The Middle Weser Valley () is part of the Weser Depression around the River

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

on the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland () is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north, Germany's ...

, extending from the gap of

Porta Westfalica Porta Westfalica () is a town in the district of Minden-Lübbecke, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name "''Porta Westfalica''" is Latin and means "gate to Westphalia". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of West ...

to the town of

Hoya Hoya may refer to: Places *Hoya, Germany, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany *County of Hoya, a former state in present Germany *Hōya, Tokyo, now incorporated within Nishi-tokyo, Tokyo, Japan * Hoya, Hpruso, a place in Hpruso Township, Kayah, Myanma ...

. It is not a true valley, because it is only bordered by low hills at two points. It lies in the German federal states 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

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 ...

Course

The so-called Middle Weser Valley begins where the actual Weser Valley (in the

Weser Uplands The Weser Uplands (German: ''Weserbergland'', ) is a hill region in Germany, between Hannoversch Münden and Porta Westfalica, along the river Weser. The area reaches into three states, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Important ...

) ends at the Porta Westfalica gap between the

Wiehen Hills The Wiehen HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (, , also locally, just ''Wiehen'') are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long f ...

on the west and the

Weser Hills The Weser Hills (''Wesergebirge''), also known in German as the ''Weserkette'' ("Weser Chain"),"Ein anderes Bild als die Bergländer der oberen Weser bieten die ''Weserkette'', das ''Wiehengebirge'' und der ''Teutoburger Wald'', see Christian Deg ...

on the east. By its formal definition, the Middle Weser begins ten kilometres further north at the

Minden Aqueduct The Minden Aqueduct () is an Navigable aqueduct, aqueduct near Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It actually consists of two parallel water bridges, that lead the Mittelland Canal over the Weser. The older of the two bridges is no longer u ...

, flowing across the

through

Petershagen Petershagen is a town in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the Westphalian Mill Route. The core is formed by the districts of Petershagen and Lahde, located opposite each other on the Weser. Geography ...

and Nienburg. Conceptually, the ''Middle Weser Valley'' ends near Hoya, where the Middle Weser reaches the Breslau-Magdeburg-Bremen

glacial valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

. As 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 and ...

the Middle Weser Valley, which consists of

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

s and river terraces, is a strip of land up to wide on both sides of the Middle Weser. It is counted as part of the Dümmer Geest Depression and the Middle Weser Region. Of particular note are the Weseraue and Staustufe Schlüsselburg nature reserves.

Political division

The towns of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

and

all lie in that part of the Middle Weser Valley that within North Rhine-Westphalia, in the district of

Minden-Lübbecke Minden-Lübbecke is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Diepholz (district), Diepholz, Nienburg (district), Nienburg, Schaumburg, Lippe, Herford (district), Herford, Osnabr ...

. On the Lower Saxon side of the border, in the district of

Nienburg/Weser Nienburg (, official name: ''Nienburg/Weser''; , or ) is a town and capital of the district Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Situated on the scenic German Timber-Frame Road, Nienburg lies on the river Weser, approximately southeas ...

, the Middle Weser Valley is home to the municipalities of

Stolzenau Stolzenau is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 20 km southwest of Nienburg, and 25 km northeast of Minden. During the second half of the 20th cen ...

Landesbergen Landesbergen is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, approx. 10 km southwest of Nienburg, and 35 km northeast of Minden. Landesbergen was the seat of the ...

Steyerberg Steyerberg is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km southwest of Nienburg, and 30 km north of Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of Nor ...

Weser-Aue Weser-Aue is a ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its seat is in the village Marklohe. It was established on 1 November 2021 by the merger of the former ''Samtgemeinden'' Marklohe and ...

, Heemsen,

Eystrup Eystrup is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, approx. 15 km north of Nienburg, and 15 km south of Verden. Eystrup was the seat of the former ''Samtgemei ...

and

Sources

* Emil Meynen (Hrsg.): ''Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands'', Selbstverlag der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen 1959-1962 (Teil 2, enthält Lieferung 6-9), ISBN B0000BJ19F

External links

* BfNbr>landscape fact file
{{Coord, 52.353586, N, 8.970337, E, type:landmark_region:DE-NW, display=title, format=dms Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia Geography of Lower Saxony Weser