Drömling is a sparsely populated depression on the border of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

and

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

in Germany with an area of about . The larger part belonging to Saxony-Anhalt in the east has been a

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...

since 1990. The former swampland was transformed by drainage from a natural into a cultural landscape in the 18th century under the direction of

Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. Today the depression, with its waterways, the

Mittelland Canal The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (, ) is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of the country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connection. Its significanc ...

and the rivers Aller and Ohre is a refuge for rare or endangered animal and plant species. Most of the area is now made up of

nature reserves A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

and

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s. Nearby towns include

Oebisfelde Oebisfelde () is a town and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Oebisfelde-Weferlingen. It is accessed by Bundesstraße (German federal highway) 188. Geography ...

and

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

Location

Drömling lies in a flat hollow measuring about 15 to 20 kilometres across and surrounding by a 60-metre

contour Contour may refer to: * Contour (linguistics), a phonetic sound * Pitch contour * Contour (camera system), a 3D digital camera system * Contour Airlines * Contour flying, a form of low level flight * Contour, the KDE Plasma 4 interface for tab ...

. It is a wider section of the Breslau-Magdeburg-Bremen glacial valley. In broad terms, it stretches from Wolfsburg-Vorsfelde in the west to Calvörde in the east and from Klötze in the north to Oebisfelde in the south. To the west the

geest Geest (, , ) is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outw ...

ridges of the ''Vorsfelder Werder'' border on Drömling. Drömling extends over the following districts:

Salzwedel Salzwedel (, officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel; ) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salzwedel is located on the Ger ...

, Börde,

Gifhorn Gifhorn () is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn (district), Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the more industrial and commercially import ...

, Wolfsburg and Helmstedt.

Sources

* Heinz Frenkler: ''Der Drömling'' in ''Naturschutzgebiete im Raum Gifhorn-Wolfsburg'', Großkopf-Verlag, Wolfsburg 1986, * Helmut Maigatter: ''Land der tausend Gräben – Aus der Geschichte des Drömlings''. 2. Auflage 1997, gedruckt in Helmstedt, ohne ISBN * Naturschutz im Land Sachsen-Anhalt, Sonderheft: ''Der Naturpark Drömling''. Landesamt für Umweltschutz Sachsen-Anhalt, Abteilung Naturschutz, Halle 1993, ISSN 0940-6638 * Ernst Andreas Friedrich: ''Naturdenkmale Niedersachsens''. Hanover 1980.

References

External links

Drömling Biosphere Reserve website
(in German)

(in German)
Aktion Drömling Schutz

Description of the nature reserve of Wendschotter and Vorsfelder Drömling
at the NLWKN {{DEFAULTSORT:Dromling Nature parks in Germany Nature reserves in Saxony-Anhalt Nature reserves in Lower Saxony Forests and woodlands of Saxony-Anhalt Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Protected landscapes in Germany

Location

See also

Sources

References

External links