The Sackwald () is a ridge, up to high, in the

Lower Saxon Hills 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 sour ...

in the district of

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 ...

in the North German 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 ...

. It is named after the village of

Sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

in the borough of

Alfeld Alfeld (Leine) () is a town in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. Located on the Leine river and situated approximately 20 km southwest of Hildesheim, it is the second biggest city in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim in sou ...

, the name meaning "Sack Forest". The Sackwald is part of the geological structure of the Sack Basin or '' Sackmulde'' along with the

Sieben Berge The Sieben Berge ("Seven Hills") are a ridge of hills up to in the Lower Saxon Hills in the district of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. Together with the Vorberge and the Sackwald the Sieben Berge belong to the geological formation of the ...

and the Vorberge.

Geography

The Sackwald lies on the eastern edge 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 ...

in the

. It is located between the town of

on the

River Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver ...

to the northwest and the rather more distant town of

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 ...

to the southeast. The Sackwald is surrounded by the ridges of the Vorberge to the north, the southeastern foothills of the

Hildesheim Forest The Hildesheim Forest () is a range of hills up to in the district of Hildesheim in the German state of Lower Saxony. Geography The Hildesheim Forest is located in the Innerste Uplands, part of the Lower Saxon Hills, between the valleys of ...

to the north-northeast, the

Sauberge The Sauberge is a hill range up to in the Innerste Uplands in the district of Landkreis Hildesheim, Hildesheim in eastern Lower Saxony in Germany. Geography Location The wooded Sauberge is located in the centre of the northern part of the I ...

to the northeast, the Harplage to the east-northeast, the Heber to the east, the Helleberg to the south and southwest, the Selter (on the other side of the Leine valley) to the southwest and the

to the northwest. Topographically it transitions into the last-named ridge seamlessly. Several streams rise within or on the edge of the Sackwald, whose waters eventually empty into the westward-running

Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver ...

or the northeast flowing

Innerste The Innerste () is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Leine river and in length. Origin of the name The river name is not related to the German word ''innerste'' meaning innermost. ''Innerste'', in earlier time ...

; the ridge thus lies on the watershed between the two rivers. The unpopulated Sackwald is crossed by several forest tracks and hiking trails, which enable the densely forested landscape to be explored. They include the Rennstieg path that runs through the forests and the Hohe Schanze Historic Educational Path (''Historische Lehrpfad Hohe Schanze''). The ridge may be reached over winding state roads (''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'' ) are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are road ...

n'') branching off the B 3 and B 64 federal roads, and link, for example, Alfeld, Freden and Lamspringe with one another.

Hills

Amongst the hills in the Sackwald are the following (heights in metres above sea level (NN)): * Ahrensberg (374 m) – southwest of Woltershausen and northeast of Everode * Paradiesgarten (336 m) – north of Everode * Teufelskirche (330 m) – north of Everode * Saurenberg (321 m) – north-northwest of Everode * Hohe Schanze (326 m) – east of Winzenburg, site of the ruins of a Frankish mission station * Gehlenberg (ca. 315 m) – west-southwest of Lamspringe * Hainholzberg (ca. 300 m) – southwest of Adenstedt on the boundary with the Vorberge * Kratzberg (ca. 300 m) – north of Alfeld-Hörsum * Menteberg (300 m) – east of Alfeld * Rüstiberg (288 m) – east of Everode * Mullenberg (278 m) – north of Everode * Winzenberg (272 m) – northeast of Winzenburg, site of Winzenburg Castle * Buchenberg (270 m) – north-northwest of Everode * Feldberg (267 m) – west-southwest of Lamspringe * Horstberg (ca. 250 m) – east-southeast of Alfeld-Hörsum * Tiebenberg (ca. 240 m) – north of Winzenburg, site of the Tiebenburg cultural monument

Waterbodies

Amongst the

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s in or on the Sackwald are: * Gande, rises in the southeastern part of the Sackwald, eastern tributary of the Leine *

, passes the Sackwald a few kilometres away to the southwest, southern tributary of the Aller * Riehe, rises in the southeastern part of the Sackwald, southwestern tributary of the

Lamme Lamme is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It flows into the Innerste near Bad Salzdetfurth. In 1945 the river was crossed by Allied Forces. See also *List of rivers of Lower Saxony All rivers in the German state of Lower Saxony flow directly ...

* Winzenburger Bach, rises in the southern part of the Sackwald, eastern tributary of the Leine

Villages

Amongst the villages on the edge of the Sackwald are: * Adenstedt in the catchment area of the Riehe, north-northeast of the Sackwald *

on the Leine, northwest of the Sackwald *

on the Gande, a few kilometres southeast of the Sackwald * Everode in the catchment area of the Leine, west of the Sackwald *

Freden Freden () is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 25 km south of Hildesheim. Since 1 November 2016, the former municipalities Everode, Landwehr and ...

on the Leine, south-southwest of the Sackwald *

Lamspringe Lamspringe is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km south of Hildesheim. Since 1 November 2016, the former municipalities Harbarnsen, Neuhof, Sehlem and Wo ...

on the Lamme, east of the Sackwald * Sack (Alfeld) the village the forest was named after, northwest of the Sackwald *

Winzenburg Winzenburg () is a village and a former municipality in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2016, it is part of the municipality Freden. It comprises four smaller communities, including the ...

on the Winzenburger Bach, south of the Sackwald *

Woltershausen Woltershausen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Se ...

in the catchment area of the Riehe, east of the Sackwald

Points of interest

Apart from the forested landscape itself, the points of interest in the Sackwald include the ruins of a Frankish mission station on the Hohe Schanze, the ruins of Winzenburg Castle on the Winzenberg and the cultural monument of Tiebenburg on the Tiebenberg. Also worth seeing are the ruins of the Schulenburg Chapel, which stand northeast of Langenholzen and north of Sack (both in the borough of Alfeld) at about 185 metres above sea level on the southwestern edge of the neighbouring Vorberge.

Sources

* Ernst Andreas Friedrich: ''Naturdenkmale Niedersachsens''. Hanover, 1980, {{ISBN, 3-7842-0227-6. Hill ranges of Lower Saxony Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Hildesheim (district) Natural regions of the Weser-Leine Uplands