Eastern Upper Lusatia

Eastern Upper Lusatia is a natural region in Saxony and, in a broader sense, part of the Western Sudetes range including the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The current Saxon division of natural regions view the region as part of the Saxon Loess Fields and divides it into 12 subdivisions at the level of meso-geochores.

Location and boundaries

Eastern Upper Lusatia runs in a north-south direction between the towns of Görlitz and Zittau. In the north it borders on the Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape, in the south on the Zittau Mountains, in the west on the Upper Lusatian Gefilde and the Upper Lusatian Highlands. Its eastern part is bisected by the Lusatian Neisse and lies in Poland. Geographical features of particular note in the region are the Königshain Hills, the Neiße valley and the old mining landscapes south of Görlitz and in the Zittau Basin.

Natural region divisions

The Eastern Upper Lusatia is divided as follows into mesogeochores and microgeochores and hills:

12 Eastern Upper Lusatia
* 11002 Zittau Basin
** Hirschfeld Neiße Valley
** Olbersdorf Ridge
** Northern Zittau Basin
** Southern Zittau Basin
** Zittau Neiße and Mandau Valley
** Olbersdorf Open-Cast Mine
* 11003 Großschönau Basin and Kuppenland
** Spitzkunnersdorf Kuppen Region
** Seifhennersdorf Kuppen Region
** Oberoderwitz Kuppen Region
** Großschönau Basin ; Finkenhübel 410;6 m, Hutberg
** Bertsdorf Kuppen Region
** Hainewald Kuppen Region
** Breiteberg Kuppe
** Bertsdorf Basin
* 11004 Großhennersdorf Loess Hills
** Loess Plateau of Klosterwald
** Großhennersdorf Loess Plateau
** Sonnenhübel Kuppe
** Niederoderwitz Kuppen Region
** Neundorfer Loess Plateau
** Loess Plateau of Sonnenhübel
** Oberoderwitz Loess Plateau
** Wittgendorf Loess Hills
** Dittersbach Loess Hills
** Oderwitzer Loess Plateau
** Großhennersdorf Kuppen Region
* 11005 Loess Ridge bei Hirschfelde
** Ridge of the Klosterwald
** Dittelsdorf Loess Riedel
** Neiße Valley near St. Marienthal
* 11006 Neugersdorf Loess Ridge
** Seifhennersdorf Ridge
** Neugersdorfer FlachRidgegebiet
** Eibau-Leutersdorfer Ridgegebiet ; Lerchenberg 466.7 m, Wacheberg
* 11007 Ruppersdorfer Loess Plateaux
** Obercunnersdorfer Loess Plateau
** Ruppersdorfer DeckLoess Plateau
** Euldorfer Loess Plateau
* 11008 Herrnhuter Loess Hills
** Löbauer Berg-Schafberg Ridge
** Herrnhut Hills
** Strahwalder Bergkuppen
** Berthelsdorf Valley Riedel
** Kemnitz Loess Hills
* 11009 Loess plateaux on the Eigen
** Loess Plateau of Großer Nonnenwald
** Altbernsdorf Loess Plateau
** Loess Plateau of Kleiner Nonnenwald
** Kiesdorf Loess Plateau
* 11010 Neiße Valley near Görlitz
** Görlitz Neiße Valley
** Berzdorf Open-Cast Mine
** Ostritz Neiße Valley
* 11011 Görlitz Loess Plateaux
** Girbigsdorf Loess Plateau
** Pfaffendorf Loess Plateau
** Kunnewitz Incline
** Holtendorf Loess Plateau
** Landeskrone-Biesnitz Kuppen Region
** Town of Görlitz
** Kunnersdorf Kuppen Region
** Gersdorf Loess Plateau
** Emmerichswald Plateau
* 11012 Reichenbach Loess Hills
** Rotstein Ridge
** Sohlander Loess Hills
** Kleinradmeritz Loess Plateau
** Reichenbach Loess Hills
** Meuselwitz Loess Hills
** Mengelsdorf Loess Hills
** Friedersdorf Hills
* 11013 Königshain Hills
** Hills of Liebstein
** Niesky-Rengersdorf Slate Hills
** Eichberg-Hutberg Ridge
** Arnsdorf Loess Hills, Königshainer Loess Hills
** Hochstein-Kämpferberg Ridge

;Notes:

Landscape and geology

The natural region is very varied and characterized by hill ranges, isolated hills, plateau and basins alongside one another. Ice age ground moraines, meltwater sands and the overlying loess soils fill out the granite relief to varying degrees. The loess loam is generally only about 1 to 1.5 m thick. As witnesses to the Tertiary volcanism of the area there are lava plains and isolated hills of basalt and phonolite. In the Zittau and Oderwitz Basin, as well as the Berzdorf Basin there are important deposits of brown coal in the sediments.
Climatically Eastern Upper Lusatia lies partially in the lee of the Upper Lusatian Highlands. For example, only 665 mm of precipitation falls annually. The average annual temperature lies between 8 and 8.6 °C. The potential natural vegetation here is Wood Bedstraw-Hornbeam-Oak forest with Small-leaved Limes.