The Beckum Hills (), named after the town of Beckum, are a range of low hills, up to , in the region of Münsterland in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

). Along with the

Baumberge The Baumberge are the highest hills in the natural regions of Münsterland and Kernmünsterland with a maximum height of . They are located between Münster (Westfalen), Münster and Coesfeld, which is itself close to the southwest edge of the Ba ...

and its foothills and the Haltern Hills they are among the few prominent elevations in the otherwise gently rolling Münsterland (which lies at in the centre), the River Werse passes the ridge at 100 m to the east and the

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

passing it at a height of 60 m near Hamm- Uentrop at some distance away from their highest point. In terms of

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 and ...

s the Beckum Hills belong to the Kernmünsterland, being located in the southeast of that region.

Location

The Beckum Hills lie in the southeastern part of Münsterland, mainly on the territory of the municipalities of Beckum (west),

Wadersloh Wadersloh () is a municipality in the district of Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 10 km north-west of Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town ...

(southeast),

Oelde Oelde () is a town in the district of Warendorf (district), Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near Beckum, Germany, Beckum. Geography Division of the town Oelde consists of 5 districts: * Oelde * Stromberg * Lette * S ...

(northeast) and

Ennigerloh Ennigerloh () is a town in the district of Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km northeast of Hamm and 30 km southeast of Münster. The town, located in an agricultural area and with a well- ...

(northwest) - all in Warendorf district. Their extreme southwest lies in the municipality of

Lippetal Lippetal is a municipality in the Soest (district), district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Lippetal is located north and south of the river Lippe River, Lippe between the cities of Lippstadt () and Hamm, North Rhine-W ...

( Soest district). The ridge is in the shape of a horseshoe, open towards the west, surrounding the town of Beckum which lies west of its centre. The northern heights are lower than those to the east and south. The hills frame the Kernmünsterland, lying southeast of its centre, falling gently towards the inside of the horseshoe, but dropping sharply to the surrounding plain on the outside.

Natural region divisions

The Beckum Hills are divided as follows (the smaller subdivisions link to the villages after which they are named):E. Meynen and J. Schmithüsen: ''Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands'' - Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, 6th edition Remagen 1959 (total of 9 editions in 8 books 1953-1962, updated map 1:1.000.000 with major units, 1960)Geographische Landesaufnahme: ''Die naturräumlichen Einheiten at Sheet 97 - Münster'' (Sofie Meisel 1960; east of the sheet) - Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg �
maps
/ref> * ''(to 54 Westphalian Basin)'' (''Westfälische Bucht'') ** ''(to 541 Kernmünsterland)'' *** 541.3 Beckum Hills (''Beckumer Berge'') **** 541.30 '' Dolberg Heights'' (''Dolberger Höhen'') - south **** 541.31 '' Stromberg Plateau'' (''Stromberger Platte'') - east **** 541.32 ''

Riedelland'' (''Oelder Riedelland'') - northeast **** 541.33 '' Beckum Basin'' (''Beckumer Mulde'') - west **** 541.34 ''

Plateau'' (''Ennigerloher Platte'') - northwest

Geology and mineral deposits

The Beckum Hills are a distinctive scarp landscape formed from

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

marine deposits. From the centre of a basin near Beckum, which is open towards the west, the terrain ascends, especially to the south and east, but also to the north, initially gradually up to the highest elevations of the range. On the southern edge of the ''Beckum Basin'' the Höxberg Scarp (''Höxbergstufe'') rises to the hill of ''Höxberg'' (162.6 m) in the south and climbs up to the Mackenberg (174.4 m) in the east. On the far side of the ridge the land falls abruptly into the plain. Further out is the rather lower Stromberg Scarp (''Strombergstufe'') which falls just as steeply towards the outside and is named after the village of Stromberg northeast of Beckum. In the northeast of the Beckum Hills is the Dromberg Scarp (''Drombergstufe''), named after the ''Dromberg'' (< 100 m, east of

- Ostenfelde), which only rises around 20 m over the surrounding area. The steep outward-facing escarpments are often covered by

rough pasture Rough pasture or rough grazing is non-intensive grazing pasture, commonly found on poor soils, especially in hilly areas, throughout the world. In agricultural environment, it is an area outside of a field, a meadow or an area without any or wi ...

