Dresden Basin
Encyclopedia
The Dresden Basin is a roughly 45 km long and 10 km wide area of the Elbe
Valley between the towns of Pirna
and Meißen. The city of Dresden
lies in the Dresden Basin.
The Dresden Basin is formed by the foothills and flanks of the Eastern Ore Mountains and western Lausitzer Bergland
and the northwestern slopes of Saxon Switzerland
. Geologically it is a rift valley
and its most important river, the Elbe
flows through it in wide meander
s. The region
is climatically
milder than the surrounding area, so that on the northern slopes of the hills vineyard
s may be cultivated is (Saxon Wine Route). In addition, there is intensive fruit farming. The valley climate is significantly drier (average annual precipitation below 700 mm) and warmer (average air temperature 8.5 °C, in Dresden city centre 9.9 °C) than the surrounding hills. The region was settled early due to the fertile soils (loess
) and the easy river crossings and achieved worldwide importance from a cultural and historical perspective. Today the Dresden conurbation almost entirely fills the basin.
Parts of the Dresden Basin near the Elbe (the Dresden Elbe Valley
) were given World Heritage Site
status between 2004 and 2009 by UNESCO due to their cultural and natural significance.
During the East German era, the Basin was jokingly referred to by its inhabitants as the Valley of the Clueless, because they were not able to receive West German television until the late 1980s, and then only patchily.
The most important towns and cities are (in downstream order):
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
Valley between the towns of Pirna
Pirna
Pirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...
and Meißen. The city of Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
lies in the Dresden Basin.
Geography
The Dresden Basin is formed by the foothills and flanks of the Eastern Ore Mountains and western Lausitzer Bergland
Lausitzer Bergland
The Lusatian Highlands is a hilly and low mountainous region in Germany and the Czech Republic. A western extension of the Sudetes range, it is located on the border of the German state of Saxony with the Czech Bohemian region...
and the northwestern slopes of Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains....
. Geologically it is a rift valley
Rift valley
A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion...
and its most important river, the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
flows through it in wide meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
s. The region
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
is climatically
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
milder than the surrounding area, so that on the northern slopes of the hills vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s may be cultivated is (Saxon Wine Route). In addition, there is intensive fruit farming. The valley climate is significantly drier (average annual precipitation below 700 mm) and warmer (average air temperature 8.5 °C, in Dresden city centre 9.9 °C) than the surrounding hills. The region was settled early due to the fertile soils (loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
) and the easy river crossings and achieved worldwide importance from a cultural and historical perspective. Today the Dresden conurbation almost entirely fills the basin.
Parts of the Dresden Basin near the Elbe (the Dresden Elbe Valley
Dresden Elbe Valley
The Dresden Elbe Valley is a former World Heritage Site in Dresden, Germany. The valley, extending for some 20 kilometres and passingthrough the Dresden Basin and the city of Dresden, is one of two cultural landscapes along the Central European river Elbe...
) were given World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
status between 2004 and 2009 by UNESCO due to their cultural and natural significance.
During the East German era, the Basin was jokingly referred to by its inhabitants as the Valley of the Clueless, because they were not able to receive West German television until the late 1980s, and then only patchily.
The most important towns and cities are (in downstream order):
- PirnaPirnaPirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...
- Heidenau
- DresdenDresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
- RadebeulRadebeulRadebeul is a town in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well-known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May and a narrow gauge railway connecting Radebeul with the castle of Moritzburg and the town of Radeburg...
- Coswig (Sachsen)
- Meißen