hellweg was the official and common name given to main travelling routes in Germany . Their breadth

609-458: The new province of Westphalia . After World War II , Westphalia was merged with the new federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia . Today, the Sauerland consists of the districts Märkischer Kreis , Olpe and Hochsauerland . The western part of the Hessian district Waldeck-Frankenberg is also attributed to the Sauerland because of its geomorphological , as well as its sociocultural similarity, and

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638-426: The northern part, the biggest caves being in Attendorn and Balve . In some areas of the Sauerland the occurrence of lead - zinc - silver - ores lead to the development of a considerable mining industry, the center of which was the town of Meggen . Mining in this area lasted until the late second half of the 20th century, today there is no active mining in the Sauerland. The sandstones, greywackes and quartzites of

667-549: The south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia , in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular for mountain biking and cycling, water sports and scenic recreation. The town and Skiliftkarussell of Winterberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis is a major winter sport resort. The name Sauerland

696-558: The stark contrast to the rest of the adjoining Hessian landscape. To the west the hills continue into the Bergisches Land , to the south into the Siegerland , and to the north-east into the Teutoburg Forest . The major rivers of the Sauerland are the Ruhr and the Lenne . Several artificial lakes were created on the smaller rivers by building dams to store water for the nearby Ruhr area ,

725-489: 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 . 51°57′46″N 7°37′43″E  /  51.9629°N 7.6287°E  / 51.9629; 7.6287 Sauerland The Sauerland ( German: [ˈzaʊɐlant] ) is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of

754-602: The towns have the title Bad ( Spa ) because of their good air quality and stimulating climate. Winter sports are popular in the Sauerland. The bob sleigh track in Winterberg is widely known in Germany, as well as the ski jumping in Willingen . Sauerland also has a successful theme park called Fort Fun . Balve Cave is one of the biggest prehistorical caves of Europe and is situated in Balve . The largest accessible limestone cave outside

783-569: 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 . 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

812-453: 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. In German scholarship and literature, however, Helweg , i.e. when employed without an adjective , usually refers to the well-researched Westphalian Hellweg , the main road from the region of the lower Rhine east to the mountains of

841-595: Was used by Charlemagne in his Saxon wars and later was maintained under Imperial supervision. In the 10th and 11th centuries this Hellweg was the preferred route of the Ottonian and Salian kings and emperors travelling at least yearly between their main estates in Saxony and the imperial city of Aachen , when they were not in Italy or on campaign; very important imperial palaces were located in both Duisburg and Paderborn. From

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