The Saxon-Bohemian Chalk Sandstone Region (German: Sächsisch-Böhmische Kreidesandsteingebiet) is a (relatively small) natural region in south Saxony on the southern border with the Czech Republic. It forms part of the northern perimeter of the Bohemian Massif and comprises Saxon Switzerland, the German part of the Elbsandsteingebirge and the Zittau Hills, a small section of the Lusatian Mountains on German soil. Because the boundary between the Elbsandsteingebirge and the Lusatian Uplands is on Czech territory, the two natural regions are physically separated.
Contents
At the beginning of the 21st century the working group for Ecological Balance and Regional Character in the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig grouped all mountain and hill areas in the Saxon-Bohemian border region into a single geographical unit known as the Saxon Highlands and Uplands. This includes the Lusatian Mountains sandwiched between the Zittau Hills and Saxon Switzerland, which had been grouped by Meynen with the loess landscapes to the east and west into the natural region of Upper Lusatia; to the west the new major unit merges into the Ore Mountains and the Vogtland.
The Lusatian Mountains are not, however, built of chalk sandstone, but descend northwards and form the eastern part of the Saxon Uplands together with the 'real' chalk sandstone region.
Sub-divisions
The Saxon-Bohemian Chalk Sandstone Region, according to Meynen, was divided as follows (in brackets: natural regions according to the BfN):