Hille, Germany

Hille (German pronunciation: [ˈhɪlə] ^ⓘ) is a community in the Kreis Minden-Lübbecke in the north of East Westphalia, Germany, with approximately 16,000 inhabitants. It was created in 1973 in the framework of the community restructuring of North Rhine-Westphalia through the combining of nine communities of the Minden countryside. The community is named after Hille its largest village. The geography of the community belongs to that of the North German Plain, from its lowest altitude of 45 metres it rises to 251 metres on the ridge of the Wiehengebirge at its southern border.

Hille is located in the northeast of the Detmold (region), in the middle of the Minden Land. Hille has portions of the ecologic areas of the Wiehen Hills, the Lübbecke Loess Country and the Rahden-Diepenauer Sandy Moorlands (boglands). The southern portion of the community is located in the transition zone from the North Germain Plain to the Central Uplands (piedmont). This especially apparent with the ridgelike structure of the Wiehengebirge, which closes Hille like a bolt from the Ravensberg hill country. The main part of the northerly bench of the community is clearly a component of the plain, which received its endmoraine character from the Ice Age. The Great Peatbog (Grosses Torfmoor) provides Hille with a wet ecosystem of glacial origin which has been a designated nature reserve since 1980. This is where rare plants and animals such as white storks are found. Hille is the source of the Ösper, a tributary of the River Weser. The Mittelland Canal crosses Hille at its geographic middle in an east–west orientation. Several settlements adhere to the canal's adjacent dry northern plateau. To the north are a large raised bog and the Minden Forest (Mindener Wald). The River Weser presents a geographic border 10 km east of Hille. To the west the same landscape continues all the way to Osnabrück. The varied farmland is characterized by scattered settlements and single farms that are bordered by copses and hedges. Forests are found on higher ground, while meadows are found at low ground and in bogs.

After the local government reforms of 1973, Hille consists of 9 districts:

The community land formation was primary influenced by the Saalian Stage (Wolstonian Stage and Illinoian Stage are Equivalents) ice age, as well as pre and post glacial process. At the time the area was covered with ice, the flow of water had an opposite direction to that of the present, that is it flowed from the ice to the south, collected in a riverine environment north of the Wiehengebirge and flowed to the west to reach the sea. Extensive wet bogs were created in this historic river valley, that remained impassable for humans for a long time. Remains of this exist in the Great Peat Bog (Große Torfmoor) that is now a protected nature preserve.

The mentioned glacial conditions created various fertilities of soil, with varying impact on the structure of settlement. As a result, there is fertile soil in the south between the Wiehengebirge and the Bastau lowland, which is referred to as Lübbecke Loessland. Besides the settlement of Rothenuffeln, the villages of Oberlübbe, Unterlübbe and Eickhorst developed here. The Bastau lowland connects to the north, in which there can be no significant agriculture. Because of this the Mittellandkanal is located at its northern edge. The Hartume loess plate lies to the Northeast of the Bastau lowland, where there are good opportunities for agriculture. The villages of Hartum, Nordhemmern, Südhemmern and Holzhausen II are located here. The farmsteads are of middling size with 100 morgen(1 morgen = 3 acres) not being uncommon. This loess plate continues to the westward beyond the stream Flöthe, where the village of Hille is the center of settlement. The northeast of the community of Hille has poor soil that allows only forestry( Mindener Wald) to exist.

The white stork nests in and around the Bastau lowland, with assistance provided for its recovering population.

Hille is classified as a "large rural community" that lies in the North German Plain, it rises to the ridge of the Wiehengebirge in the south. The Lübber Berg (mountain) is its highest point at an altitude of 251m over sea level. The lowest point is in the Bastau lowland meadows or bogs near Hartum with an altitude of only 47.7m. Hille extends 11.8 km from east to west and 15.4 km from north to south.

Hille was and is influenced by its agricultural character. Besides the large farms, which grew because of the good loess soil of the Hartumer Loess Plate, there were many small homes for contract workers into the 19th century. The contract workers earned a supplemental income through manual labor such as the weaving of linen. Cigarmaking arrived in Hille at the end of the 19th century. Especially toward the end of the 19th century many residents of the Hille villages emigrated to the USA. Their goal was mostly the state of New York and especially the city of Schenectady. Men from Hille also travelled by foot to the Netherlands for seasonal work such as mowing grass. Many of them remained there.