Cologne Lowland

The Cologne Lowland (also Cologne Bight or Cologne Bay) (German:Kölner Bucht) is a densely populated area of Germany lying between the cities of Bonn, Aachen, and Düsseldorf/Neuss. It is situated in the southwest of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and forms the natural southern conclusion of the Lower Rhenish lowlands and the transition to the Rhenish Massif (Rheinische Schiefergebirge or "Rhenish Slate Mountains"). The Cologne Bight is surrounded on the left bank of the Rhine by the High Fens and the Eifel, as well as by the Bergisches Land on the Rhine’s right bank. In the south and southeast the rising Rhine Massif, visible from far off by the silhouette of the Siebengebirge, form the conclusion of the bight at Königswinter. To the northwest the Cologne Bight opens out into the valleys of the Rhine and the Meuse, in the northeast it is bounded by the Münsterländer Kreidebecken (Münster Chalk Basin) of the Westphalian Bight.