Teutoburger Forest
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The Teutoburg Forest ( ; ) is a range of low,
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
ed
hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...
s in the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
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 ...
. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed the ''Teutoburg Forest'' in 1616 in commemoration of the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster () by Ancient Rome, Roman historians, was a major battle fought between an alliance of Germanic peoples and the Roman Empire between September 8 and 11, 9&nbs ...
in 9 AD, which most likely took place at
Kalkriese Kalkriese is a village now administratively part of the city of Bramsche in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the northern slope of the Wiehen Hills, a ridge-like range of hills, north of Osnabrück. The '' Kalkrieser Be ...
instead.


Geography

The Teutoburg Forest is a peripheral section in the north of the German
Central Uplands The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (N.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ''-gebirge'' = "range").) ...
, and forms a long narrow range of hills (comprising three
ridges A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...
) extending from the eastern surroundings of
Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...
in the south to the western surroundings of
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
in the northwest. South of the city centre of
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
, a gap called the Bielefeld Pass bisects the range into the ''Northern Teutoburg Forest'' (two thirds) and ''Southern Teutoburg Forest'' (one third). In addition, the northeastern and southwestern ridges are cut by the exits of the longitudinal valleys between the ridges. The geologically oldest ridge is the northeastern one, which consists of
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
of the
Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...
. Most of the ridges and part of the valley are covered by
deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...
. Parts of the valley areas are used for agriculture, especially the production of
cereals A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize (Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, suc ...
. The highest elevation in the Southern Teutoburg Forest is the
Velmerstot The Velmerstot is the northernmost and highest hill in the Eggegebirge ridge in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has two summits, the Prussian Velmerstot (''Preußische Velmerstot'') (468 m), which lies on the territory of Sande ...
() south of
Horn-Bad Meinberg Horn-Bad Meinberg (; Low German: '' Häoern-Möomag '') is a German city in the Lippe district in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia on the edge of the Teutoburg forest. The district Bad Meinberg is a spa resort. It has 17,263 inhabitan ...
. In the Northern Teutoburg Forest the highest elevation is the
Dörenberg The Dörenberg is a hill, , in the Teutoburg Forest in the district of Landkreis Osnabrück, Osnabrück, in the German state of Lower Saxony. Origin of the name Dören could be derived, especially in the area of Ostwestfalen-Lippe, from Dören ...
() north of
Bad Iburg Bad Iburg (; Westphalian: ''Bad Ibig'') is a spa town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teutoburg Forest, 16 km south of Osnabrück, and the Hermannsweg long-distance hiking trail passes throug ...
. The river
Ems Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...
has its source at the western base of the southernmost portion of the Teutoburg Forest. The southern half of the range, situated about southwest of the Weser valley, is part of the watershed between the Ems basin in the west and the Weser basin in the east. The drainage towards the Weser is affected by the
Werre The Werre () is a river in the Detmold region (Regierungsbezirk) of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, left tributary of the Weser. Its source is near Horn-Bad Meinberg. The total length of the Werre is 71.9 km. The Werre flows generally nor ...
river. The northwestern half of the range is drained to the river Ems on both sides. The neighboring landscapes are the
Westphalian Lowland The Westphalian Lowland, also known as the Westphalian Basin is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine (in the extreme southwest) and in Lower Saxony (on the no ...
in the west,
Hase The Hase () is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope ...
valley in the north, the hilly
Ravensberg Basin The Ravensberg Basin () or Ravensberg Hills () is a natural region in the governorate of Detmold () in the northeastern part of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia; small elements also fall within the neighbouring state of Lower Saxony. I ...
in the northeast,
Lippe Uplands The Lippe Uplands (, , or ''Lippisches Bergland'') is a range of hills in Ostwestfalen-Lippe within the administrative district of Detmold in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography The Lippe Uplands are part of the Weser Uplands ...
in the east, and
Egge Range The Egge Hills (, ), or just the Egge (''die Egge'') is a range of forested hills, up to , in the east of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography The Egge extends from the southern tip of the Teutoburg Forest range near Horn-Bad M ...
() in the south. Except for a short area south of
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
, which belongs to the Bundesland 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 ...
, the whole forest is part of
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 ...
. A long-distance hiking trail called ''
Hermannsweg The Hermannsweg is a long hiking trail which follows the ridge of the Teutoburg Forest, running from Rheine to Velmerstot in Germany. It is marked by signposts showing a white H on a black background. The Hermannsweg is named for Arminius (Germ ...
'' runs for along the length of the Teutoburg Forest, from
Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt (district), Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems (river), Ems, about north of Münster ...
in Münsterland to Leopoldstal near
Horn-Bad Meinberg Horn-Bad Meinberg (; Low German: '' Häoern-Möomag '') is a German city in the Lippe district in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia on the edge of the Teutoburg forest. The district Bad Meinberg is a spa resort. It has 17,263 inhabitan ...
. File:Winter im Teutoburger Wald18.jpg, alt=, Winter Scenery at the Teutoburg Forest File:Herbst im Teutoburger Wald 04.jpg, alt=, Fall Scenery at the Teutoburg Forest File:Donoperteich09.jpg, alt=, Donop's Pond (Donoperteich) File:Externsteine-2021 (4b).jpg, alt=,
Externsteine The Externsteine () is a distinctive sandstone List of rock formations, rock formation located in the Teutoburg Forest, near the town of Horn-Bad Meinberg in the Lippe district of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The formation is a T ...
File:Hermannsdenkmal (11).jpg, alt=,
Hermannsdenkmal Aerial view of the Hermannsdenkmal The ''Hermannsdenkmal'' (German for "Hermann Memorial") is a monument located southwest of Detmold in the district of Lippe (North Rhine-Westphalia), in Germany. It stands on the densely forested ', sometimes a ...
File:Velmerstot lip.jpg, alt=, Tip of the Velmerstot Mountain


