Teltow (region)

Teltow ['tɛltoː] is both a geological plateau and also an historical region in the German states of Brandenburg and Berlin. As an historical region, the Teltow was one of the eight territories out of which the March of Brandenburg was formed in the 12th and 13th centuries. As a result of the Teltow War (1239–1245) the question of territorial lordship of the newly created heart of the expanding march was finally decided here. Between 1816 and 1952 there was also a county, Landkreis Teltow; in addition a town immediately south of Berlin, in the present-day county of Potsdam-Mittelmark, bears the name Teltow.

Geography and geology

Boundary

The Teltow is not a unified region, either from a historical or a landscape perspective. The present-day term is defined by an ice age plateau that consists mainly of ground moraine elements. Its natural borders are formed by the rivers Dahme to the east, the Spree to the north and the Havel and Nuthe to the west. To the southwest, the countryside around the Pfefferfließ is also counted as part of the Teltow, although it has no clear boundaries. The regional border in the south is unclear, because the ground moraines here were often eroded by urstromtal processes. For example, there are many small island plateaux. The boundary of the cultural landscape is general seen as the Baruth Urstromtal. Further south is the heathland of the Fläming.