Volkenroder forest
| Nameless hilltop | ||
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| height | 364.1 m | |
| location | Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis , North Thuringia | |
| Mountains | Thin , | |
| Coordinates | 51 ° 16 '7 " N , 10 ° 34' 16" E | |
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| rock | Shell limestone , other rocks | |
 The southern edge of the Volkenroder forest with old forest |
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The Volkenroder forest is an almost closed, approximately 670 hectare forest area between Volkenroda and Obermehler in the northern Unstrut-Hainich district . It consists of the actual Volkenroder forest in the north and the almost 70 hectare zoo in the south.
Location and structure
The Volkenroder forest is four kilometers long, 2.5 kilometers wide at its widest point and extends in a Hercynian direction, i.e. from southeast to northwest. The highest height is at 364.1 m above sea level. NN in the north, the lowest with about 270 m above sea level. NN in the Schaftal in the southeast.
The Volkenroder forest is made up of the Schlotheimer and the lime wood in the northwest, the Pöthenschen Weg in the center, the Körner community forest in the south and west, and the Junkernschneise and the Heiligkreuzberg in the east. The connecting road between Volkenroda and Obermehler is the only road that runs through the forest in several bends.
Natural allocation
The Volkenroder forest forms one of the wooded ridges of the north-west Thuringian shell limestone edge plates, which are part of the shell limestone hill countries of the southeastern roof of the Dün , which merge immediately south and east of the forest into the Keuperland of the Thuringian basin , within which they pass through the Heilinger heights to the southeast be continued.
geology
The near-surface geological subsoil is formed by the limestone of the Upper Muschelkalk . They are covered in places with loess . The alignment of the ridge is based on a fault at the edge of the Schlotheim trench, which is also Hercynian . Karst phenomena can be found in several places in the Volkenroder Forest. The Schaftal valley in the south is one of the longest dry valleys in Thuringia. If the otherwise dry stone trench in the Schaftal river runs above ground, the water almost completely seeps away in a creek . In the north of the Tiergarten there are three deep sinkholes .
climate
There is no weather station in the Volkenroda forest. The forest site mapping assumes an average annual precipitation of 650 mm and an annual average temperature of 8 ° C. The Volkenroda forest lies in the rain shadow of the Harz and Düne and already receives less rainfall than the ridge layers of the Muschelkalk hill countries. It mediates climatically to the Central German dry area.
Waters
The Volkenroder forest is part of the catchment area of the Notter , a tributary to the left of the Unstrut . It therefore belongs entirely to the Elbe - Saale river system. The drainage takes place in the south via the shaft valley, a long dry valley that only carries water in the cold season when the rocky fissures of the shell limestone are closed by frost. Drainage also occurs after heavy rainfall in summer. In the north, the Volkenroder forest also drains via the Schmirl into the Notter, which runs in a wide arc around the forest. The Volkenroder Forest is one of the karst areas in Germany. The regional water donation takes place mainly underground due to the fracturing of the shell limestone. The few standing bodies of water are almost entirely artificial ponds . Of these, the calf pond on the southwest edge of the Tiergarten is the largest.
Flora and vegetation
The Volkenrodaer forest is v. a. formed by woodruff and barley beech forests . However, large, contiguous star chickweed-oak-hornbeam forests have also developed on alternately moist locations in the grain forests in the southwest . The Volkenroder forest is rich in trees. The zoo alone is home to 25 species of trees, including 21 species of deciduous trees.
The Volkenroder forest is rich in Märzen cups . The white flowering narcissus plant forms large carpets of flowers in places in spring, for example in the Schaftal valley and in the zoo.
landscape
The Volkenroder forest is embedded in an intensively arable agricultural landscape. However, it is related to the forest areas of Forstberg in the west and Mühlhäuser Hardt in the northwest and, via the Mühlhäuser Landgraben, also with the Dün . The exchange of animal populations is possible via these connections. On the edge of the Volkenroder forest there are also rifts and orchards , which provide a greater variety of landscapes there. Due to its elevated location on the edge of the Thuringian Basin, the Volkenroder Forest can be seen from a distance as a forest area. It can be seen from the Hainichrand , from the Schlotheimer Sonder and from the Fahner Höhe .
natural reserve
The Märzenbecher deposit in the Schaftal valley has been secured as a nature reserve . The zoo is part of the FFH protected area No. 24 of the area registration of the Free State of Thuringia and thus part of the European protected area system Natura 2000 . The calf pond has been protected as an area natural monument since 1983.
economy
Forestry / forest use
The Volkenroder forest is characterized by forestry and hunting . The beech age group forest in the umbrella method is predominant . In places, but in a significant area, the old wood umbrella was removed too early in the past. The forest stands that have arisen there therefore consist almost exclusively of the pre-forest species ash .
The Volkenrodaer Wald is criss-crossed by a regular network of forest roads. The main route is the Pöthensche Weg, which begins on the northern edge of Volkenroda and turns on the ridge to the southeast into the forest road. In the south, parallel to the forest path, the Mittlere and Untere Stellweg run across the forest area.
The name Tiergarten suggests its former use as a hut forest . The cattle of the former Cistercian monastery of Volkenroda were herded into it. The numerous old oaks and beeches in the zoo also originate from the Hutewald time, as well as the royal oak , a mighty single tree on the northern edge of the village of Volkenroda that was placed alongside the 1000-year-old oaks .
Mining
Potash mining was carried out in the region around Menteroda for many years . The tunnels run deep under the Volkenroder forest. In the 1945s and 1960s, oil wells were sunk in the Volkenroder forest . The unsuccessful wells were equipped with degassing probes after completion.
tourism
The Volkenrodaer forest is v. a. used by the numerous guests of the meeting place Monastery Volkenroda for walking and cycling. A section of the pilgrimage route between the Loccum monasteries near Hanover and the Volkenroda monastery also runs through the Volkenroda forest.
The Volkenrodaer Wald also serves to educate the environment . In the center there is a forest education center of the forest office Ebeleben, which is made available to school classes from the area for forest adventure days. Tourist attractions in the forest are the occurrence of the Märzenbeche in the Schaftal valley and the hiking trail on the southern edge of the Volkenroder Forest, which offers numerous long-distance views across the Thuringian Basin. From there, the entire panorama of the mountains of the Thuringian Forest opens up. One of the tourist attractions of the Unstrut-Hainich district is also located directly on the edge of the forest, the Volkenroda Monastery.
Individual evidence
- ^ E. Meynen and J. Schmithüsen : Handbook of the natural spatial structure of Germany - Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Remagen / Bad Godesberg 1953–1962 (9 deliveries in 8 books, updated map 1: 1,000,000 with main units 1960)
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^ Walter Hiekel, Frank Fritzlar, Andreas Nöllert and Werner Westhus: The natural spaces of Thuringia . Ed .: Thuringian State Institute for Environment and Geology (TLUG), Thuringian Ministry for Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Environment . 2004, ISSN 0863-2448 . → Natural area map of Thuringia (TLUG) - PDF; 260 kB
- ↑ Regional natural space maps of the Thuringian State Institute for Environment and Geology (Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis)
- ↑ Both natural spatial structures draw the interface to the Thuringian Basin exactly along the south and east flanks of the forest.
- ↑ Lehnert et al. (2010): Protected areas in the Unstrut-Hainich district, p. 36
Web links
- Nature reserves (status: 03/2018) - Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis on tlug-jena.de, accessed on February 22, 2019
