Wilseder Berg
| Wilseder Berg | |
|---|---|
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 169.2 m above sea level (NN) (555 ft) |
| Prominence | 144 metres (472 ft) |
| Coordinates | 53°10′00″N 9°56′00″E / 53.166667°N 9.933333°ECoordinates: 53°10′00″N 9°56′00″E / 53.166667°N 9.933333°E |
| Geography | |
At 169 m above sea level (NN), the Wilseder Berg is the highest point on the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. Due to its position in the middle of the nature reserve Lüneburg Heath it is a popular tourist destination, especially in the period when the heather is in flower.
The Wilseder Berg is part of a nature reserve within the Lüneburg Heath and lies near the villages of Wilsede and Bispingen in the Heidekreis. The hill was formed during the penultimate ice age, the Saale glaciation, and was part of a terminal moraine. It has a broad plateau and a flat summit. Around it lies a varied landscape of hollows, valleys and small ravines. The surrounding area has leached, gravelly-sandy soils with layers of hardpan, covered by open sand, large areas of heathland and extensive coniferous forest. The heathland is grazed by a variety of moorland sheep, known as the Heidschnucke.
The Wilseder Berg lies on a watershed, from which several headstreams emerge, such as those of the Este, Luhe, Wümme and Böhme. Some of these streams feed the river system of the Weser, others flow eventually into the Elbe.
There is a stone on the summit plateau on which there is a metal cone engraved with the directions and distance of neighbouring hills and towns, near and far.
The best-known hollow in the vicinity of the hill is the Totengrund, several hectares in area, south of the museum village of Wilsede. It is an old dead-ice kettle hole with sides up to 40 metres high, covered in heather and juniper bushes. The name means "dead ground" and was probably so called because of its very infertile, i.e. dead, soil, because the valley is very dry. The Totengrund was the kernel of the present-day nature reserve when the Egestorf priest, Wilhelm Bode, purchased the Totengrund in 1906 with donations. There is a controversy involving current plans to build seven wind turbines of a height in excess of 180 meters (over 600 feet) near Behringen. These would be visible from the Totengrund and according to local environmentalists spoil the view.
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Wikipedia