Geographical Features of Germany
A detailed exploration of the landscapes, climate, and notable features of Germany.
Location: Germany
Geography
Located in North-Central Europe, north of the Alps, Germany is now one of the largest countries in Europe (357,022 square kilometers), a land of rolling hills and wide valleys dotted with communities, farms, and cities. The geography is varied: tall mountains in the south, sandy plains in the north, forested hills, densely populated, in the west, and broad plains of farmland in the east. Overall, though it is a relatively flat land, with a mean elevation of 263 meters and a highest point of only 2,963 meters.
In the north, the coast of the North Sea is flat and relatively bare, the gateway to many sandy islands including East Friesische, North Frieische, and Helgoland. The coast of the Baltic Sea, by contrast, is gouged by dramatic fjords limned by forested hills and steep cliffs. Northern Germany’s geography is defined by the North German Plain on which it sits, made up of flatlands and low rolling hills, dotted with lakes and small forests. The richness of the soil here is apparent by the farms that cover the countryside. At the far north of the country, the land becomes dry and sandy, blending in the northwest into wide, sweeping heaths of rocky soil.
The northern and southern halves of the country are divided by the Central Uplands, a region of plateaus separated by deep river valleys. Here the land is criss-crossed by small mountain ranges like the Harz, Taunus, and Erzgebirge surrounded by beautiful forests like the Bavarian Forest.
The southwest corner of Germany is a series of escarpments lining fertile lowlands and lakes. Here orchards of apple and pear produce much of the nation’s fruit, and the famous Black Forest huddles against the foothills of the Alps.
Since the Stone Age, the country’s many rivers have been vital routes for travel and transport: the Rhine, Danube, Elbe, Main, and Weser. The Rhine River flows northward from Switzerland, and it is along its banks that many ancient settlements were constructed.
In modern times, the largest rivers, the Rhine and the Danube, continue to serve as part of the commercial trade routes to the North and Black Seas.
Climate
Germany’s climate is moderate, although somewhat more extreme in the south. Winters are cool, damp, and grey, and while summers can get hot, temperatures are comfortable most of the time. Near the Alps, in the south, winters are colder, providing lots of snow for winter sports, and particularly hot in the summer, especially when the Föhn, a warm wind, blows down the slopes of the Alps.
Bibliography
Kathryn Lane, Germany: The Land (New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2001).
Richard Lord, Festivals of the World: Germany (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1997).
“Germany,” The World Factbook, 15 January 2019, Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 19 January 2019.
“Meals and Manners, Eating Habits in Germany,” CMA Global Partners, LLC. 2019. Germanfoods.org. Accessed 20 January 2019.
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