Upland (Hesse)

The Upland, which is Low German for something like Oberland ("highland") or auf dem Land ("in the country"), is a low mountain region forming the northeastern part of the High Sauerland and belongs the German state of Hesse, unlike the remainder of the High Sauerland which lies in Westphalia. The Upland falls within the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg, in North Hesse and corresponds to the territory of the municipality of Willingen.

The historic Upland lies in the southwestern area of the Diemelsee Nature Park at an average height of 500 to 700 m above NN. The northwestern and southwestern parts are almost entirely forested, whilst the centre, the area formally defined as a natural region called Upland (see below), only has islands of woods around some of the peaks.

The historic Upland lies predominantly in the northwestern Rothaar Mountains mountain range with smaller elements also in the East Sauerland foothills. It incorporates the natural region of Upland, as well as the (northeastern) half of the natural region of Langenberg, which contains the highest peak in the Rothaargebirge, the 843,1 m high Langenberg, as well as other summits over 800 m high.

The following natural regions lie wholly or partly (see brackets) in the historic Upland:

The soils of the Upland are based mainly on Upper Devonian marl, agillaceous shale and calcareous sandstone. This combination has produced good soils for arable farming. As a result, the forests were cleared very early on and replaced by wood pasture (the East Sauerland "mountain heaths").

The highest mountain in the Upland is the Langenberg (843.2 m above sea level (NN)), which is located immediately next to the border with neighbouring North-Rhine-Westphalia (and just on the Westphalian side). The almost equally high Hegekopf (842.9 m) lies opposite and entirely on Hessian territory.

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