Garbsen belongs to the Weser-Aller-Flachland natural area and is situated between the lowlands of the river Leine and the Otternhagener Moor. The differences in altitude are only a few metres.
Division of the town The town consists of 13 districts: • Altgarbsen • Auf der Horst • Berenbostel • Frielingen • Garbsen-Mitte • Havelse • Heitlingen • Horst • Meyenfeld • Osterwald Oberende • Osterwald Unterende • Schloss Ricklingen • Stelingen
Geology The soils in the city area are predominantly sandy or boggy (Moorgeest), with the exception of the loamy-clayey soils in the area of the Leine floodplain. The sandy to gravelly deposits are fluviatile formations of the last cold period, the Weichsel cold period, e.g. in the area of Altgarbsen and Havelse, as well as elsewhere, such as Frielingen and Meyenfeld, meltwater deposits partly with overlaying ground moraine of the Saale cold period (Drenthe stage). Furthermore, fine to medium sand dunes can be found in the area of Garbsen Switzerland and Ricklingen Castle. These dunes can also be found at the "Hexenturm" in the neighbouring Hinüberschen Garten and at the Glockenberg in the monastery forest of Marienwerder. The sand was mined in several places in (old) Garbsen in the time beginning before the
First World War until 1970 and was burned to lime sand bricks in the Garbsen hard stone works (Kiebitzmoor, "Garbsen", "Niedersachsen", "Hansa" and "Hannover"). Thus Garbsen's hills disappeared, and today only street names remind us of them (among them Osterberg, Mühlenberg, Streitberg, Pottberg). Sand and gravel for construction purposes were extracted in the pit of today's Blue Lake. Near-surface clays and claystones of the Lower Cretaceous can be found in the area of the Berenbostel district. In the area of Berenbostel the marly claystones of marine origin belong to the formation of the Barremium and the Aptium, further north to Stelingen, Osterwald and Heitlingen the claystones belong to the formation of the Hauterivium. Since the middle of the 19th century the clays were also mined and used for brick production (Hannoversche Ziegelei at the Kastendamm: today Schwarzer See and Berenbosteler See, Flemmingsche Ziegelei in the field "Im Kolke": today backfilled (contaminated site) and built over as the Garbsen-Ost industrial area). ==Twin towns – sister cities==