History

The
Battle of Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster () by Roman historians, was a major battle fought between an alliance of Germanic peoples and the Roman Empire between September 8 and 11, 9 AD, near mo ...
in 9 AD occurred in or near this region, though the exact location is disputed. The Roman historian
Cornelius Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
identified the location of the battle as ''saltus Teutoburgiensis'' (''
saltus Saltus may refer to: People * Edgar Saltus (1855–1921), American writer known for his highly refined prose style * Francis Saltus Saltus (1849–1889), American poet * Thomas Saltus Lubbock (1817–1862), Texas Ranger and soldier in the Confede ...
'' meaning a forest valley in Latin). Recent excavations suggest that at least the final stages of the battle took place further northwest, at
Kalkriese Kalkriese is a village now administratively part of the city of Bramsche in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the northern slope of the Wiehen Hills, a ridge-like range of hills, north of Osnabrück. The '' Kalkrieser Be ...
, north of
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
. The Teutoburg Forest was also the scene of some fighting at the very end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Lieutenant Ralph Elliott of the
Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th R ...
– a noted Australian scholar in later life – was severely wounded in combat in the Teutoburg Forest, and nearly died before being rescued several hours later."REL34679 – University of St Andrews medallion for Honours English, 1947–48 : R W V Elliott". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 20 August 2010. The Teutoburg Forest is composed of two separate
nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...
s: * TERRA.vita Nature Park, northwest part between
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
and
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
*
Teutoburg Forest / Egge Hills Nature Park The Teutoburg Forest / Egge Hills Nature Park () is a nature park founded in 1965 in the northeast of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. After being expanded in 2008, the nature park is now the largest in Germany, covering an area of . Th ...
between
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
and river
Diemel The Diemel () is a river in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a western and orographically left tributary of the Weser. It is the first, and therefore southernmost, of the larger Weser tributaries after its formation by the confluen ...


Hills


Hermann's Memorial and the renaming of the Osning

Arminius Arminius (; 18/17 BC–AD 21) was a chieftain of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, in which three Roman legions under th ...
(also known as Hermann the Cherusker), leader of the
Germanic tribes The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts ...
during the battle, became something of a legend for his overwhelming victory over the Romans. During the period of national renaissance in the wake of the
Napoleonic wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, German people saw him as an early protagonist of German resistance to foreign rule and a symbol of national unity. A monumental statue of Arminius commemorating the battle, known as the
Hermannsdenkmal Aerial view of the Hermannsdenkmal The ''Hermannsdenkmal'' (German for "Hermann Memorial") is a monument located southwest of Detmold in the district of Lippe (North Rhine-Westphalia), in Germany. It stands on the densely forested ', sometimes a ...
(the "Hermann monument"), was erected on the hill of Grotenburg near
Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...
, close to the site where the most popular theory of the time placed the battle. Emperor
William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...
, the first ''
Kaiser Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...
'' of the unified
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
, dedicated the monument in 1875. In order to create a
national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
landscape the Osning Hills were given the name "Teutoburg Forest", ''see also Teutonic''. The first to use that name had been historian and geographer
Philipp Clüver Philipp Clüver (also Klüwer, Cluwer, or Cluvier, Latinized as Philippus Cluverius) (1580 – 31 December 1622) was an Early Modern German geographer and historian. Life Clüver was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), in Royal Prussia, a province ...
in 1616, later it became more common when Ferdinand of Fürstenberg used it in his history and had it printed on maps. However, the old name survived among the local population and the part of the ridge around the Ebberg () near
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
is still known as the Osning today. The
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
liked to take walks in this forest during his stay in
Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...
.


Websites


Arminius / Varus. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest - Internet-Portal "Westfälische Geschichte", LWL-Institut für westfälische Regionalgeschichte, Münster

Teutoburg Forest as a holiday destination - site of regional tourism board


References


External links

* {{Authority control Forests and woodlands of Germany Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Mountains and hills of North Rhine-Westphalia