In the south German language (of the Alemannic-speaking area, or in Switzerland), a gäu landscape (gäulandschaft) refers to an area of open, level countryside. 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
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