Rüdigsdorf Switzerland 1.82

Rüdigsdorf Switzerland is a range of hills up to near the village of Rüdigsdorf in the district of Nordhausen in the German state of Thuringia.The landscape is the last intact gypsum karst region in the state and has therefore been designated by the EU as a protected area. It is one of the smallest "little Switzerlands" in Germany. The majority of the area is a nature reserve.LocationRüdigsdorf Switzerland lies in the extreme southern foothills of the Harz Mountains of central Germany between Nordhausen to the southwest, Krimderode to the west, Niedersachswerfen to the northwest, Harzungen and Neustadt to the north, Buchholz to the east and Steigerthal to the southeast. The central villages of the region, which descends gradually towards the west and southwest, are the Rüdigsdorf and Petersdorf. The Zorge, a tributary of the Helme, flows past the hills to the south.