The Stade Geest (German: ''Stader Geest'';

Northern Low Saxon Northern Low Saxon (in High German: ', in Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West Low German-speaking areas of northern Germany, with the exception of the border regio ...

: ''Stoder Geest'') is 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 ...

of low, sandy heath (

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 ...

) in the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland) 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 Balt ...

. It includes a large part of the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the cities of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

and

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a ...

and is bordered by the natural regions of the

Elbe Marsch The Elbe marshes (german: Elbmarsch) are an extensive region of marsh or polderland along the lower and middle reaches of the River Elbe in northern Germany. It is also referred to as the Lower Elbe Marsch by Dickinson and is region D24 in the B ...

, Weser Marsch, Weser-Aller Plain and

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 ...

.Map of German natural regions
It is number D27 in the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation'sThe ''

Bundesamt für Naturschutz The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (german: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, ''BfN'') is the German government's scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government' ...

'' or ''BfN''. list of

natural regions of Germany This division of Germany into major natural regions takes account primarily of geomorphological, geological, hydrological, and pedological criteria in order to divide the country into large, physical units with a common geographical basis. Poli ...

. The region known as the Stade Geest belongs administratively to the districts of

Osterholz Osterholz is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Wesermarsch, Cuxhaven, Rotenburg and Verden, and by the city of Bremen. History Originally the prince-archbishops ...

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 ...

Rotenburg (Wümme) Rotenburg may refer to: *Rotenburg (district), Lower Saxony, Germany *Rotenburg an der Wümme, capital of the district *Rotenburg an der Fulda, near Kassel in Hesse *Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in the Franconia region of Bavaria *Hersfeld-Rotenburg ...

and

Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

, which used to be within the former province of Stade ('' Regierungsbezirk Stade''). Small parts of the Geest also belong to the cities of Bremen and

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the R ...

Subdivisions

The Stade Geest is further subdivided into the morainic areas of young drift (''Jungmoränen'') left by the Vistula glaciation: the

Wesermünde Geest The Wesermünde Geest (german: Wesermünder Geest; Northern Low Saxon: ''Wersermünner Geest'') is the collective name for several geest ridges in the west of Cuxhaven district and Bremen's in northern Germany. The ridges are separated from one a ...

and

Zeven Geest The Zeven Geest (german: Zevener Geest), which is part of the Stade Geest, is an area of sandy terrain in the northeast of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is named after the town of Zeven. Geography The Zeven Geest lies in the Elbe-Weser ...

, which are separated by the Hamme-Oste Depression, and the Achim-Verden Geest, that is separated from the other two by the Wümme Depression.Divisions of the Stade Geest (see No
63

References

Geography of Bremen (state) Geest Regions of Lower Saxony North German Plain {{LowerSaxony-geo-stub