Lüneburg Kalkberg

The Kalkberg was a gypsum mine during the Middle Ages, but is today a Naturschutzgebiet (nature reserve) and a common meeting place for city residents.

The Kalkberg is made up largely of gypsum (calcium sulphate) and comes from sediments that were deposited there around 250 million years ago by the Zechstein Sea.

More recently (in geological terms), smaller disturbances have allowed the less dense Zechstein salts to flow together and force their way upwards into the younger, overlying rocks.

On an area of 3.6 hectares (8.9 acres), one can find over 180 species of flowering plants, including several warmth-, light-, and chalk-loving types that otherwise grow only in south-central Europe.

[2] Other minerals present include anhydrite, calcite, gypsum, halite, hematite, hydroglauberite, jarosite, kalistronite, lepidocrocite, pyrite, quartz, sylvite, syngenite and thenardite.