Eichsfeld

250px|thumb|right|Eichsfeld map from 1900 The Eichsfeld ( or ; 'Oak-field') is a historical region in the southeast of the state of Lower Saxony (which is called , 'lower Eichsfeld') and northwest of the state of Thuringia (, 'upper Eichsfeld') in the south of the Harz mountains in Germany. Until 1803 the Eichsfeld was for centuries part of the Archbishopric of Mainz, which is the cause of its current position as a Catholic enclave in the predominantly Protestant north of Germany. Following German partition in 1945, the West German portion became Landkreis Duderstadt. A few small transfers of territory between the American and Soviet zones of occupation took place in accordance with the Wanfried Agreement.

==Geography== thumb|left|Typical landscape in the Eichsfeld: Villages between fields and wooded hills Today the greatest part of the Obereichsfeld makes up the Landkreis (district) Eichsfeld. Other parts belong to the district Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis. The Untereichsfeld, later Landkreis Duderstadt, was merged mostly with the Landkreis of Göttingen, while Lindau became part of Katlenburg-Lindau which is now part of the Landkreis of Northeim.