| Weser Hills (Wesergebirge) | |
|---|---|
 View from theKaiser Wilhelm Monument (Wittekindsberg, Wiehen Hills) over Porta Westfalica to theJakobsberg (Wesergebirge) | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Möncheberg |
| Elevation | 326.1 m (1,070 ft) |
| Coordinates | 52°13′N9°5′E / 52.217°N 9.083°E /52.217; 9.083 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 100 km (62 mi) |
| Geography | |
 Location of the Weser Hills | |
| Country | Germany |
| Region(s) | North Rhine-Westphalia,Lower Saxony |
TheWeser Hills (Wesergebirge), also known in German as theWeserkette ("Weser Chain"),[1] form a lowhill chain, up to326.1 m above sea level (NN),[2] in theWeser Uplands in the German states ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia andLower Saxony.
The thickly wooded Weser ridge is one of the northern outliers of the GermanCentral Uplands on the southern edge of theNorth German Plain and forms part of theTERRA.vita Nature Park in the west and Weser Uplands Schaumburg-Hameln Nature Park in the east.
The Weser Hills are widely known because ofSchaumburg Castle which stands on theNesselberg (c.225 m above NN) in the Schaumburg district of the town ofRinteln, and is the emblem ofSchaumburg Land.
The Weser Hills cross the counties ofMinden-Lübbecke,Schaumburg andHameln-Pyrmont in a roughly east–west direction, from the town ofPorta Westfalica and theWestphalian Gap in the west pastRinteln toHessisch Oldendorf in the east, where they transition seamlessly to theSüntel, a ridge of similar height running from northwest to southeast. They form part of the perimeter of theWeser Uplands and thus also the GermanCentral Uplands which lie south of theNorth German Plain.
North of the Weser Hills there are only a few hills of theCalenberg Uplands, such as the nearby ridges ofHarrl andBückeberge. To the west, on the other side of the Porta Westfalica, the chain continues as theWiehen Hills, geologically of similar formation, reachingBramsche (northwest ofOsnabrück).
South of the Weser Hills, and roughly parallel to them, flows the River Weser, from Hessisch-Oldendorf in the east, through Rinteln, towardsVlotho in the west, before turning northeast to the town of Porta Westfalica. These northern areas around theUpper Weser Valley, south of the hills are an old area of settlement, which was protected bySchaumburg Castle on the hill ofNesselberg. From the water gap at Porta Westfalica - the Westphalian Gap - the river swings north in order to reach the southern part of the North German Plain. North of the hills are the upper reaches of theAue (also called theBückeburger Aue) that run roughly east to west.
TheWesergebirge is a chain of about two dozen hills that are arranged one after another in a ridge and which reach a height of326.1 m above NN at the Möncheberg in the east. In its centre section, west of theA 2 motorway, they reach a maximum height of 278 m at the Wülpker Egge and a height of 235.2 m at the westernmost hill of the Weser chain, theJakobsberg, which is located east of Porta Westfalica and on which theJakobsberg transmission tower stands.
The hills and elevations of the Wesergebirge, as seen from west to east, are given below together with their heights in metres aboveNormalnull (NN)[2]:
Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde und Raumforschung: Geographische Landesaufnahme 1:200000. Naturräumliche Gliederung Deutschlands. Die naturräumlichen Einheiten auf Blatt 85 Minden. Bad Godesberg 1959
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