The Linteln Geest (German: ''Lintelner Geest'' or ''Lint(e)ler Geest''), shown on some maps as the Verden Heath, (German: ''Verdener Heide''''Die Generalkarte, Nr. 5 - Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover'', ADAC regional club and ADAC office, Mairs Graphische Betriebe, 2008.) is a

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 outwash plai ...

region in the north German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

and belongs administratively to the borough of

Kirchlinteln Kirchlinteln is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its central village is situated approximately 6 km east of Verden, and 40 km southeast of Bremen. It is surrounded by the Linteln Geest (also called ...

Geography

The Linteln Geest covers the historic Duchy of Verden which nowadays comprises the easternmost fringes of the Achim-Verden Geest, which is part of the

Stade Geest The Stade Geest (German: ''Stader Geest''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Stoder Geest'') is a natural region of low, sandy heath (geest) in the North German Plain. It includes a large part of the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the cities of Hamburg, Bremen a ...

, within the district of

Verden Verden can refer to: * Verden an der Aller, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany * Verden, Oklahoma, a small town in the USA * Verden (district), a district in Lower Saxony, Germany * Diocese of Verden (768–1648), a former diocese of the Catholic Chur ...

. Its largest town is

. The Linteln Geest is bordered by the

River Aller The River Aller is a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England. It rises as several small streams around Tivington and Huntscott and flows through the Holnicote Estate passing Holnicote and through Allerford, where it passes under a packhor ...

to the southwest, the Middle Weser Region to the west, the Wümme Depression to the north and the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

to the east.

Appearance

The region is agricultural and characterised by

morainic A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice she ...

hills, small villages and individual farmsteads as well as expansive tracts of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

and

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

. In several of the villages on the Linteln Geest there are numerous nurseries.

Bog body of Brammer

In a bog southwest of the village of

Kreepen Kreepen is a small village of about 150 inhabitants in the municipality of Kirchlinteln Kirchlinteln is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its central village is situated approximately 6 km east of Verden, ...

near Brammer a male

bog body A bog body is a human cadaver that has been naturally mummified in a peat bog. Such bodies, sometimes known as bog people, are both geographically and chronologically widespread, having been dated to between and the Second World War. Fischer ...

was discovered on 12 June 1903 in the vicinity of an

abandoned village An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...

. It was packed in a wooden box and sent to the Museum of Ethnology in Berlin. During the bombing raids on the city during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the body was lost however. In the Elisabethfehn Moor Museum, a tuft of hair from the bog body is on display.

European Village Renewal Prize

In conjunction with the villages of Bendingbostel, Brunsbrock, Sehlingen,

, Schafwinkel and Odeweg on the Linteln Geest the region won the European Village Renewal Prize in 2000 awarded by the European Association for Rural Development and Village Renewal.

Towns and villages

*Bendingbostel *Brunsbrock **Klein Linteln **Schmomühlen *Heins **Groß Heins **Klein Heins *Holtum (Geest) **Heidkrug **Wedehof *

**Brammer *Kükenmoor *Schafwinkel **Odeweg **St. Pauli *Sehlingen

Places of interest

*original village centres with buildings in the Lower Saxon style typical of the region *churches in Kirchlinteln and Brunsbrock *Lake Brammer * Lindhoop War Memorial in

References

{{coord missing, Lower Saxony Natural regions of Germany Regions of Lower Saxony Verden (district) Geest