Saar-Nahe Hills

The Saar-Nahe Hills^[1] or Saar-Nahe Uplands^[2] (German: Saar-Nahe-Bergland or Saar-Nahe-Berg- und Hügelland) is a major natural region (major landscape unit group, level 3) in the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland. The region of hills and mountains covers an area of 4,185 km²^[3] (including the Sobernheim Valley) running from Saarbrücken, Kaiserslautern and the Palatine Forest in the south to the Hunsrück in the northeast. It contains the catchment area of the Nahe as far as Bad Kreuznach as well as small sections of the Middle Saar in the west.

Location and boundaries

The Saar-Nahe Hills are located between the Hunsrück to the north-northwest, the Lower Naheland to the north, the Alzey Hills to the east-northeast (northwest edge of the Upper Rhine Plain, the Palatine Forest to the south and the Palatine-Saarland Muschelkalk Region to the west-southwest, the last-named lying on French soil in places.

It includes the river valleys of the Middle Saar in the southwest via Prims, Blies, Glan and Alsenz as far as the Lower Nahe to the northeast.

The largest town in the interior of the landscape is Idar-Oberstein in the north. Others include Kusel and St. Wendel in the centre and Birkenfeld nears its northeastern perimeter.

Considerably larger are the cities of Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern on its southern edge; Bad Kreuznach on the northern side is also worthy of mention. Kirchheimbolanden lies to the east on the far side of it.

References

1. Elkins, T H (1972). Germany (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. pp. 213-214. ASIN B0011Z9KJA.
2. Dickinson, Robert E (1964). Germany: A regional and economic geography (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 82-85 and 563. ASIN B000IOFSEQ.
3. Emil Meynen, Josef Schmithüsen: Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands. Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, Remagen/Bad Godesberg 1953–1962 (9 Lieferungen in 8 Büchern, aktualisierte Karte 1:1.000.000 mit Haupteinheiten 1960).

External links

• Landscape fact file (major landscape) of the Landscape Information System of the Rhineland-Palatinate Nature Conservation Office (Naturschutzverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz) – es finden sich auch Einzelsteckbriefe der Teillandschaften!
• Natural region table with area data by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Office for the Environment, Water Management and Trade Control (Landesamtes für Umwelt, Wasserwirtschaft und Gewerbeaufsicht Rheinland-Pfalz) (pdf; 250 kB)
• Detaillierte Gliederung (Seite 152ff) und Karte (Seite 155) fürs Saarland
• Landscape fact files by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
  (In der Hauptsache behandeln Steckbriefe auf "19" (RP und SL) Teillandschaften, jedoch gibt es auch Abweichungen hiervon. Insbesondere bezeichnen die Titel der Steckbriefe nicht zwingend Naturräume, obgleich sie in der Regel mehrere solche zusammenfassen.
  Im Zweifel sind die Grenzziehungen des RP-Kartendienstes und die der obigen Dokumente fürs Saarland die korrekten!)

Coordinates: 49°31′19″N 7°18′40″E / 49.5220°N 7.3110°E