The German landscapes are extraordinarily diverse. Low and high mountain ranges alternate with elevated plains, hilly and mountainous regions, lakelands and wide, open lowlands. From north to south, Germany is divided into five major landscape types:
The North German Plain boasts hilly landscapes with many lakes and is interspersed with heaths and moors as well as fertile land. It stretches down as far as the edge of the Central Upland Range . The lowland bays here comprise the Lower Rhenish Bight, the Westphalian Bight and the Saxon Thuringian Bight. Located off the coast of this region in the North Sea are numerous islands such as Borkum, Norderney, Sylt and Helgoland . Situated in the Baltic Sea are Rgen, Hiddensee and Fehmarn. Some parts of the Baltic coast have flat, sandy shores, others steep cliffs. Between the North Sea and the Baltic lies an area of low hills known as Holsteinische Schweiz ( Holstein Switzerland ).
The Central Upland Range divides northern and southern Germany . The central Rhine valley and the Hessian depressions serve as natural north-south traffic arteries. The Central Uplands include the Hunsr ck, Eifel , Taunus and Westerwald. Right in the heart of Germany are the Harz Mountains . The elevations in the east include the Bavarian Forest , the Fichtel Hills and the Ore Mountains .
On the edge of the upper Rhine lowlands lies the Black Forest , the Spessart and the Swabian Jura. In a narrow valley, the river Rhine , the main north-south axis, slices through the Rhenish Schist Massif.
The south German Alpine foothills boast hills and great lakes in the south, as well as broad gravel plains, the hilly landscape of lower Bavaria and the Danube valley. Characteristic features of this landscape are moors, dome-shaped hill ranges with lakes (Chiemsee, Starnberger See) and small villages.
The German part of the Alps between Lake Constance and Berchtesgaden represents only a narrow section of this mountain range. It is limited to the Allg?u Alps, the Bavarian Alps and the Berchtesgaden Alps. Within the mountainous Alpine landscape lie picturesque lakes such as K?nigssee (St. Bartholomew's Lake ) near Berchtesgaden , and popular tourist resorts such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen and
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