ABSTRACT
In recent years the term Mitteldeutschland has been variously applied to the whole or part of the densely populated and highly industrialized lands of the middle Elbe basin, south of Magdeburg. The close network of routes, the active interchange of goods between its complementary parts, the dependence of the whole area upon brown coal or lignite as its main source of fuel and power, and the dominance of several large cities, knit this whole area into an entity. It so happens that this entity contains an outmoded pattern of political divisions which is a hindrance to the smooth working of its commerce and administration. Moreover, the demands of long-range physical planning in respect, for instance, of the extensive lignite fields and the industry and settlement associated with them, as well as the need for creating more rational administrative units, have prompted in the last twenty-five years numerous studies of the economic character of this area and the inter-relations of its parts. The middle Elbe basin, however, is of special interest not only as illustrating excellently the idea of a geographical unit, and the problems of defining it; but also on account of the development of an entirely new industrial complex based upon its lignite and salt resources and of vital war industries—electric power, chemicals, aircraft and precision instruments—due to its central position in the heart of Germany.
