The Weser Depression () or Weser Lowlands is the region north of

Porta Westfalica Porta Westfalica () is a town in the district of Minden-Lübbecke, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name "''Porta Westfalica''" is Latin and means "gate to Westphalia". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of West ...

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 ...

, where the

River 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 of Br ...

no longer flows through a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

, but a broad plain consisting of meadows and

river terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial t ...

s. The flat plain of the depression is interrupted by

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 outw ...

ridges in places. From Langwedel, as far as the River

Lesum The Lesum () is a river in northern Germany, right tributary of the Weser, navigable for Class III ships. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Wümme and Hamme, near Ritterhude, northwest of Bremen. It flows west and flows into the W ...

, it is separated from the Wümme Depression by a narrow ridge of

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

, on which the town of

Achim Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonly Achim bei Bremen, is a municipality and the largest town (population 30,059 in December 2006) in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, a ...

and the older districts of the city of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

lie. At many places, such as south of the mouth of the

River Aller The River Aller is a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England. It rises as several small streams around Tivington and Huntscott and flows through the Holnicote Estate passing Holnicote and through Allerford, where it passes under a packho ...

or in Bremen- Huchting, the Weser Depression transitions to

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

and

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

without any clear boundary. The southern part of the Weser Depression belongs to the state 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 ...

, with its towns of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

and

Petershagen Petershagen is a town in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the Westphalian Mill Route. The core is formed by the districts of Petershagen and Lahde, located opposite each other on the Weser. Geography ...

. The borough of Petershagen includes Westphalia's northernmost Weser settlement, Schlüsselburg. North of that, the Weser passes the

Low Saxon Low Saxon (), also known as West Low German () are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two di ...

town of

Stolzenau Stolzenau is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 20 km southwest of Nienburg, and 25 km northeast of Minden. During the second half of the 20th cen ...

. Below

Hoya Hoya may refer to: Places *Hoya, Germany, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany *County of Hoya, a former state in present Germany *Hōya, Tokyo, now incorporated within Nishi-tokyo, Tokyo, Japan * Hoya, Hpruso, a place in Hpruso Township, Kayah, Myanma ...

, the Weser reaches the Breslau-Magdeburg-Bremen glacial valley, which approaches from the southeast. As the Weser heads off in a northwestern direction, the edge of the Wildeshausen Geest bears away to the west and the Weser Depression broadens to a width of about . Here there are also carr landscapes. From Achim to Bremen- Blumenthal, the width of the depression reduces again to about . In the wide sections of the depression the soil does not just consist of river sediments or bog, but is also sandy in places. These areas of sand at the level of the depression are also known as 'foregeest' (''Vorgeest''), but are nevertheless separated by a boggy strip from the ascending edge of the geest itself. The largest are the

Schwarme Schwarme is a municipality in the district of Diepholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The municipality Schwarme is located in the Mittelweserregion around 30 km south of Bremen. The towns Achim Achim (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Achem''), commonl ...

Heath (''Schwarmer Heide'') and the Thedinghausen Foregeest (''Thedinghauser Vorgeest''). Downstream of Bremen, the marshlands of

Stedingen Stedingen is an area north of Bremen in the delta of the Weser river in north-western Germany. Founding In 1106, five Dutchmen journeyed from the mouth of the Rhine to Bremen to negotiate an arrangement with Archbishop Frederick I of Bremen to ...

come close to the Weser. The river is separated from the northwestern edge of the geest by a wide, nowadays largely cultivated, strip of moor. The eastern edge of the Weser Depression lies closer to the river from the confluence of the Aller (near Verden) to Bremen-Rönnebeck. In Bremen, the Bremen Dunes, south of the Lesum, separate the Weser Depression from the Wümme Depression. North of the Lesum, the

Osterholz Geest The Osterholz Geest (Northern Low Saxon: ''Oosterholter Geest'') is an undulating, sandy area of ground moraine between the city of Bremen and the towns of Bremerhaven and Bremervörde. Geography The Osterholz Geest forms the southern part of ...

, near Bremen-

Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of Bremen, the capital of the Germany , German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (Freie Hansestadt Bremen). Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Brem ...

, forms a steep river bank. In the north, the Weser Depression transitions into the

coastal marsh A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, ...

es. Northwest of its confluence with the

Hunte Hunte () is a long river in north-western Germany (Lower Saxony), a left tributary of the Weser. The Hunte rises in the Wiehen Hills. In the North German Plain it flows through lake Dümmer. It flows generally northwards through the towns B ...

, there are no natural eminences between the Weser and the

Jade Bight The Jade Bight (also known as ''Jade Bay''; , ) is a bight or bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as (the) Jade or Jahde. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than an e ...

. The height of this peninsula, comprising

Stadland Stadland () is a municipality in the district of Wesermarsch, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 32 km northeast of Oldenburg, and 42 km northwest of Bremen. On the west side Stadland border ...

and

Butjadingen Butjadingen () is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and the east by the ...

, lies between 0.8 metres under sea level (NN) and 1.2 metres above it (at a place on the 'neck' of the Jade Bight it reaches 2 metres). The first ridge of geest does not appear until the far side of the Jade Bight, the Friesische Wehde. On the eastern side of the Lower Weser, the edge of the Osterholz Geest peels away north of Bremen-BlumenthalOsterholz district, overview … (pdf)
/ref> to a distance of six to ten kilometres from the river. The marshland here is called Osterstade.

Administrative regions

Politically, the Weser Depression is divided between the following administrative units that belong to the 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 ...

, apart from those in the district of Minden-Lübbecke and the city of Bremen: * Minden-Lübbecke district (

) * Nienburg district * Verden district * Diepholz district * the town of

Delmenhorst Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district (''List of German urban districts, Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen (city), Bremen with which ...

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Bremen (), officially the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (; ), is the smallest and least populous of Germany's 16 states. It is informally called ('State of Bremen'), although the term is sometimes used in official contexts. The state consists ...

* Wesermarsch district

References and other external links

Natural regions in the district of Verden

Landscape fact file "Middle Weser Valley"

Sources

LGN
= Landesvermessung und Geobasisinformation Niedersachsen: Regionalkarten 1:100 000, Nr.10 "Mittelweser" und Nr.2 "Nordoldenburg". {{Coord, 52.439688, 9.009476, type:landmark_elevation:30_dim:150000_region:DE-NW/DE-NI/DE-HB, format=dms, display=title Landforms of North Rhine-Westphalia Landforms of Lower Saxony Landforms of Bremen (state) Plains of Germany Verden (district) Osterholz Minden Weser