The
Magdeburg BördeBörde, a district in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany, is arguably best known as the area of the former repository for radioactive waste Morsleben. The disposal of waste into the facility ended in 1998.- History :...
is the central landscape unit of the state of
Saxony-AnhaltSaxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
and lies to the West and South of the eponymous state capital
MagdeburgMagdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
. It is noted for its very fertile soils.
Boundaries
The boundaries of the Magdeburg Börde are very ill-defined. Only to the west there is a clear boundary - the border with Lower Saxony - that separates it from the
Hildesheim BördeThe Hildesheim Börde is a natural region, 272 km2 in area, in the northern part of Hildesheim district, which is known for its especially rich black earth loess soil.- Location :...
. To the northwest it is bordered by the
nature parkA nature park is a landscape protected by means of long-term planning, use and agriculture. These valuable landscapes are preserved in their present state and promoted for touristic purposes....
of the
DrömlingThe Drömling is a sparsely populated depression on the border of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany with an area of about . The larger part belonging to Saxony-Anhalt in the east has been a nature park since 1990. The former swampland was transformed by drainaged from a natural into a...
near
OebisfeldeOebisfelde is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Oebisfelde-Weferlingen. It is accessed by Bundesstraße 188.- Geography :...
. To the north the Börde merges into the
AltmarkThe Altmark is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the Brandenburg margraves, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native from Schönhausen near Stendal.- Geography :The Altmark is...
, being also a part of Saxony-Anhalt. The boundary here is generally reckoned to be coincident with the river
OhreThe Ohře is a 316 km long river in Germany and the Czech Republic , left tributary of the Elbe. The basin area of the river has a size of 6,255 km², of which 5,614 km² are in the Czech Republic and 641 km² in Germany...
or the Colbitz-Letzlingen Heath. In any case the
Flechtingen HillsThe Flechtingen Hills are a wooded, hilly upland area up to 179 m high in the northwestern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, named after the town of Flechtingen.- Location :...
south of the Ohre only partly belong to the Magdeburg Börde. Its eastern boundary is mainly defined by the river
ElbeThe Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, but several villages east of Magdeburg also consider themselves as part of the Börde. To the southeast the Börde passes into the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve. Its transition to Mansfeld Land to the southeast is also gradual. To the south lie the Harz Mountains, where an area of the adjacent Harz Foreland is also considered part of the Börde.
The Magdeburg Börde is crossed by the rivers Bode,
AllerThe Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...
and
SaaleThe Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale , is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine.-Course:The Saale...
.
General
The landscape is gently undulating and largely treeless. The underlying terrain mainly comprises loose morainic material from the Saale glaciation period with individual outcrops of older rock. This older bedrock and loose morainic debris is mostly obscured by a covering of wind-blown
loessLoess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
. The area has very fertile soils (partly of
black earthBlack earth, Black land or Dark earth may refer to:-Locations:* Black Earth, Wisconsin, a village* Black Earth , Wisconsin* Central Black Earth Region, of Central Russia-Soil science:...
), on which
sugar beetSugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
and
wheatWheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
are the main crops. In 1934 the soil in the old municipality of Eickendorf (today Bördeland) was given a soil value of 100, which made it the richest soil in Germany, and it was used until the division of Germany in 1945 as a yardstick for the quality of German soils.
The Magdeburg Börde lies in the
rain shadowA rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
of the Harz Mountains and is consequently one of the driest regions of Germany, albeit not the warmest or sunniest. The highest elevation on the Magdeburg Börde is the Großer Wartberg near
NiederndodelebenNiederndodeleben is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Hohe Börde....
with a height of 145.7 m.
In the Magdeburg Börde traditionally the Low German dialect
Bördeplatt is spoken, though the number of speakers is declining.
Transport links
- Waterways and crossings
- River Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
- Mittelland Canal
- Magdeburg Water Bridge
The Magdeburg Water Bridge is a navigable aqueduct in Germany, opened in October 2003. It connects the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittellandkanal, crossing over the Elbe River...
(largest in the world)
- Motorways (Autobahns) and federal roads
- A 2
- A 14
is an autobahn in eastern Germany.Currently, the route comprises two disconnected sections:* The old A 241. A North-South route in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which runs from Wismar to Schwerin....
- B 1
The Bundesstraße 1 or B1 is a German federal highway running in an east-west direction from the Dutch border near Aachen to the Polish border at Küstrin-Kietz on the Oder River.-Route description:...
- B 71
The Bundesstraße 71 is one of the longer German federal roads numbered in the 60s and 70s series. It begins at the B 6 in Bremerhaven by the Unterweser and ends in Könnern near Halle in Saxony-Anhalt...
- B 79
- B 81
The German Bundesstraße 81 acts as a main road link between the Magdeburg, Halberstadt and Nordhausen.- Course :...
- B 245
The Bundesstraße 245 is a German federal highway in Saxony-Anhalt. It runs from Haldensleben in Börde to Halberstadt in Harz....
- B 246a
- Railways
- Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
-MagdeburgMagdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
-BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- Wittenberge
Wittenberge is a town of twenty thousand people on the lower Elbe in the district of Prignitz , Brandenburg, Germany.-History:...
-MagdeburgMagdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
-Halle (Saale)
- Hannover-Wernigerode
Wernigerode is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,500 in 1999....
-Halle (Saale)
- Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
-Oschersleben (Bode)-HalberstadtHalberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
- Schönebeck-Staßfurt
Staßfurt is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on both sides of the river Bode, approximately northeast of Aschersleben, and south of Magdeburg. Pop. 23,538....
-AscherslebenAschersleben is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle .-Pre-20th century:...
- Airports
- Cochstedt
Magdeburg-Cochstedt Airport is located in Cochstedt, in the middle of Europe and eastern Germany. The airport is located approximately southwest of Magdeburg, capital of the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, and about 190km west from the center of Berlin....
- Magdeburg
Further reading