Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve
Encyclopedia
The Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve (German: Naturschutzgebiet Lüneburger Heide) is one of the oldest and largest nature reserves (Naturschutzgebiete or NSGs) in Germany
, and the oldest and largest in Lower Saxony
. It was first established on 29 December 1921 when an area of four square miles was declared a nature park by the Prussian Government
.
. It is bordered to the north by Hanstedt
, to the east by Egestorf
, to the south by Bispingen
and to the west by Schneverdingen
. At the centre of the reserve is the Wilseder Berg
, at 169.2 metres (555.1 ft) above NN the highest point on the north German Plain, formed from a ridge of end moraine by the glaciers of the ice age
.
Around 1900 the vast tracts of heathland were planted with forest or ploughed up for agriculture. In 1922, 21,000 hectares of the remaining heath was declared a nature reserve. In 1993 this protected area was expanded to 23,440 hectares. By the beginning of 2007 the area of the nature reserve had become identical with that of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park
. This was further expanded on 14 February 2007 to 113,000 hectares. The districts of Soltau-Fallingbostel and Harburg are responsible for the area in their role as subordinate nature conservation authorities.
trees. These go back to the reforestation of the heathland in the 19th century. There are also small stands of older deciduous trees: oak
s and beech
. The high proportion of woods makes the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve one of the largest areas of protected woodland in Germany. In addition there are streams and small valleys, marshes, meadows, pastures, fields and open sands.
The region is extremely important for the protection of biotope
s and plant and animal species. It is the only freely accessible part of Lower Saxony in which the Black Grouse
may be found. The results of the grouse censuses have been able to show an encouraging improvement in recent years.
Wilsede has one of the oldest open air museums in Germany: the Heath Museum (Heidemuseum) opened in 1907 in a historic building that had been transferred there and known as Dat ole Huus ("the ole house"). Inside the house you can see how the heath folk, the Heidjer, lived and worked around 1900. Also worth visiting are the Emhof in Wilsede, the "Totengrund" part of the heath, the old heathland churches in Egestorf
and Undeloh
, the nature information centres in Döhle, Niederhaverbeck and Undeloh
and the Pietzmoor
marsh near Schneverdingen
. Also to be found within the nature reserve are Bronze Age
tumuli, historic paths and boundary markers, walls of stones deposited by glaciers, old sheep pens and barns with outside steps known as Treppenspeicher
.
Local moorland sheep - the Heidschnucke
n - are grazed on the heath in order to maintain it. This method is supplemented by mechanical measures such as mowing, or the cutting of turves, a method known as Plaggen, and the controlled use of burning during the winter months. These measures ensure the necessary rejuvenation of the heather
. The incursion of pine
trees has to be held at bay by regular cutting back (Entkusselung). With the exception of the two roads crossing the area, there is a general ban on motorised vehicles in order to protect the terrain as well as the animal and plant kingdom.
In 1905, an Egestorf
pastor, Wilhelm Bode (20 October 1860 - 10 June 1927), bought an area of heathland, the so-called Totengrund. This was aided by a donation of 6,000 gold marks from Professor Dr. Thomsen from Münster.
In 1909 he founded the Nature Park Association (Verein Naturschutzpark or VNP) in Munich
. This set itself the aim of protecting large areas of land and was based on the American National Park
concept. It wanted to preserve the heathland at the centre of the present-day Lüneburg Heath Nature Park from development, afforestation or upheaval through agriculture. In 1910 it purchased the Wilseder Berg in northern Germany. Today the association owns more than 8200 hectares (20,262.6 acre) of the Lüneburg Heath, and another 1100 hectares (2,718.2 acre) have been rented long-term.
In January 1954 the Hamburg tradesman, Alfred Toepfer (1894–1993), was president of the association. He had been a member of since 1927. Thanks to Toepfer's good connexions in politics, the economy and foreign conservation organisations important steps could be taken. In order to honour its founding father, Alfred Toepfer
, the former North German Conservation Academy (Norddeutsche Naturschutzakademie) was renamed the Alfred Toepfer Academy of Conservation in 1995.
and which was under constant and heavy use. From November 1950, British and Canadian troops used Reinsehlen Camp near Schneverdingen
as a base camp for armoured exercises in the Red Areas, so-called from their red shading on the training area maps. The Soltau-Lüneburg Agreement was signed in 1959 between the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada and fixed the boundaries of the armoured training area. West of the Behringen-Wintermoor road, the effects of heavy use by allied tracked vehicles to could be seen. Proposals by the Nature Reserve Association (Verein Naturschutzpark or VNP) to move the armoured exercises to the neighbouring 10,000 hectare large Munster North Training Area
were rejected. Canadian forces stopped using the training area fairly early on, British Forces continued to exercise there until 1994.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and the oldest and largest in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
. It was first established on 29 December 1921 when an area of four square miles was declared a nature park by the Prussian Government
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
.
