page_title: Sauerland
section_title: Towns and municipalities
hierarchical_section_title: Sauerland / Towns and municipalities
caption_attribution_description: English: Balve, Germany Deutsch: Balve, Sauerland, NRW, Deutschland. Bundesstraße 229 entlang des Bahnhofs durch das Stadtzentrum von Balve -&gt; „Hönnetalstraße“ unterer Bildrand rechts (Am Bahnhof), abknickend nach links „Hauptstraße“ (Richtung Neuenrade-Küntrop).
context_page_description: The Sauerland is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. For these reasons, it has been chosen as the first place in Germany to reintroduce the Wisent.
  The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular for mountain biking & cycling, water sports and scenic recreation. The town and Skiliftkarussell of Winterberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis is a major winter sport resort.
context_section_description: The largest town of the Sauerland is Iserlohn; other larger towns are Lüdenscheid and Arnsberg. Meschede is the home of an abbey. Another abbey is placed at Bestwig.
caption: Town centre of Balve in 2007
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