Lusatian Gefilde

The Lusatian Gefilde or Upper Lusatian Gefilde is a natural region in Upper Lusatia in the German state of Saxony.^[1][2] It forms a narrow belt of fertile, loess-covered hills and plateaus between the Lusatian Highlands to the south and the Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape to the north.^[3][4] The city of Bautzen lies near its centre, and the region extends broadly between Kamenz in the west and Löbau in the east.^[5][6]

The Lusatian Gefilde lies amid the following upland regions: to the east, Eastern Upper Lusatia; to the south, the Lusatian Highlands; and to the west, the West Lusatian Foothills.

The Oberlausitzer Gefilde covers about 45,044 hectares (450.44 km²).^[7] Its landscape is characterized by gently undulating loess plateaus and hill country, generally 170 to 200 metres above sea level, rising towards the south-east to just under 340 metres.^[8][9] The bedrock of the Lusatian Massif is largely hidden beneath loess loam and Pleistocene sediments; in the core area around Panschwitz-Kuckau the loess cover reaches 3 to 5 metres in thickness.^[10]

Several streams cut northward through the region, including the Spree, the Klosterwasser, the Hoyerswerdaer Schwarzwasser, the Kotitzer Wasser and the Löbauer Wasser.^[11] In places, especially along the Löbauer Wasser and Kotitzer Wasser, erosion has produced narrow rocky valley sections known locally as Skalen.^[12]

The region is one of the most productive agricultural landscapes in Upper Lusatia because of its fertile loess soils.^[13][14] Much of the land is under cultivation, while woodland is comparatively limited and survives mainly in valley sections and on less fertile outcrops.^[15]

Historically, the fertile countryside around Bautzen was settled early and already supported farming communities in the Neolithic.^[16][17] In the Early Middle Ages it became the core settlement area of the Milceni, with Bautzen developing as an important stronghold on the Spree.^[18] Because it lay between the mountains to the south and the wetter heath and marsh landscapes to the north, the region also served as an important east–west transit corridor; sections of the historic Via Regia crossed it.^[19][20]

Protected areas cover only a relatively small part of the Oberlausitzer Gefilde compared with the Saxon average.^[21] Notable protected landscapes include parts of the valleys of the Klosterwasser, the Spree lowlands and the Löbauer Wasser, as well as the rocky valley sections of the Gröditzer Skala and Lausker Skala.^[22]

• Natural regions of Saxony