The West Hesse Highlands (), also known as the West Hessian Lowlands and Highlands (Westhessisches Berg- und Senkenland), are a heavily forested region of the Central Uplands in Germany. These highlands lie mainly within the state of Hesse, between that part of the Rhenish Massif right of the Rhine in the west, the Weser Uplands to the north, the Hessian Central Uplands to the east and the Wetterau to the south.
The West Hesse Highlands form one of the major natural regions of Germany (Natural Region No. 34 or D46) and are part of the Central European Uplands as well as being the watershed between the Rhine and the Weser. They comprise a line of hill ranges in the west, running north-northeast to south-southwest on the shoulder of the Rhenish Massif and include the Kellerwald, and a fault trough in the east, the West Hesse Depression.
The West and East Hesse Highlands, together referred to as the Hesse Highlands, combine to form the geological unit known as the Hesse Depression (Hessischen Senke), in its wider sense. Here, geologically young layers of Zechstein and Bunter sandstone, and in places even younger rocks like Muschelkalk, of the Jurassic, Paleogene and Neogene periods, have been preserved.
Division of natural regions The highlands comprise the following geographical subdivisions according to the Hesse Environmental Atlas (Umweltatlas Hessen):Karte und Beschreibung des Westhessischen Berglandes im Umweltatlas Hessen
34 West Hesse Lowlands and Highlands (Westhessisches Berg- und Senkenland) 340 Waldeck Upland (Waldecker Tafel or Waldecker Tafelland) 340.0 Waldeck Plain (Waldecker Gefilde) 340.1 Waldeck Forest (Waldecker Wald) 341 East Waldeck Border Lowlands (Ostwaldecker Randsenken) 341.0 Middle Diemel Depression (Mitteldiemelsenke) 341.1 Rhoda Depression (Rhoder Senken) 341.2 Volkmarsen Basin (Volkmarser Becken) 341.3 Wolfhagen Hills (Wolfhager Hügelland) (including the Elsberg Ridge and the Isthaberg 341.4 Naumburg Depression and Ridge (Naumburger Senken und Rücken) 341.5 Wildungen Depression (Wildunger Senke) 341.6 Hessenwald 341.7 Löwenstein Bottom (Löwensteiner Grund) 342 Habichtswald Highlands (Habichtswälder Bergland) 342.0 Habichtswald (including Langenberg) 342.1 Habichtswald Depression (Habichtswälder Senke) 342.2 Hinter Habichtswald Hills (Hinterhabichtswälder Kuppen) 342.3 Dörnberg and Schreckenberge 342.4 Malsburg Forest (Malsburger Wald) 343 West Hesse Depression (Westhessische Senke) 343.0 Schwalm 343.1 Landsburg Depression (Landsburger Senke) 343.2 Hessengau 343.3 Kassel Basin (Kasseler Becken) 343.4 Hofgeismar Depression (Hofgeismarer Rötsenke) 343.5 North Habichtswald Foreland (Nordhabichtswälder Vorland) 344 Kellerwald 344.0 High Kellerwald (Hoher Kellerwald) 344.1 Middle Kellerwald (Mittelkellerwald) 344.2 Wildungen Highlands (Wildunger Bergland) 344.3 Große Hardt 344.4 Herzhausen-Hemfurth Eder Valley (Herzhausen-Hemfurther Edertal) 344.5 Lower Kellerwald (Niederkellerwald) 345 Burgwald 345.0 Wetschaft Depression (Wetschaft-Senke) 345.1 Northern Burgwald (Nördlicher Burgwald) 345.2 Southern Burgwald (Südlicher Burgwald) 345.3 Wohra Valley (Wohratal) 345.4 Buntstruth 345.5 Frankenberg Upland (Frankenberger Oberland) 346 Upper Hessian Ridge (Oberhessische Schwelle) 346.0 Gilserberg Heights (Gilserberger Höhen) 346.1 Neustadt Saddle (Neustädter Sattel) 346.2 Northern Vogelsberg Foreland (Nördliches Vogelsberg-Vorland) 347 Amöneburg Basin (Amöneburger Becken) 347.0 Ohm Depression (Ohmsenke) 347.1 Ebsdorf Bottom (Ebsdorfer Grund) 348 Marburg-Gießen Lahn Valley (Marburg-Gießener Lahntal) 348.0 Marburg Highlands (including Marburg Ridge and Lahnberge) (Marburger Bergland (mit Marburger Rücken und Lahnbergen)) 348.1 Giessen Basin (Gießener Becken) 349 Vogelsberg Foothills (Vorderer Vogelsberg) 349.0 Lumda Plateau 349.1 Ohm Valley (Ohmtal) 349.2 Gießen Ridge (Gießener Landrücken) 349.3 Laubach Hills (Laubacher Hügelland)
Landscape The tectonics of the Upper Rhine Rift, which continues along the eastern edge of the Rhenish Massif as far as the Upper Weser Hills, form highlands and lowlands here that merge into the volcanic East Hesse Highlands beyond the West Hesse Depression on their eastern perimeter. The ridges never attain the height of the loftiest peaks of the highlands to the east and west.
