'Northern Germany' is the geographic area in the north of
Germany. The native
German concept of northern Germany is called Norddeutschland.
Northern German States
'Norddeutschland' is the geographic area of five
German states:
★
Bremen
★
Hamburg
★
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
★
Lower Saxony
★
Schleswig-Holstein
History
The
Hanseatic League is part of the common history and culture of the cities in northern Germany with
Hamburg Metropolitan Region as the modern center.
Low German is the historic language of this region (see:
Benrath line).
Geography
The definition of Norddeutschland originally describes the entire German
Lowlands region, which stretches from the
Netherlands to the
Baltic provinces (such as
East Prussia) (see:
Northern German Plain).
The key feature of Norddeutschland are the
Geestland and
marshes along the coastline of the
North Sea and
Baltic Sea. Also prominent are the hill lands of the Baltic land ridges, the
ground moraines,
end moraines,
sandur,
glacial valleys,
swamps, and
Luch; these features were formed during the
Weichsel glaciation. These contrast scenically with the central German mountain ranges (such as
Harz) and
Teutoburg Forest, which are customarily counted to be part of northern Germany.
The
Altmark in
Saxony-Anhalt, the northern
Brandenburg area with the
Prignitz and the
Uckermark, and
Westphalia are occasionally considered to be part of the Norddeutschland region.