Gäu

A Gäu landscape (Gäulandschaft) refers to an area of open, level countryside in the south German language (Alemannic area, or in Switzerland). These regions typically have fertile soils resulting from depositions of loess (an exception is the Arme Gäue ("Poor Gäus" of the Baden-Württemberg Gäu).

The intensive use of the Gäu regions for crops has displaced the originally wooded countryside (→climax vegetation – in contrast with the steppe heath theory and disputed megaherbivore hypothesis). The North German equivalent of such landscapes is börde.

See also:

• Gau (territory) – also gives the etymology and language history of Gäu
• Gäu – regions with the name
• Natural regions referred to as Gäu plateaus:
  • Neckar and Tauber Gäu Plateaus
  • Gäu Plateaus in the Main Triangle
  • Werra Gäu Plateaus
• Gäuboden
• Altsiedelland | Altsiedel landscape