The Hils is a range of hills in Germany's

Central Uplands The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (N.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ''-gebirge'' = "range").) ...

that is up to 480.4 m high. It is located in the districts of

Holzminden Holzminden (; ) is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden (district), Holzminden. It is located on the river Weser, which at this point forms the border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

and

Northeim Northeim (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the Northeim (district), district of Northeim, with a population of 30,118 as of 31 December 2023. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in ...

, in the state 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 ...

Geography

The heavily forested massif of the Hils, which is part of the

Leine Uplands The Leine Uplands (, ) is a region in Germany's Central Uplands which forms a part of the Lower Saxon Hills and lies along the River Leine between Göttingen and Hanover. It borders on the Weser Uplands in the west, the Innerste Uplands in th ...

and

Weser-Leine Uplands The Lower Saxon Hills () are one of the 73 natural regions in Germany defined by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). Geographically it covers roughly the same area as the Weser Uplands () in its wider sense.However at least one sourc ...

, is immediately southeast of the knife edge ridge known as the

Ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

. It is located roughly northwest of

Einbeck Einbeck (; Eastphalian: ''Aimbeck'') is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, on the German Timber-Frame Road. History Prehistory The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Vario ...

between Holzen to the west and

Delligsen Delligsen is a municipality in Holzminden district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It consists of six localities which were independent until 1974: Delligsen itself, Grünenplan, Ammensen, Hohenbüchen, Kaierde and Varrigsen. The area is dominated by t ...

to the east. The highest elevation in the Hils is the 480.4 m high

Bloße Zelle The Bloße Zelle is, at 480 m, the highest elevation on the Hils and in the Alfeld Uplands (''Ith-Hils Upland''). It lies on the boundary of the districts of Holzminden and Hildesheim, a good 4 kilometres northeast of Eschershausen. With a ...

, the second highest the nearby ''Großer Sohl'' (472 m), on which a monument to the poet,

Wilhelm Raabe Wilhelm Raabe (; September 8, 1831November 15, 1910) was a German novelist. His early works were published under the pseudonym of Jakob Corvinus. Biography He was born in Eschershausen (then in the Duchy of Brunswick, now in the Holzminden Dist ...

, has been erected next to the Wilhelm Raabe Tower named after him. Numerous walking trails run through the Hils, which is accessible from the B 3, B 64 and B 240 federal highways.

Towns and villages in and around the Hils

The towns and villages which lie immediately in and around the Hils are:

Coppengrave Coppengrave is a village and a former municipality in the district of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2016, it is part of the municipality Duingen Duingen is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lo ...

Duingen Duingen is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km southwest of Hildesheim, and 40 km south of Hanover. Since 1 November 2016, the former municipalities Co ...

Eschershausen Eschershausen () is a municipality in the Holzminden (district), district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km northeast of Holzminden, and 50 km south of Hanover. Eschershausen was the seat of the ...

, Fölziehausen,

Grünenplan Delligsen is a municipality in Holzminden district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It consists of six localities which were independent until 1974: Delligsen itself, Grünenplan, Ammensen, Hohenbüchen, Kaierde and Varrigsen. The area is dominated by t ...

, Hohenbüchen, Hohe Warte, Holzen, Kaierde, Varrigsen.

References

Central Uplands Regions of Lower Saxony Hill ranges of Lower Saxony Natural regions of the Weser-Leine Uplands {{LowerSaxony-geo-stub