Soest District

Soest District is a Kreis (district) in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Warendorf, Gütersloh, Paderborn, Hochsauerland, Märkisch District, Unna and the district-free city Hamm.

History
In medieval times Soest was the biggest city of Westphalia; however, after it liberated itself from the bishops of Cologne in the Soester Fehde in 1449 it slowly lost importance, only to gain it again when in 1816 the new Prussian government created the district. In 1975 the district was merged with the neighboring district of Lippstadt and parts of the former district of Arnsberg.

Geography
Geographically it covers the northern part of the Sauerland hills and the lower land north of it, the 'Hellweg'. The rather flat land and very fertile loess soil have it an agricultural area from ancient times. The main rivers through the district are the Ruhr, the Lippe and the Möhne, which is dammed to form the Möhne Reservoir. The highest elevation is in the area of Warstein with 580m, while the lowest is the Lippe valley with 65m.