The Alzey Hills (german: Alzeyer Hügelland) form a region of low, rolling hills, or '' Hügelland'', 275 km² in area and up to , in

Rhenish Hesse Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. From a

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora an ...

perspective they are part of the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...

and classed as major unit no. 227.

Geography

The Alzey Hills, which belong to the northern part of the

, lie in the east of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate within the counties of

Alzey-Worms Alzey-Worms () is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the district Groß-Gerau (district), Groß-Gerau (Hesse), the city of Worms, Germany, Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim (district) ...

and

Donnersbergkreis The Donnersbergkreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel. History The district was created in 1969 by merging the dis ...

. To the south they run into the Rhenish Hesse Hills and to the east into the Palatine Uplands. To the east they extend as far as the

Wonnegau Wonnegau is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It takes its name from the larger historical area Wonnegau, which covers the southern part of Rhenish Hesse. The seat of th ...

. The hills, which derive their name from the town of

Alzey Alzey () is a ''Verband''-free town – one belonging to no ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fifth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, Ingelheim am Rhein and Bingen. ...

in the north, lie roughly between

Wörrstadt Wörrstadt is a town in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The town lies in Rhenish Hesse on the northwest edge of the Upper Rhine Plain. It is the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde''. Wör ...

in the north,

Alsheim Alsheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History Alsheim is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ...

in the northeast,

Westhofen Westhofen is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Westhofen lies between Worms (r ...

and

Monsheim Monsheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Monsheim lies in the southern Wonn ...

in the east,

Grünstadt Grünstadt ( pfl, Grinnschdadt) is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless t ...

in the southeast,

Wattenheim Wattenheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Wattenheim lies on a cone-shape ...

in the south, Eisenberg in the southwest and

Kirchheimbolanden Kirchheimbolanden (), the capital of Donnersbergkreis, is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, south-western Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km west of Worms, and 30 km north-east of Kaiserslautern. The first part of the name, ' ...

in the south.

Description

The Alzey Hills, which are covered by

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeoli ...

, lime and

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part ...

-rich soils, are dominated by

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. In many areas it is a

cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the ...

used, particularly on the southern slopes of the hills, for

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

and, especially in the south, for arable farming. It is part of the foreland for the Palatine Uplands with sharper relief that the Rhenish Hesse Hills to the north. In the west, in the transition zone to the Palatine Uplands, the Alzey Hills are wooded in places. Amongst the hills of the region that descends from west to east from heights of over to around (near Westhofen), are the

Zollstock Zollstock is a district () of Cologne in the borough () of Rodenkirchen. Situated west of the river Rhine, Zollstock was first mentioned in 1877 and experienced increased development from the 1880s onwards. Since 1901, the district has housed the ...

(300.3 m; between Immesheim and Rüssingen), the Saukopf (296.4 m; near Immesheim), the Kahlenberg (305 m; near

Kindenheim Kindenheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality lies in the n ...

) and the ridge of ''Gerstenberg'' with the ''Quirnheimer Berg'' (316.6 m; near

Quirnheim Quirnheim ( Palatine German: ''Querem'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies in the northwest ...

). The hills are bisected by the upper reaches of the

Selz The Selz is a river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and a left hand tributary of the Rhine. It flows through the largest German wine region, Rheinhessen (Rhenish Hesse). It rises near the village of Orbis in the county of Donnersbergkrei ...

and the Seebach and the middle courses of the

Pfrimm The Pfrimm is a , left or western tributary of the Rhine in the Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). Course The Pfrimm rises in the southern part of the Donnersbergkreis. Its spring lies in the northern part of the Palatinate Forest Nature Park, ...

and the Eisbach.

References

''Alzeyer Hügelland'' fact file
, at bfn.de Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Rhenish Hesse Natural regions of the South German Scarplands {{RhinelandPalatinate-geo-stub