Although the two highland areas of this Central Upland region reach heights of 675 m (Kellerwald) and 615 m (Habichtswald), the typical height of the ridges is more like 400 m. Between them, there are large river valleys and depressions, in places up to 200 m lower.
Location of the geographical units
The Habichtswald highlands, which are up to 615 m high, in the north are separated from the peaks of the Waldeck Plateau (Waldeck Plateau) to the west, generally between 400 und 500 m high, by the East Waldeck Basin (East Waldeck Basin). Immediately south of the plateau is the 675 m high Kellerwald. The latter runs away to the south, splitting into two ridges mainly around 400 m high: the Burgwald, to the southwest, and the Upper Hessian Ridge to the south.
South of the Burgwald is the Marburg-Gießen Lahn Valley to the west (up to 380 m high near the Lahnberge) and the Amöneburg Basin to the east, which is flat apart from the singularity of the 365 m high Amöneburg itself. The basin rises southwards into the 405 m high (Lumda Plateau) Vogelsberg foothills. In the far east, the West Hesse Depression runs alongside almost all the ridges mentioned, following the valleys of the Schwalm (south) and Eder (north).
The northern part of the Burgwald, the southwestern Kellerwald and the Upper Hessian Ridge form part of the Rhine-Weser watershed and link the Rothaargebirge with the Vogelsberg.
The many depressions in the West Hesse Highlands and Lowlands have led to a buildup of loess soils, which is why arable farming is widespread here.
Hills (selection) Wüstegarten (675 m) - Kellerwald Hohes Lohr (657 m) - Kellerwald Große Aschkoppe (640 m) - Kellerwald Hohes Gras (615 m) - Habichtswald Großer Bärenberg (601 m) - Habichtswald Hoher Dörnberg (579 m) - Habichtswald Isthaberg (523 m) - Singularity within the East Waldeck Basin Weidelsburg (492 m) - Singularity on the boundary of the East Waldeck Basin and Waldeck Plateau Hundskopf (471 m) - north Upper Hessian Ridge Heitzelberg (467 m) - Waldeck Plateau Wasserberg (412 m) - central Burgwald Mardorfer Kuppe (405 m) - Lumda Plateau Dachsberg (388 m) - central Upper Hessian Ridge Christenberg (387 m) - western Burgwald Burgholz (380 m) - west of the Upper Hessian Ridge Ortenberg (380 m) - Lahnberge Frauenberg (370 m) - Lahnberge Vogelheerd (370 m) - Marburg Ridge Amöneburg (365 m) - Singularity in the Amöneburg Basin
Rivers The main rivers in the West Hesse Highlands flow from the west out of the Rothaar Mountains: the Diemel (only right-hand tributaries, north), Eder (middle) and Lahn (only left-hand tributaries and river valley, south). Whilst the two rivers of the Weser river system in the extreme northeast (Diemel) and east (Eder) discharge into the West Hesse Depression, the Lahn leaves the Highlands after following a semi-circular course and heads southwest into the Rhine Massif again.
The right-hand tributaries of the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda and thus part of the Main river system, only enter a small part of the Vogelsberg foothills in the extreme southeast. In addition, a few left tributaries of the Fulda from the Habichtswald highlands join the Fulda itself just below the Eder confluence.
Major rivers
The following table lists the most important rivers in the West Hesse Highlands, from north to south and internally in a downstream direction, i.e. mainly from west to east.
For a better overview or to sort them downstream based on the river system, enter the following DGKZ code numbers after the number 44 - Diemel, 428 - Eder, 24 - Fulda, 258 - Lahn and 2484 - Wetter. Natural regions in italics are those outside the West Hesse Highlands; catchment areas and discharge quantities are given in italics where they only represent part of the total value (see footnotes below the table)!
