The natural areas of Thuringia

The natural areas of Thuringia is a natural spatial structure of the state of Thuringia created on behalf of the Thuringian State Institute for Environment and Geology (TLUG) . It appeared in the form of a 380-page book of the same name (published in 2004) as well as in numerous maps, most of which are publicly accessible (via TLUG).

Difference from other outlines

The criteria of the natural spatial structure within Thuringia differ somewhat from the nationwide, but largely unfinished system of the manual of the natural spatial structure of Germany , which is also the basis for the BfN's classification, which is largely unfinished in East Germany . It is by no means as detailed as the single sheets 1: 200,000 of the manual , but differentiates a little more than the main units of the manual itself. This structure also differs significantly from the system of the structure of natural spaces in Saxony, which was created in parallel in the neighboring federal state, and from the latter, similar system in Saxony-Anhalt .

In contrast to the manual and its subsequent publications, the Thuringian structure is not hierarchized in simply connected main unit groups, which are further subdivided into main units and units of a smaller order, but is strictly divided into 7 basic geological structures to which each landscape unit is assigned.

Some newly defined natural area names in the immediate border with neighboring federal states can only be used to a limited extent for Germany-wide classifications. For the sake of simplicity, landscapes were often “included” or “removed” from these. So were z. B. all parts of the - outside of the Rhön - only marginal Thuringian East Hessian mountainous region are included, which are in their core in Thuringia.

List of natural areas in Thuringia

The Thuringian system distinguishes the following natural areas:

• 1 low mountain range (together 3861 km² , corresponding to 24% of the area of ​​Thuringia)
  • 1.1 South Harz (119 km²)
  • 1.2 Kyffhäuser (30 km²)
  • 1.3 Thuringian Mountains (a total of 3692 km²)
    • 1.3.1 Northwestern Thuringian Forest (68 km²)
    • 1.3.2 Middle Thuringian Forest (852 km²)
    • 1.3.3 High Thuringian Slate Mountains - Franconian Forest (627 km²)
    • 1.3.4 Schwarza-Sormitz area (491 km²)
    • 1.3.5 Upper Saale Valley (263 km²)
    • 1.3.6 East Thuringian Slate Mountains – Vogtland (1148 km²)
    • 1.3.7 Plothener Teichplatte (83 km²)
    • 1.3.8 Ronneburg arable and mining area (160 km²)
  • 1.4 High Rhön (20 km²)
• 2 red sandstone hill countries (together 3715 km² , corresponding to 23% of the area of ​​Thuringia)
  • 2.1 Northern Thuringian Buntsandsteinland (910 km²)
  • 2.2 Hohe Schrecke – Schmücke – Finne (208 km²)
  • 2.3 Waltershausen foothills (88 km²)
  • 2.4 Tannrodaer Waldland (64 km²)
  • 2.5 Paulinzella red sandstone woodland (187 km²)
  • 2.6 Saale sandstone slab (1044 km²)
  • 2.7 Bad Salzunger Buntsandsteinland (441 km²)
  • 2.8 South Thuringian red sandstone woodland (417 km²)
  • 2.9 Lengsfeld – Zillbach – Bauerbacher red sandstone woodland (356 km²)
• 3 Muschelkalk plateaus and mountainous regions (together 3346 km² , corresponding to 21% of the area of ​​Thuringia)
  • 3.1 Ohm Mountains - Bleicheröder Mountains (80 km²)
  • 3.2 Hainich – Dün – Hainleite (833 km²)
  • 3.3 Werrabergland – Hörselberge (495 km²)
  • 3.4 Fahnersche Höhe (26 km²)
  • 3.5 Ettersberg (40 km²)
  • 3.6 Ilm-Saale-Ohrdrufer Platte (1269 km²)
  • 3.7 Meininger Kalkplatten (474 km²)
  • 3.8 Schalkau Thuringian Forest Foreland (129 km²)
• 4 basalt hill country (together 440 km² , corresponding to 3% of the area of ​​Thuringia)
  • 4.1 Vorderrhön (440 km²)
• 5 farmland hills (mainly Keuper ; together 3994 km² , corresponding to 25% of the area of ​​Thuringia)
  • 5.1 Innerthuringian Ackerhügelland (2958 km²)
  • 5.2 Weißenfelser loess plates (92 km²)
  • 5.3 Altenburg loess area (629 km²)
  • 5.4 Grabfeld (315 km²)
• 6 floodplains and lowlands (together 606 km² , corresponding to 4% of the area of ​​Thuringia)
  • 6.1 Golden Aue (59 km²)
  • 6.2 Helme-Unstrut-Lowlands (144 km²)
  • 6.3 Gera-Unstrut lowland (163 km²)
  • 6.4 Unstrutaue Mühlhausen – Bad Langensalza (39 km²)
  • 6.5 Saale floodplain (69 km²)
  • 6.6 Werraaue Gerstungen – Creuzburg (28 km²)
  • 6.7 Werraaue Meiningen – Vacha (43 km²)
  • 6.8 Steinachaue (61 km²)
• 7 Zechstein belt on the mountain edges (together 357 km² , corresponding to 2% of the area of ​​Thuringia)
  • 7.1 Zechstein belt on the southern Harz (117 km²)
  • 7.2 Zechstein belt at Kyffhäuser (50 km²)
  • 7.3 Orlasenke (137 km²)
  • 7.4 Bad Liebenstein Zechstein belt (53 km²)

Overall, take the four main types of landscape low mountains , red sandstone hill country , limestone panels and -Bergländer and arable hill regions , each with roughly equal shares varying between 20 and 25% more than 90% of the area of Thuringia one. 23% of the land area alone is accounted for by the Thuringian Mountains and around 20% by the Central Thuringian Ackerhügelland , if one counts island-like ridges and meadows in the interior.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Walter Hiekel, Frank Fritzlar, Andreas Nöllert and Werner Westhus: The natural spaces of Thuringia . Ed .: Thuringian State Institute for Environment and Geology (TLUG), Thuringian Ministry for Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Environment . 2004, ISSN  0863-2448 . → Natural area map of Thuringia (TLUG) - PDF; 260 kB → Maps by district (TLUG)