Old Neckar

	Alter Neckar nature reserve and landscape protection area IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
	Alter Neckar nature reserve
location	Germany , Baden-Wuerttemberg , Esslingen district , Altbach
surface	21.3 ha
WDPA ID	162117
Geographical location	48 ° 43 ' N , 9 ° 22' E Coordinates: 48 ° 43 '22 " N , 9 ° 21' 59" E
Setup date	04/06/1992
administration	Regional Council Stuttgart

Alter Neckar is a nature reserve (NSG number 1.141) designated by ordinance of the Stuttgart regional council of April 6, 1992 in the area of the municipality of Altbach and the city of Esslingen in the Esslingen district in Baden-Württemberg . A 16.0 hectare area was already placed under protection by ordinance of December 2, 1985.

The 21.3 hectare (ha) area is located at 245 m above sea level in the densely populated Middle Neckar Valley, directly south of built-up areas and industrial areas ( Altbach power station ) and is part of the natural areas of the Stuttgart Bay and the Filder .

The area includes an oxbow lake of the Neckar , the riparian wood, adjacent meadows and fields, unused former fillings and rubble areas as well as parts of the Neckar Canal bank.

The purpose of protection is the arm of the Neckar as a rare relic of earlier river history; In addition, it is a breeding and habitat as well as a retreat for many endangered plant and animal species. The oxbow lake was created when the Neckar loop was pierced and the Neckar Canal was dredged in 1933/34 as part of the river expansion . With the excavation, only part of the former river course was filled.

Flora and fauna

The abundance of fish in the oxbow lake with mud whip , chub , rudd , carp and 15 other species is attractive for gray herons, kingfisher and bittern . The reeds on the banks are populated by woodlice, spiders and digger wasps , among others, and pike find their spawning grounds there. Oriole and nightingale breed in the shady bank areas. In the narrow belt with hardwood and softwood floodplains there are still some relics of the original alluvial forest. Dead wood is left on site and used in a variety of ways by insects. 13 species of dragonflies have been identified in the area. Grass snakes , red-eared turtles, muskrats and brown hares have been sighted several times.

literature

Reinhard Wolf , Ulrike Kreh (Hrsg.): The nature reserves in the Stuttgart administrative region . Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7995-5176-2 , pp. 446-448