, otherwise the natural

climax vegetation In scientific ecology, climax community or climatic climax community is a historic term for a community of plants, animals, and fungi which, through the process of ecological succession in the development of vegetation in an area over time, hav ...

alternates between beech woods and

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

woods. Crops are grown here except on the slopes and in the hollows, mainly

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

.''Beckumer Berge'' landscape fact file
by the BfN The main mineral deposit is

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, which is quarried in Beckum and

in large quantities and used by the

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

industry in the area. Formerly,

strontianite Strontianite (Strontium, SrCarbon, COxygen, O3) is an important raw material for the extraction of strontium. It is a rare carbonate mineral and one of only a few strontium minerals. It is a member of the aragonite group. Aragonite group membe ...

was also mined and used as a whitener for the sugar industry.

History

South of Beckum and roughly southeast of the Hermannsberg hill is the

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...

of ''Germanenlager'', site of a Germanic camp. North of the hill is another one on a Germanic burial site (''Germanengräber'').

Streams

The Kollenbach, Lippbach and Siechenbach streams all rise in the Beckum Hills and unite as the

Werse The Werse [] (river no. 32) is a , left-hand tributary of the Ems (river), River Ems in Münsterland, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The Drainage basin, catchment area of the Werse is 762.47 km². Its name may be derived from a pre-Indo- ...

, which leaves the hills to the west before turning north and later flowing into the

Ems Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...

. Streams flowing northwards ( Axtbach) (north) or eastwards (e. g. the Fortbach, Linzelbach and Bergeler Bach) from the hills converge on the

, whilst those flowing south ( Liese, Biesterbach, Bröggelbach) empty into the

Woods

The larger woods on the Beckum Hills are the Vellerner Brook, der Hohe Hagen near Neubeckum, the Bergeler Wald between

and Stromberg and the woods on the Mackenberg and Diestedder Berg.

High points

Amongst the high points on the Beckum Hills are (in order of height in metres (m) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

(NN): * Mackenberg (174.4 m), west of Sünninghausen - ''Stromberg Plateau'' and eastern edge of the ''Beckum Basin'' * Höxberg (162.6 m), south of Beckum, with an observation tower, the Soestwarte, to the south - ''Dolberg Heights'' and southern edge of the ''Beckum Basin'' * Unnamed hill summit (154.6 m; with church), on the southern edge of Stromberg - ''Stromberg Plateau'' * Unnamed hill summit (147.9 m), in Keitlinghausen (south of

) - ''Stromberg Plateau'' * Unnamed hill summit (146.0 m), northwest of Stromberg - ''Stromberg Plateau'' * Unnamed hill summit (143.9 m), northeast Sünninghausen - ''Stromberg Plateau'' * Diestedder Berg (139.8 m), northwest of

Diestedde Diestedde is a village in the municipality Wadersloh and is part of the district Warendorf. The peasantries Altendiestedde, Düllo, Entrup and Geist belong to the greater area of Diestedde. Geography Diestedde is located approximately 10 ...

- ''Stromberg Plateau'' * Önkhausberg (136.4 m), southeast of Dünninghausen - in the south of the ''Stromberg Plateau'' * Fackenberg (129.0 m), between Beckum and Lippborg - ''Dolberg Heights'' * Hermannsberg (128.2 m), south of Beckum, with the

s of ‘’Germanenlager’’ and ‘’Germanengräber’’ - ''Dolberg Heights'' * Brunsberg (125.7 m), southwest of Beckum - ''Dolberg Heights'' * Dalmer Berg (122.3 m), south of Beckum - ''Dolberg Heights''

References

External links

Natural region maps
from the 1:200.000 series of the Federal Institute for Regional Studies (''Bundesinstitut für Landeskunde'') -the Beckum Hills are all on the "541.3" ending units on ''Sheet 97 - Münster'' (east of the sheet) {{Authority control Landforms of North Rhine-Westphalia Münster (region) Hill ranges of Germany Westphalian Lowland