Description of the area
The boundaries of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve are identical with those of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park. It lies in the northern part of the region known as the Lüneburg HeathLüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
. It is bordered to the north by Hanstedt
Hanstedt
Hanstedt is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 35 km south of Hamburg, and 25 km west of Lüneburg.Hanstedt is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Hanstedt....
, to the east by Egestorf
Egestorf
Egestorf is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
, to the south by Bispingen
Bispingen
Bispingen is a municipality in the Heidekreis district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the River Luhe and is approximately northeast of Soltau, or south of Hamburg.-Subdivisions:*Bispingen*Hützel*Steinbeck an der Luhe...
and to the west by Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen is a town in the northern part of the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km north of Soltau, and 50 km south of Hamburg....
. At the centre of the reserve is the Wilseder Berg
Wilseder Berg
At the Wilseder Berg is the highest point on the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany.- Description :The Wilseder Berg is part of a nature reserve within the Lüneburg Heath and lies near the villages of Wilsede and Bispingen in the Heidekreis. The hill was formed during the penultimate ice age, the...
, at 169.2 metres (555.1 ft) above NN the highest point on the north German Plain, formed from a ridge of end moraine by the glaciers of the ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
Around 1900 the vast tracts of heathland were planted with forest or ploughed up for agriculture. In 1922, 21,000 hectares of the remaining heath was declared a nature reserve. In 1993 this protected area was expanded to 23,440 hectares. By the beginning of 2007 the area of the nature reserve had become identical with that of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park
Lüneburg Heath Nature Park
In the north of the area known as the Lüneburg Heath in northern Germany, lies the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park with an area of...
. This was further expanded on 14 February 2007 to 113,000 hectares. The districts of Soltau-Fallingbostel and Harburg are responsible for the area in their role as subordinate nature conservation authorities.
Flora and fauna
The nature reserve comprises 60 % woods, 26 % heath, 8,5 % cultivated land, 3 % pasture, 2 % marsh and 1,5 % settlements, lakes, etc. There are about 5,100 hectares of dry sandy heath, the largest remaining, contiguous, inland heath of its type (a Zwergstrauchheide) in central Europe. The reserve also has extensive coniferous forests, predominantly of pinePine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
trees. These go back to the reforestation of the heathland in the 19th century. There are also small stands of older deciduous trees: oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
s and beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
. The high proportion of woods makes the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve one of the largest areas of protected woodland in Germany. In addition there are streams and small valleys, marshes, meadows, pastures, fields and open sands.
The region is extremely important for the protection of biotope
Biotope
Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community.It...
s and plant and animal species. It is the only freely accessible part of Lower Saxony in which the Black Grouse
Black Grouse
The Black Grouse or Blackgame is a large bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal...
may be found. The results of the grouse censuses have been able to show an encouraging improvement in recent years.
Population of Black Grouse
| Year | Cocks | Hens | Total | Year | Cocks | Hens | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 21 | 12 | 33 | 1993 | 15 | 16 | 31 | |
| 1979 | 1994 | 12 | 16 | 28 | ||||
| 1980 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 1995 | 13 | 12 | 25 | |
| 1981 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 1996 | 11 | 17 | 28 | |
| 1982 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 1997 | 9 | 18 | 27 | |
| 1983 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 1998 | 8 | 15 | 23 | |
| 1984 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 1999 | 11 | 14 | 25 | |
| 1985 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 2000 | 14 | 15 | 29 | |
| 1986 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 2001 | 17 | 18 | 35 | |
| 1987 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 2002 | 20 | 19 | 39 | |
| 1988 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 2003 | 16 | 19 | 35 | |
| 1989 | 28 | 19 | 47 | 2004 | 28 | 24 | 52 | |
| 1990 | 27 | 19 | 46 | 2005 | 33 | 26 | 59 | |
| 1991 | 24 | 17 | 41 | 2006 | 40 | 25 | 65 | |
| 1992 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 2007 | 45 | 33 | 78 |
Places of interest in the nature reserve
Egestorf
Egestorf is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
and Undeloh
Undeloh
Undeloh is a village in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- Location :Undeloh lies on the Lüneburg Heath near its highest hill, the Wilseder Berg.- Neighbouring communities :...
