Lübbecke Loessland

The Lübbecke Loessland (German: Lübbecker Lößland) is a natural region that is mainly situated in northeastern North Rhine-Westphalia but with a small area also lying in the western part of Lower Saxony in Germany.

Whilst the southern boundary of the region is clearly defined by the edge of the forests on the Wiehen Hills, its transition to the Rahden-Diepenau Geest is rather more gradual.

Its main characteristic is the rich loess soil that gives the region its name, and which was blown out of the sandur on the edge of the glacier during the last ice age and deposited on the northern slopes of the Wiehen.

Grassland only occurs, if at all, on steep sections of the terrain, e.g. along the course of streams and, in places, immediately next to the forest edges on the Wiehen Hills.

Apart from the short streams that rise in the Wiehen Hills to the south and cut more or less straight across the Lübbecke Loessland without meandering, there are no significant natural waterbodies.

The Lübbecke Loessland begins in the north at about 50 metres above sea level and climbs towards the south, initially gently, but then increasingly steeply.

This corresponds to the western section of today's federal road, the B65, and runs mostly in the more northerly, level part of the Lübbecke Loessland linking the Osnabrück and Minden regions.

The Lübbecke Loessland seen from the Wiehen. In the background is the village of Blasheim which roughly marks the northern boundary of the region. On the horizon: the Stemweder Berg
The rolling Lübbecke Loessland near Glösinghausen . In the background is the Wiehen. Easy to make out are waving wheat fields and special crops that thrive on the fertile soil
Location of the Lübbecke Loessland in cross-section
The Lübbecke Loessland not far from the village of Obermehnen . In the foreground sheep known as Schwarzbunte graze on one of the rather rare pastures within the loess landscape
View from the northern edge of the loess region looking south towards the Egge , a secondary ridge in the Wiehen
The Lübbecke Loessland seen from the Großes Torfmoor , which lies outside the region. Easily made out is the loess layer about 300 metres away to the south and which runs up to the slopes of the Wiehen on the other side of the village of Nettelstedt in the background. The land is farmed here up to a height of 140 metres. The Wiehen Hills at this point are up to 288 metres high