Tidal Mud Flats and Heathland : Germany

Lower Saxony is the second largest state in Germany (47,338 square kilometers). It stretches from the North Sea island of Borkum to [he Harz Mountains; in between lie remote heathland regions, greater metropolitan Hanover (523,000 inhabitants) and the Hildesheimer Borde with the most fertile arable soil in the Federal Republic. Lower Saxony has about 7.8 million inhabitants. They are joined every year by millions of visitors who seek rest and recreation on the seven East Frisian islands of Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekeroog and Wangerooge, in the Harz Mountains, in the Weser Hills, in the Teutoburg Forest or in the Luneburg Heath (Germany’s oldest nature park) or who wish to keep abreast of the latest developments at the world’s two largest trade fairs held in the state capital.

Another popular attraction, especially when the apple orchards are in bloom, is the “Altes Land", Europe’s largest fruit-growing area. Here, just outside the gates of Hamburg, begins the “wet triangle": the lowlands between the mouths of the Weser and Elbe rivers with the tidal jnud fiats known as the “Wattenmeer” (Germany’s largest nature park), the fishing town of Cuxhaven and » artists’ colony of Worpswede. Lower Saxony offers cyclists the most extensive network of biking paths in Germany.