Name Main river Length[km] Catchment area[km2] Discharge(MQ) [l/s] Source region(of the tributaries) Mainunits DGKZ GlindeRiver data from NRW at TIM online Diemel (r) 8.4 35.3 Waldeck Plain 34044-32 Orpe Diemel (r) 19.1 98.1 774.2 Waldeck Plateau 34044-34 Twiste*** Diemel (r) 40.8 446.7 2,685.9 E. Sauerland Hills(Waldeck Plateau; Habichtswald - r) 332(340;342 - r)44-4 Calenberger Bach (Holsterbach)*** Diemel (r) 9.1 34.0 88.7 Habichtswald 34244-52 Warme Diemel (r) 33.1 157.3 1,321.4 Habichtswald 34244-6 Esse Diemel (r) 27.6 191.9 1,187.8 West Hesse Depression 34344-8 Itter* Eder (l) 11.6 76.1 771.3 Waldeck Plain(E. Sauerland Hills) 340(332)428-531 Aselbach* Eder (l) 6.6 18.1 135.4 Waldecker Fields 340428-533 Werbe* Eder (l) 13.2 42.3 322.6 Waldeck Plateau 340428-537 Reiherbach* Eder (l) 7.4 27.3 188.9 Waldeck Plateau 340428-538 Netze Eder (l) 12.9 29.0 169.5 Waldeck Plateau 340428-554 Elbe Eder (l) 33 123.5 731.3 Waldeck Forest(Habichtswald) 340(342)428-6 Ems Eder (l) 34.1 146.2 753.3 Habichtswald 342428-92 Pilgerbach Eder (l) 8.8 25.6 102.2 Habichtswald 342428-98 Bauna Fulda (l) 17.2 47.4 333.8 Habichtswald 34242-92 Grunnelbach Fulda (l) 9.2 24.1 150.0 Habichtswald 342 42-94 Drusel** Fulda (l) 11.4 11.0 96.4 Habichtswald 342 42-952 Ahne** Fulda (l) 21.4 21.1 295.5 Habichtswald 342 42-958 Espe Fulda (l) 8.6 24.3 159.5 Habichtswald 342 42-992 Nemphe Eder (r) 14.2 38.4 293.5 Northern Burgwald 345428-198 Lengelbach Eder (r) 11.4 25.9 209.9 Northern Burgwald(Kellerwald - r) 345(344)428-32 Lorfe Eder (r) 11.8 24.3 245.7 Kellerwald 344428-512 Banferbach* Eder (r) 7.2 16.4 213.9 Kellerwald 344428-535 Wesebach Eder (r) 25.3 63.4 618.2 Kellerwald 344428-56 Wilde Eder (r) 17.1 51.9 471.4 Kellerwald 344428-58 Schwalm Eder (r) 97.1 1,298.8 9,044.5 Vogelsberg(Fulda-Haune Tableland, Knüll - r; U. Hessian Ridge, Kellerwald - l) 350/1(355, 356 - r;346, 344 - l)428-8 Wetschaft Lahn (l) 29.0 196.2 1,701.6 Northern Burgwald(E. Sauerland Hills, Rothaargebirge - r) 345 (332, 333)258-18 Ohm Lahn (l) 59.7 983.8 7,949.8 Vogelsberg (U. Hessian Ridge, Kellerwald, Burgwald - r;Vogelsberg foothills - l) 350/1 (346, 344, 345 - r;349 - l)258-2 Zwester Ohm Lahn (l) 20.0 69.5 405.2 Vogelsberg foothills 349258-334 Lumda Lahn (l) 30.0 131.5 950.4 Vogelsberg foothills 349258-36 Wieseck Lahn (l) 24.3 119.6 663.5 Vogelsberg foothills 349258-38 Kleebach Lahn (l) 26.9 164.6 815.9 Eastern Hintertaunus(Vogelsberg foothills - r) 302(349)258-396 Lauter Wetter (r) 7.0 13.6 126.2 Vogelsberg foothills 3492484-14 Äschersbach Wetter (r) 13.6 42.9 325.3 Vogelsberg foothills 3492484-2 (*: Edersee tributaries); **: Catchment area and discharge somewhat larger than given in the table, because the lower courses are combined with the Fulda sections; ***: Discharge value excluding confluence region in NRW)
Schwalm and Ohm
The two longest and biggest rivers in the table by far, the Schwalm and the Ohm, have a special role. They both emerge in the Vogelsberg, which the Ohm leaves after about 45% of its total length and 27% of its catchment area with roughly 35% of its volume (see also here). The Schwalm, on the other hand, leaves the Vogelsberg much earlier and receives about half its water volume at its mouth from right-hand tributaries from the East Hesse Highlands.
Because the river systems of both rivers drain several major areas, they may be considered more or less as major rivers.
Rivers which enter the Schwalm from the left out of the West Hesse Highlands include the following: Schwalm Antreff (38,6 km, 115,3 km2, 980.3 L/s, Vogelsberg/Northern Vogelsberg Foreland) Wiera (14,8 km, 87,8 km2, 589.5 L/s, Upper Hessian Ridge) Gilsa (20,9 km, 93,6 km2, 757.1 L/s, Gilserberg Heights/Kellerwald) Urff (20,1 km, 41,7 km2, 494.6 L/s, Kellerwald)