, the nature information centres in Döhle, Niederhaverbeck and Undeloh
Undeloh
Undeloh is a village in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- Location :Undeloh lies on the Lüneburg Heath near its highest hill, the Wilseder Berg.- Neighbouring communities :...
and the Pietzmoor
Pietzmoor
The Pietzmoor is named after the little village of Pietz, and is the largest contiguous area of bog on the Lüneburg Heath in northern Germany. The bog lies southeast of the town of Schneverdingen and is bordered to the south by the village of Heber. The Pietzmoor has an average peat depth of 4 m,...
marsh near Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen is a town in the northern part of the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km north of Soltau, and 50 km south of Hamburg....
. Also to be found within the nature reserve are Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
tumuli, historic paths and boundary markers, walls of stones deposited by glaciers, old sheep pens and barns with outside steps known as Treppenspeicher
Treppenspeicher
A Treppenspeicher is the German term for a small barn or secondary farm building used for storage and typical of the Lüneburg Heath area in northern Germany...
.
Local moorland sheep - the Heidschnucke
Heidschnucke
The Heidschnucke is a group of three types of moorland sheep from northern Germany. Like a number of other types from Scandinavia and Great Britain, they are Northern European short-tailed sheep...
n - are grazed on the heath in order to maintain it. This method is supplemented by mechanical measures such as mowing, or the cutting of turves, a method known as Plaggen, and the controlled use of burning during the winter months. These measures ensure the necessary rejuvenation of the heather
Calluna
Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...
. The incursion of pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
trees has to be held at bay by regular cutting back (Entkusselung). With the exception of the two roads crossing the area, there is a general ban on motorised vehicles in order to protect the terrain as well as the animal and plant kingdom.
Pioneers
Egestorf
Egestorf is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
pastor, Wilhelm Bode (20 October 1860 - 10 June 1927), bought an area of heathland, the so-called Totengrund. This was aided by a donation of 6,000 gold marks from Professor Dr. Thomsen from Münster.
In 1909 he founded the Nature Park Association (Verein Naturschutzpark or VNP) in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. This set itself the aim of protecting large areas of land and was based on the American National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
concept. It wanted to preserve the heathland at the centre of the present-day Lüneburg Heath Nature Park from development, afforestation or upheaval through agriculture. In 1910 it purchased the Wilseder Berg in northern Germany. Today the association owns more than 8200 hectares (20,262.6 acre) of the Lüneburg Heath, and another 1100 hectares (2,718.2 acre) have been rented long-term.
In January 1954 the Hamburg tradesman, Alfred Toepfer (1894–1993), was president of the association. He had been a member of since 1927. Thanks to Toepfer's good connexions in politics, the economy and foreign conservation organisations important steps could be taken. In order to honour its founding father, Alfred Toepfer
Alfred Toepfer
Dr. Alfred Carl Toepfer was a German entrepreneur, owner of the company Toepfer International and founder of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation...
, the former North German Conservation Academy (Norddeutsche Naturschutzakademie) was renamed the Alfred Toepfer Academy of Conservation in 1995.
Military training
One particular issue was the military training area in the southwestern half of the nature reserve, which had to be accepted as a direct consequence of the Second World War and the ensuing Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and which was under constant and heavy use. From November 1950, British and Canadian troops used Reinsehlen Camp near Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen is a town in the northern part of the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km north of Soltau, and 50 km south of Hamburg....
as a base camp for armoured exercises in the Red Areas, so-called from their red shading on the training area maps. The Soltau-Lüneburg Agreement was signed in 1959 between the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada and fixed the boundaries of the armoured training area. West of the Behringen-Wintermoor road, the effects of heavy use by allied tracked vehicles to could be seen. Proposals by the Nature Reserve Association (Verein Naturschutzpark or VNP) to move the armoured exercises to the neighbouring 10,000 hectare large Munster North Training Area
Munster Training Area
Munster Training Area is a military training area in Germany on the Lüneburg Heath. It comprises two separate areas with different purposes: Munster North and Munster South . The two areas are separated geographically by the town of Munster and several barracks...
were rejected. Canadian forces stopped using the training area fairly early on, British Forces continued to exercise there until 1994.