Weper Explained

Weper
State:Northeim, Lower Saxony, Germany
Parent:Leine Uplands, Lower Saxon Hills
Highest:Balos
Elevation M:379
Range Coordinates:51.6903°N 9.8183°W

The Weper is a long, high ridge of hills up to located in the district of Northeim in the German state of Lower Saxony.

Part of the Weper is a nature reserve with the same name which, with an area of 200ha, is the large protected region of dry grassland in Lower Saxony.

Geography

The Weper, which lies in South Lower Saxony and reaches a height of 379 m at the summit of the Balos, belongs to the southern part of the Leine Uplands. The ridge is located between the southeastern foothills of the Solling to the west and the rather distant valley of the Leine to the east. It runs in a north-south direction west of the town of Moringen, between Fredelsloh in the north and Hardegsen in the south. North of the Weper is the Ahlsburg ridge (up to 411.4 m), south is the small Gladeberg ridge (up to 360.2 m). To the west and south the Weper is bypassed by the upper reaches of a left-hand, western tributary of the Leine, the Espolde.

Description

The Weper, much of which is covered by the eastern part of the Hardegsen State Forest, is heavily wooded in its narrow south, but largely open in the more extensive north. On the western slopes in the Weper Nature Reserve large areas are kept artificially open in order to preserve the dry chalk grasslands with their rare plant and animal species. Prior to the 19th century virtually the whole of the Weper was open before it was reforested. In the north there is a glider airfield on south-southeast of the Tönniesberg and not far west of Nienhagen. On the Balos is the Sohnrey Hut (Sohnreyhütte), named after Heinrich Sohnrey who once lived in Nienhagen, from where the entire surrounding countryside can be viewed.

Hills

The hills and elevations of the Weper ridge include:

  • Balos (; in the centre)
  • Tönniesberg (369.6 m; in the north)
  • Wackelberg (365.3 m; in the north)
  • Schweineschraube (357.3 m; in the north)
  • Thausegesberg (357.3 m; in the south)
  • Hohe Rodt (313.0 m; in the centre)
  • Hünscheburg (274 m; in the south)
  • Eichelberg (260 m; in the south)

Rivers

The rivers in and on the Weper ridge include (all in the catchment area of the Leine):

Towns and villages

The towns, villages and hamlets around the Weper ridge are:
(clockwise from the north)

  • Moringen (in the northeast)
    • Lutterbeck (in the northeast)
    • Oldenrode (in the northeast)
    • Nienhagen (in the east)
    • Blankenhagen (in the southeast)
    • Thüdinghausen (in the southeast)
    • Tönnieshof (in the northwest)
    • Fredelsloh (in the north-northwest)
  • Hardegsen (to the south)
    • Lutterhausen (in the southeast)
    • Leisenrode (in the southwest)
    • Ludwigshöhe (in the southwest)
    • Trögen (in the west)
    • Üssinghausen (in the west)
    • Espol (in the west)

External links