The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited.
The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in North Rhine-Westphalia,[ Travel themes, sauerland.com] in particular for mountain biking and cycling, water sports and scenic recreation. The town and Skiliftkarussell of Winterberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis is a major winter sport resort.
Etymology
The name
Sauerland is first mentioned as
Suderland in an official document from 1266.
[Westfälisches Urkundenbuch VII, Nr. 1243] After 1400 the letter 'd' started to disappear. Therefore, Sauerland =
southern country is the most convincing meaning, opposed to the theory that Sauer is from the
German language word
sauer meaning
sour (poor "sour" soil). Linguistically, "suder-“ is similar to the
Old Saxon sûðar (southbound).
History
Before 1800 the western part of the Sauerland was part of the County of the Mark based in
Altena; the eastern part adhered to the County of
Arnsberg, later became known as the Duchy of Westphalia and was owned by the Archbishops and Electorate of Cologne. The Duchy of Limburg covered a very small area in the lower
Lenne river valley. After the
Napoleonic Wars the area became part of
Prussia and was integrated into the new province of Westphalia. After World War II, Westphalia was merged with the new federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Today, the Sauerland consists of the districts Märkischer Kreis, Olpe and
Hochsauerland. The western part of the
Hesse district Waldeck-Frankenberg is also attributed to the Sauerland because of its
Geomorphology, as well as its sociocultural similarity, and the stark contrast to the rest of the adjoining Hessian landscape.
Geography
To the west the hills continue into the
Bergisches Land, to the south into the
Siegerland, and to the north-east into the
Teutoburg Forest. The major rivers of the Sauerland are the Ruhr and the
Lenne. Several artificial lakes were created on the smaller rivers by building
to store water for the nearby
Ruhr area, the biggest reservoirs being the Möhne and
Biggesee. Although the highest elevation of the Sauerland is the
Langenberg (843 m) near Olsberg, the much more renowned summit, which is well known for the nearby skiing facilities, its weather station and observation tower, is the slightly lower
Kahler Asten (842 m) near
Winterberg. Both Langenberg and Kahler Asten are peaks in the
Rothaargebirge mountains.
Dams and reservoirs (lakes)
The Sauerland has six reservoir lakes.
Geology
The Sauerland is part of the
Rhine Massif (
Rheinisches Schiefergebirge) including 'Bergisches Land',
Westerwald,
Siegerland, and, separated by the
Rhine valley, the
Eifel,
Hautes Fagnes and Hunsrück. The Rheinisches Schiefergebirge was subjected to folding and faulting in the
Variscan orogeny in
Carboniferous times and eroded to a
peneplain in the
Permian. The
tectonic uplift to the present-day low mountain range began approximately 500,000 years ago and is still going on.
[Walter, Roland et al.: Geologie von Mitteleuropa. 5. Auflage, Schweizerbarth’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1992. ]
Most of the bedrock underneath the Sauerland originates from a Middle and Upper Devonian period, when it was under a marginal and shallow sea. This has meant that , and are the most abundant rock types in the Sauerland. In some areas from an ancient reef fringe prevail and are Karst topography. The Sauerland has several caves, especially in the northern part, the biggest caves being in Attendorn and Balve. In some areas of the Sauerland the occurrence of lead-zinc-silver- lead to the development of a considerable mining industry, the center of which was the town of Meggen. Mining in this area lasted until the late second half of the 20th century, today there is no active mining in the Sauerland. The sandstones, greywackes and of the Sauerland as well as, to a minor extent, the limestones are still exploited in numerous quarries. Some of these caves are now becoming modest attractions to tourists.
Fauna and Flora
Several areas of the Sauerland have the status of biological reserves.
The biodiversity of the Sauerland is significant. It is the main habitat of many species within Germany, for example for the wisent, the black stork, the Eurasian eagle-owl, the great grey shrike, the red-backed shrike and the whinchat. There have been reports of free-roaming Wolf, which had been wiped out in Germany until a few specimens returned to the country in 2000.
In 2007, Cyclone Kyrill caused severe damage to the coniferous forests. In addition, massive outbreaks of have been killing up to 60 % by area of forest in some regions of the Sauerland.
Towns and municipalities
The largest town of the Sauerland is
Iserlohn; other larger towns are Lüdenscheid and
Arnsberg.
Meschede is the home of an abbey. Another abbey is placed at
Bestwig.
Hochsauerlandkreis
Märkischer Kreis
Olpe
Soest
Waldeck-Frankenberg
Economy
Parts of the Sauerland, especially the major valleys in the northwest, represent an old industrial region. The availability of iron ore and the abundance of wood and water allowed iron production long before the
Ruhr area industrialisation and the mining of its
coal took place. Today there are only a few remains of this early
heavy industry; wire production is still important in
Altena and a number of small factories still occupy the old industrial areas.
Warsteiner is Germany's largest privately owned brewery.
Tourism
Sauerland has become a popular tourist area, attracting many visitors from the
Ruhr Area and relatively close Netherlands. The forests and picturesque small towns are attractive for hikers and outdoor sports. There are more than of tagged hiking trails in Sauerland region maintained by Sauerland hiking association (SGV).
[ Hiking Map Sauerland] Some of the towns have the title
Bad (
Spa) because of their good air quality and stimulating climate. Winter sports are popular in the Sauerland. The bob sleigh track in
Winterberg is widely known in Germany, as well as the ski jumping in
Willingen. Sauerland also has a successful theme park called
Fort Fun.
Balve Cave is one of the biggest prehistorical caves of Europe and is situated in Balve. The largest accessible limestone cave outside the Alps is the Atta Cave in Attendorn.
Transport
The Sauerland can be reached by car or train. The drive either via the BAB 4 from
Cologne or via the BAB 45 and BAB 46 from
Dortmund, takes about one hour; from
Kassel or
Frankfurt-
Rhine-Main (via the
Sauerlandlinie) the journey takes about two hours. The closest commercial airport is
Dortmund Airport.
-
Bundesautobahn 4
-
Bundesautobahn 44
-
Bundesautobahn 45 ( Sauerlandlinie)
-
Bundesautobahn 46
In the region, railways were once the most important means of transportation, but between 1950 and 1990 many smaller branch lines were closed and rail travel is now only present in the major valleys.
The most important lines are:
-
Ruhr-Sieg-Strecke: Hagen – Iserlohn-Letmathe – Werdohl – Finnentrop – Lennestadt – Siegen (2 trains per hour, Abellio Rail NRW)
-
Ruhrtalbahn: Hagen – Arnsberg – Bestwig – Brilon – Meschede – Warburg (1-2 trains per hour, DB Regio NRW)
-
Volmetalbahn: Hagen – Lüdenscheid-Brügge – Meinerzhagen – Overath – Köln (one train per hour, DB Regio NRW)
See also
-
Arnsberg Forest Nature Park
-
Sauerländer Heimatbund
-
List of castles in North Rhine-Westphalia
-
List of nature parks in Germany
-
Festspiele Balver Höhle
External links
