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East Germany Topography
East Germany lies in the heart of the northern European
plain. The terrain is gentle, and the landscape is marked by few
sharp contrasts. Landform areas merge into one another; no
significant natural boundaries bar communications or distinguish
one section of the country from another. The country, however,
can be roughly divided into geographic regions. The northern
plain covers most of the country and contains the coastal area in
the far north and the lowlands in the center. The uplands consist
of mountains and rolling hills that cover the southern section
(see
fig. 7).
The district of Rostock stretches along the entire length of
the Baltic coast. The coastline is uneven but generally flat and
sandy. The continuous action of wind and waves has created sand
dunes and ridges along the coast, and sandbars have formed that
connect the mainland with some of its offshore islands. The
northern sections of the Schwerin and Neubrandenburg districts,
which are also categorized as coastal, are dotted with marshes
and numerous lakes. Much of East Germany contains soils of poor
quality. The coastal section is no exception; soils are sandy,
porous, and low in nutrients. Nonetheless, with the exception of
the Börderland in the south, the coastal region contains some of
the most intensively cultivated agricultural land in the country.
About nine-tenths of the area is under cultivation; it produces
mainly rye and potatoes. The region enjoys a maritime climate
that is moderate and marked by few extremes in temperature.
Average annual rainfall is between sixty-one and sixty-four
centimeters, close to the national average.
Most of the country lies in an area of the northern plains
known as the central lowlands. This includes the districts of
Frankfurt, Potsdam, and Cottbus as well as portions of Schwerin,
Neubrandenburg, Magdeburg, Halle, Leipzig, and Dresden. This
region (together with the coastal area) covers about 80 to 85
percent of the land and was formed by glaciation during the
Quaternary period. The lowlands are dominated by rolling hills
and low ridges that rarely reach elevations in excess of ninetyone meters above sea level. Numerous lakes, varying in size,
shape, and depth, cover the landscape, particularly in western
Neubrandenburg and around Berlin. In general these lakes are of
little commercial value because of their shallow depth. Broad
valleys, carved as glaciers receded, crosscut the plains,
providing natural transportation routes. Soils of gravel and
coarse sand predominate, and, as a result, much of the area,
especially around Berlin, is forest and pastureland. The most
fertile soils of clay and sand loam are found in the Elbe basin
and along the rivers bordering Poland, but only slightly more
than half the region is under cultivation. The climate exhibits
greater extremes of temperature as the maritime climate of the
coast gives way to a continental climate where the rivers freeze
in winter. In general, however, the weather is moderate. Rainfall
approximates the national average.
The Börderland, a fertile belt of rolling countryside, forms
a transition zone from the central lowlands to the uplands in the
south. The country's most valuable agricultural land is found
here. Loess, a fine silt, provides a thick soil cover that is
favorable for intensive cultivation of crops such as wheat,
barley, and sugar beets. The Börderland forms an arc extending
from the districts of Magdeburg and Halle southeast through parts
of Leipzig and Dresden. Its broadest section lies along the Elbe
and Saale rivers. Much of the country's mineral wealth, including
sizable reserves of lignate and potash, is found in this area.
The climate is continental but moderate, and the growing season
is relatively long.
The uplands cover about 20 percent of the southern section.
The landscape consists of hills and high ridges. Included in this
region are portions of the districts of Magdeburg, Halle,
Leipzig, Dresden Erfurt, Suhl, Gera, and Karl-Marx-Stadt. The
Harz forms the northwest section of the uplands; the highest
peak, Brocken, reaches a height of 1,141 meters. In the
southwest, extending some 104 kilometers, is the Thüringer Wald,
a narrow ridge of thick woodland. To the southeast, forming the
border with Czechoslovakia, are the Erzgebirge. Elevations in
this range reach 1,213 meters. Many major industrial centers are
situated along the base of the Erzgebirge. Traditional passages
into the region lie between the Harz and the Thüringer Wald and
between the Thüringer Wald and the Erzgebirge. Good agricultural
land is found at the base of the Thüringer Wald surrounding
Erfurt, but soils in the southernmost districts are poor and not
favorable for cultivation. Temperatures depend on elevation and
exposure, and they sometimes dip quite low in the higher mountain
areas. Rainfall varies. In the Harz, for example, rainfall
averages as high as 147 centimeters a year whereas at the base of
the Thüringer Wald, where the uplands merge with the Börderland,
rainfall averages about fifty-one centimeters.
Data as of July 1987
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