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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. Political boundaries play no part in this, apart from defining the national border.
Contents
- Groundwork by the Federal Institute of Regional Studies BfL
- New Classification by the Federal Office for Nature Conservation BfN
- List of major landscape regions levels 1 to 3
- North and Baltic Seas
- North Sea
- Baltic Sea
- Marshland
- Mecklenburg Western Pomeranian Littoral
- Mecklenburg Coastal Lowland
- Central North German Plain
- Loess Belt
- Rhenish Massif
- Weser Uplands and Hesse Lowlands and Highlands
- Harz
- Thuringian Basin
- Eastern Central Uplands
- Palatine Saarland Scarplands
- Upper Rhine Plain
- South German Scarplands
- Upper Palatine Upper Main Hills
- Alpine Foreland
- Northern Alpine Foreland
- Southern Alpine Foreland
- Alps
- Nagelfluh Mountains of the Appenzell Alps
- Lower Bregenz Forest
- Swabian Bavarian Pre alps
- Austrian Pre Alps
- Northern Limestone Alps west
- Northern Limestone Alps east
- Central Alps
- References
In addition to a division of Germany by natural regions, the Federal authorities have also produced a division by so-called landscape areas (Landschaftsräume) that is based more on human utilisation of various regions and so has clearly different boundaries.
Groundwork by the Federal Institute of Regional Studies (BfL)
The natural region classification of Germany, as used today by the Federal Office for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz or BfN) and by most state institutions, is largely based on the work in producing the Handbook of Natural Region Divisions of Germany between the years 1953 to 1962. This divided the present federal territory (then West and East Germany) into 86 so-called major landscape unit groups (Haupteinheitgruppen) each with a two-digit number between 01 and 90. These in turn were subdivided into up to ten, in some cases more, major landscape units (Haupteinheiten), each with a three-digit number. The handbook was accompanied by 1:100,000 scale mapping and, in the updated 1960 map, the major landscape unit groups were bundled together into major regions (Großregionen).
As a result, a regional classification of Germany emerged with five (since 1976: six) primary landscape regions (naturräumliche Großregionen 1. Ordnung), divided into 18 (since 1964: 19) secondary landscape regions (naturräumliche Großregionen 2. Ordnung). The major unit groups form, in effect, the third or tertiary level, of landscape regions and the major units form the fourth level. Many secondary landscape regions only have one major unit group (Mecklenburg Coastal Lowland, Harz, Thuringian Basin, Upper Main-Upper Palatine Hills, Southern Alpine Foreland), others group well-known major regions together (Rhenish Massif, South German Scarplands); others are entirely new groupings.
In the subsequent work at 1:200,000 scale that lasted until the 1990s, that further split the landscape regions into a fifth and lower levels (using the three-digits numbers supplemented with further numbers placed after a decimal comma), it became apparent that the boundaries of major regions at the 2nd and 3rd levels had to be corrected in several places and, in individual cases, were no longer compatible with boundaries of the major unit groups. This has no impact on the numbering system of the lower levels, however.
New Classification by the Federal Office for Nature Conservation (BfN)
From 1992 to 1994, Axel Ssymank revised the major unit groups 01-90 under the direction of the BfN. Most groups retained their boundaries, however in some cases 2 to 4 major units groups according to the Handbook were combined, whilst in the North and Baltic Seas, one old group was divided into four new ones.
The numbering of the new units, D01 to D73, is entirely new and runs from north to south not, as in the Handbook, from south to north. So it is not compatible with the numbers of the main and subordinate landscape units, which is why it has not been adopted by the state institutions. Even the BfN itself has largely followed the older system in the Handbook in its landscape fact files (Landschaftssteckbriefe).
Ssymank combined the natural regions into 8 so-called great landscapes (Großlandschaften), which are rather less finely divided than the secondary main regions (Großregionen 2. Ordnung) of the BfL. The only discrepancy between the two systems is the division of the North German Plain into western and eastern parts, which is based on their climatic division into Atlantic and Continental areas. The boundary runs randomly east of landscape units D22, D24, D28, D31 and D33. These great landscape definitions have yet to be used in the literature.
List of major landscape regions - levels 1 to 3
Germany can be divided into 3 major geographical regions: the Northern Lowland or North German Plain, the Central Uplands and the Alps running roughly west to east across the country.
The official major landscape groups, which more or less correspond to the tertiary level of major landscape regions, are grouped following the primary and secondary landscape region system. These subdivisions largely correspond to the publications of the Institute for Regional Studies (BfL) since 1960 which are:
For clarity the first and second levels of the major landscape regions are organised from north to south and from west to east. Within a secondary or tertiary landscape region the list follows the numerical order in the Handbook; the BfN's numbers are given in brackets. Tertiary major landscape regions are shown in bold italics. Maps, all to the same scale, are shown to the right of the lists.
For clarity, the English names for the natural regions are given; German names may be found at the relevant article. The English names are primarily based on Dickinson (1964) and Elkins (1972) where their classification corresponds closely to the Handbook's. In such cases the source of the English name is referenced.
The seven major regions are: the Northeast German Plain, the Northwest German Plain, the Western Central Uplands, the Eastern Central Uplands, the South German Scarplands and Alpine Foreland as well as the North and Baltic Seas.
North and Baltic Seas
This is a list, exceptionally, of the 3-figure major landscape units of group 90, because this de facto corresponds to the tertiary major landscape regions.
North Sea
Baltic Sea
Marshland
Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian Littoral
Mecklenburg Coastal Lowland
Central North German Plain
Loess Belt
Rhenish Massif
Arranged from west to east and internally from north to south)
Weser Uplands and Hesse Lowlands and Highlands
(arranged from north to south and from west to east)
Harz
Thuringian Basin
Eastern Central Uplands
Palatine-Saarland Scarplands
Division from north to south and from west to east
Upper Rhine Plain
Divided from north to south.
South German Scarplands
(arranged by escarpments Grundgebirge/Buntsandstein, Muschelkalk, Keuper-Lias and Malm from north to south, internally from west to east.
Upper Palatine-Upper Main Hills
Alpine Foreland
arranged from north to south and from west to east)
Northern Alpine Foreland
Southern Alpine Foreland
Alps
The following 3 groups were still counted as part of (ex-)group 02 in the Handbook; the German sections form D67 (BfN).
Nagelfluh Mountains of the Appenzell Alps
Lower Bregenz Forest
Swabian-Bavarian Pre-alps
Austrian Pre-Alps
Only the western end of the group, which lies entirely in Austria, was studied.
Northern Limestone Alps (west)
The following group was counted as (ex-)group 01 in the Handbook; the German parts near Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen belong to D68 (BfN).
Northern Limestone Alps (east)
The following group was counted as part of (ex-)group 01 in the Handbook; the German parts near Berchtesgaden belong accordingly to D68 (BfN).
Most of the group lies in Austria.
(to 933 Inn Valley Riffkalkketten)
Central Alps
The Central Alps lies completely outside of Germany and are only mapped at the fringes.