| Teutoburg Forest | |
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| Teutoburger Wald | |
 View over the Teutoburg Forest | |
 Teutoburg Forest andWeser Uplands | |
| Location | Germany (north-west) Lower Saxony &NRW |
| Nearest city | Bielefeld Paderborn (to the south) Osnabrück (to the north-west) |
| Coordinates | 51°54′00″N8°49′00″E / 51.90000°N 8.81667°E /51.90000; 8.81667 |
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TheTeutoburg Forest (/ˈtjuːtəbɜːrɡ/TEW-tə-burg;German:Teutoburger Wald[ˈtɔʏtoˌbʊʁɡɐˈvalt]ⓘ) is a range of low,forestedhills in theGerman states ofLower Saxony andNorth Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge wasOsning. It was first renamed theTeutoburg Forest in 1616 in commemoration of theBattle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, which most likely took place atKalkriese instead.[1]
The Teutoburg Forest is a peripheral section in the north of the GermanCentral Uplands, and forms a long narrow range of hills (comprising threeridges) extending from the eastern surroundings ofPaderborn in the south to the western surroundings ofOsnabrück in the northwest. South of the city centre ofBielefeld, a gap called theBielefeld Pass bisects the range into theNorthern Teutoburg Forest (two thirds) andSouthern Teutoburg Forest (one third). In addition, the northeastern and southwestern ridges are cut by the exits of the longitudinal valleys between the ridges.
The geologically oldest ridge is the northeastern one, which consists oflimestone of theTriassic.
Most of the ridges and part of the valley are covered bydeciduous forest. Parts of the valley areas are used for agriculture, especially the production ofcereals.
The highest elevation in the Southern Teutoburg Forest is theVelmerstot (468 m or 1,535 ft) south ofHorn-Bad Meinberg. In the Northern Teutoburg Forest the highest elevation is theDörenberg (331 m or 1,086 ft) north ofBad Iburg.
The riverEms has its source at the western base of the southernmost portion of the Teutoburg Forest.
The southern half of the range, situated about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the Weser valley, is part of the watershed between the Ems basin in the west and the Weser basin in the east. The drainage towards the Weser is affected by theWerre river. The northwestern half of the range is drained to the river Ems on both sides.
The neighboring landscapes are theWestphalian Lowland in the west,Hase valley in the north, the hillyRavensberg Basin in the northeast,Lippe Uplands in the east, andEgge Range (German:Eggegebirge) in the south.
Except for a short area south ofOsnabrück, which belongs to theBundesland ofLower Saxony, the whole forest is part ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia.
A long-distance hiking trail calledHermannsweg runs for 156 kilometres (97 mi) along the length of the Teutoburg Forest, fromRheine in Münsterland to Leopoldstal nearHorn-Bad Meinberg.[2]
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TheBattle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD occurred in or near this region,[3] though the exact location is disputed. The Roman historianCornelius Tacitus identified the location of the battle assaltus Teutoburgiensis (saltus meaning a forest valley in Latin). Recent excavations suggest that at least the final stages of the battle took place further northwest, atKalkriese, north ofOsnabrück.[4]
The Teutoburg Forest was also the scene of some fighting at the very end of theSecond World War. LieutenantRalph Elliott of theManchester Regiment – a noted Australian scholar in later life – was severely wounded in combat in the Teutoburg Forest, and nearly died before being rescued several hours later.[5]
The Teutoburg Forest is composed of two separatenature parks:
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Arminius (also known as Hermann theCherusker), leader of theGermanic tribes during the battle, became something of a legend for his overwhelming victory over the Romans. During the period of national renaissance in the wake of theNapoleonic wars, German people saw him as an early protagonist of German resistance to foreign rule and a symbol of national unity.
A monumental statue of Arminius commemorating the battle, known as theHermannsdenkmal (the "Hermann monument"), was erected on the hill of Grotenburg nearDetmold, close to the site where the most popular theory of the time placed the battle. EmperorWilliam I, the firstKaiser of the unifiedGerman Empire, dedicated the monument in 1875. In order to create anational landscape the Osning Hills were given the name "Teutoburg Forest",see alsoTeutonic. The first to use that name had been historian and geographerPhilipp Clüver in 1616, later it became more common whenFerdinand of Fürstenberg used it in his history and had it printed on maps. However, the old name survived among the local population and the part of the ridge around theEbberg (309 m or 1,014 ft) nearBielefeld is still known as the Osning today.
ThecomposerJohannes Brahms liked to take walks in this forest during his stay inDetmold.
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