Teutoburg Forest
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The Teutoburg Forest (German: Teutoburger Wald) is a range of low, forested mountains in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, which was believed to be the environ of a decisive battle in AD 9.
[edit] Geography
The Teutoburger Wald is a northern extension of the central European uplands, extending eastward toward the Weser river, southward from the town of Osnabrück and southeastwards to Paderborn. It is divided by a broad valley, where the city of Bielefeld is located, into the two portions called Northern Teutoburg Forest and Southern Teutoburg Forest.
The highest elevation in the Southern Teutoburg Forest is the Velmerstot (468 m) (located south of Horn-Bad Meinberg). In the Northern Teutoburg Forest the highest elevation is the Dörenberg (331 m) (north of Bad Iburg).
The source of the Ems river is located in the southernmost portion of the Teutoburg Forest.
[edit] History
The forest was once believed to be the site of a battle between the Roman Empire and an alliance of Germanic tribes in AD 9. The location of the battle was described by the Roman historian Gaius Cornelius Tacitus as saltus Teutoburgiensis (saltus meaning a forest valley in Latin), and was therefore called the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. However, recent excavations seem to suggest rather firmly that the battle took place further north, at Kalkriese, north of Osnabrück, retroactively turning the now-popular name into a misnomer.
During the 1st century, Arminius (aka Hermann the German), leader of the German forces during the battle, became something of a legend for his crushing victory over the Romans. He was seen as an early protagonist of German resistance to foreign rule and symbol of national unity. A monumental statue of Arminius commemorating the battle, known as the Hermannsdenkmal (the "Hermann monument"), was erected on the Grotenburg hill near Detmold, near the site where the most popular theory of the time placed the battle. The monument was inaugurated in 1875 by emperor Wilhelm I. It was only then that this particular region, previously known as "Osning" came to be known as the "Teutoburg Forest".
It is also a forest in which the composer Johannes Brahms liked to walk during his stay in Detmold.
[edit] See Also
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