The Totenberg, at , is the highest hill in the

Bramwald The Bramwald is a range of hills up to in the Weser Uplands in Lower Saxony (Germany). It is a unique, natural, wild, hill and forest landscape. This is particularly so in the north around the Totenberg. Geography The Bramwald in the nort ...

, a forested hill range 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 ...

South Lower Saxony South Lower Saxony () refers to the southern part of the German federal state of Lower Saxony. The region so described is neither historically nor geographically clearly defined to the north within Lower Saxony. It cuts across the more obviously d ...

. The hill is surrounded by the ''Totenberg

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 ...

'' with an area of about 437

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

, of which 342 ha is managed as "near-natural forest". The rest is designated as ''Naturwald'' (95 ha) where logging is prohibited. Signs indicate that it may not be entered.

Geography

Location

The Totenberg is in the western part of the district of

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

in the northern half of the

and the

Münden Nature Park The Münden Nature Park lies within the district of Landkreis Göttingen, Göttingen, in south Lower Saxony in Germany. Geography This large and densely wooded nature park was founded in 1959 within the borders of the now defunct district of ...

. The River

Nieme Nieme is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany that flows into the Weser in Bursfelde. See also *List of rivers of Lower Saxony All rivers in the German state of Lower Saxony flow directly or indirectly into the North Sea. A–Z A B D E F G ...

flows around the lower part of its northern slopes and discharges into the Upper

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 ...

somewhat further west near

Bursfelde Bursfelde is a village, now administratively joined with Hemeln as Bursfelde-Hemeln, in the northern part of Hann. Münden in the district of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. The village lies on the east side of the Weser River The Weser ...

. Southwest of the hill is

Hemeln Hemeln is an outlying village (''Ortsteil'') in the borough of the town of Hann. Münden. It lies on the right bank of the Weser River, 12 km from the city proper. The highways L561 and L560 run through the community. Its population of some 9 ...

, to the southeast is the municipality of

Niemetal Niemetal is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, 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 Sea to the north and the A ...

Topography and geology

Between 195 and 408 metres the Totenberg lies on typical

Bunter Sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

beds mixed in with

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

References

{{Authority control Nature reserves in Lower Saxony Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Hills of Lower Saxony Bramwald