Süntel

Süntel
Highest point
Peak	Hohe Egge
Elevation	440 m
Coordinates	52°12′N 9°21′E / 52.200°N 9.350°E / 52.200; 9.350Coordinates: 52°12′N 9°21′E / 52.200°N 9.350°E / 52.200; 9.350
Dimensions
Length	10 km
Geography
Map of the Low Saxon Hills
Location	Lower Saxony, Germany

The Süntel is a massif in the German Central Uplands that is up to 437.5 m above sea level (NN). It forms part of the Weser Uplands in Lower Saxony southwest of Hanover and north of Hamelin.

The Süntel is the eastern extension of the Wesergebirge and runs for about 12 km from northwest to southeast. It is surrounded by the valleys of the Aue, Deister-Süntel and Weser. It is also part of the Weser Uplands Schaumburg-Hamelin Nature Park and the Calenberg Uplands. The Hohenstein hill and its immediate vicinity are a nature reserve.

The southeastern part of the Süntel, including the Hohe Egge, consists mainly of Wealden sandstone from the Lower Cretaceous period as well as small anthracite deposits. Its northwestern part, including the Hohenstein with its 350 m long and 50 to 60 m high crags, comprises limestone of the Upper Jurassic period, the Corallian oolith.

The main geological features of the Süntel are:

The Süntel is covered by mixed woods which are dominated by beech, but also has other species such as oak, spruce, hornbeam and coast Douglas-fir and rarer types like the yew and wild service tree. A botanic rarity is the dwarf beech (known in German as the Süntel-Buche or "Süntel beech") of which there are about a dozen old examples still in the Süntel (at Dachtelfeld and Bleeksgrund). The last great dwarf beech wood on the Westeregge was almost completely cleared in 1843. In addition there are numerous, rare species of flower such as varieties of Primula, spring snowflake, horseshoe vetch, hart's-tongue fern, spleenwort, lady's slipper, heath spotted orchid, etc.