The Nesselberg is a ridge up to high in the Calenberg Highland which, together with the

Kleiner Deister The Kleiner Deister is a ridge of hills (up to ) in the Calenberg Uplands which, together with the Nesselberg and the Osterwald, forms a group of three adjacent hill ranges in the northern part of the Leine Uplands. It lies between Springe and ...

and the Osterwald, forms a group of three contiguous hill regions in the northwestern 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 ...

. It lies between Altenhagen I and

Coppenbrügge Coppenbrügge is a municipality in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximatively 15 km (10 miles) east of Hamelin. The Municipality covers the following villages: * Bäntorf * Behrensen * Bessingen * ...

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

The Nesselberg is located more or less north of

, immediately south of the Kleiner Deister and north west of the Osterwald. It lies north of the Gelbbach valley, through which state road no. 422 runs from Eldagsen to Coppenbrügge. Immediately east of this valley is the Osterwald. The border between

Hanover region Hanover Region () is a districts of Germany, district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Heidekreis, Celle (district), Celle, Gifhorn (district), Gifhorn, Peine (district), Peine, Hildeshe ...

and the district of

Hameln-Pyrmont Hameln-Pyrmont is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Schaumburg, Hanover, Hildesheim and Holzminden, and by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Lippe) ...

runs along the crest of the Nesselberg. On the saddle between the Nesselberg and Kleine Deister, and therefore between the Wolfsköpfen to the northeast and the Grasberg to the southwest, stands the old ''Wolfsbuche'' (today a car park for walkers); the Schwarze Bach ("Black Brook"), a tributary of the Gehlenbach rises here. Both ridges lies within the borough of

Springe Springe () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, southwest of Hanover. Town structure * Springe (core settlement, seat of the mayor), population 13,184 * Ben ...

, the Springe municipalities of Altenhagen I and

Eldagsen Springe () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, southwest of Hanover. Town structure * Springe (core settlement, seat of the mayor), population 13,184 * Bennigsen, population ...

as well as the Brünnighausen and Dörpe in the municipality of

. Over the crest of the Nesselberg runs part of the sandstone wall known as the Saupark Springe which is around 16 km long and 2 m high and which runs for a long way over the Kleiner Deister. Part of the ''Roswithaweg'' footpath also runs from north to south over the Nesselberg and the neighbouring Kleiner Deister; this is a long-distance hiking trail from

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 ...

Bad Gandersheim Bad Gandersheim (Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Ganderssen'') is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Northeim (district), Northeim. , it had a population of 9,492. Bad Gandersheim has many half-timbered hou ...

. Since 1954 the Kleine Deister and the Nesselberg have formed a

nature reserve 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 geologic ...

covering an area of about which includes the Saupark Springe.

Geology

The Nesselberg is characterised by eroded

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility. Although its permeabil ...

s and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

s, in places with deposits of

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a lustre (mineralogy)#Submetallic lustre, submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy densit ...

. They are the so-called

Obernkirchen Obernkirchen () is a town in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 8 km southwest of Stadthagen, and 15 km east of Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of Nort ...

layers ( Wealden) of the

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also * Nizhny {{Disambiguation ...

period.

Hills

* Schierenbrink * Grasberg 378,2 m * Mangel 374,9 m * Bolleser ca. 300 m

Places of interest

On the Nesselberg there are still old sandstone quarries and the ruins of the

circular rampart A circular rampart () is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering. The period during which ...

of Kukesburg near Altenhagen I. The stone quarries near Altenhagen I provided employment after 1900 to 400 miners, who broke down the valuable Deister sandstone. This outstanding architectural stone with its bright white/yellow colour was used for the

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

and new town hall in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, in the

Reichstag building The Reichstag (; ) is a historic legislative government building on Platz der Republik in Berlin that is the seat of the German Bundestag. It is also the meeting place of the Federal Convention, which elects the President of Germany. The Ne ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and other buildings across the whole of Europe. The Saupark Springe in the neighbouring hills of the Kleiner Deister is also worth seeing.

Protected areas

Parts of the ''Saupark'' Nature Reserve lie on the Nesselberg ( CDDA No. 30110; designated in 1954; 24.448

km² The square kilometre (square kilometer in American spelling; symbol: km2) is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. In the SI unit of area (m2), 1 km2 is equal to 1M(m2). 1 km2 is equal to: * 1,000,000 squar ...

). The

protected landscape IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

s of ''Osterwald-Saupark'' (CDDA No. 323574; 1972; 16.094 km²) and ''Nördlicher Osterwald und Umgebung'' (CDDA No. 323273; 1972; 18.16 km²) extend up to spurs radiating from the ridge.

References

{{Coord, 52, 10, N, 9, 34, E, type:mountain_elevation:346_region:DE-NI_dim:3000, display=title Central Uplands Ridges of Lower Saxony Natural regions of the Weser-Leine Uplands