Biosphere house
| Biosphere house | ||
|---|---|---|
 Fischbach Biosphere House |
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| Data | ||
| place | Fischbach near Dahn | |
| Builder | Expo 2000 | |
| Architectural style | Building block principle | |
| Construction year | 2000 | |
| Coordinates | 49 ° 5 '13.6 " N , 7 ° 43' 30.2" E | |
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The biosphere house in the Rhineland-Palatinate municipality of Fischbach bei Dahn is a nature experience center and represents a regional tourism factor.
Geographical location
Fischbach is located in the southern part of the Palatinate Forest , the German part of the Wasgau , near the German-French border and in the middle of the cross-border Palatinate Forest-Northern Vosges biosphere reserve . The biosphere house with its ancillary facilities is located on the eastern edge of the municipality at about 200 m altitude in the Königsbruch nature reserve , which extends in the valley floodplain between the Saarbach , which is called Sauer after he moved to Alsace , and its left tributary Spießbach .
State road 478 runs past the southern edge of the site , which - through Fischbach - runs roughly parallel to the border and connects Bundenthal in the east with Eppenbrunn in the west.
Development and structure
Biosphere house
The biosphere house was created as a decentralized project of the World Exhibition Expo 2000 in Hanover and, based on the modular principle , is constantly being further developed:
Originally the biosphere house was a single building, which was opened in March 2000 on one floor as an information center for the biosphere reserve. A diverse multimedia exhibition is an essential part of the information center .
In March 2002, two years after opening, the nature experience center was added. It consists of an event room, which also includes accommodation and a restaurant, as well as an interactive circular route. Over a distance of 1500 m at 14 stations, it provides interesting information about the region; it is suitable for use with prams and wheelchairs. The nature experience center is particularly used by school classes.
Treetop Walk
In June 2003 a treetop path was put into operation, which stretches through the treetops of the Palatinate Forest with a length of 270 m and a height of 12 to 18 m above ground. The normal route is laid out as a partially handicapped-accessible wooden footbridge and leads about halfway past the "Eagle's Nest", a 35 m high observation tower . On its approximately 25 m high viewing platform with binoculars mounted there, it offers a good view of the biosphere reserve and the Saarbach valley. Alternatively, the tower can also be reached via three “wobbly bridges” called suspension , plate and jungle bridges . The other wooden walkway, on which some adventure stations are attached, finally leads to a second, around 20 m high observation tower, from whose upper platform a 40 m long "giant spiral slide" leads back to the forest floor.
In the first three years, 467,000 people used the trail.
Water adventure trail
The water adventure trail was opened in 2006. The approx. 2 km long route along the Saarbach consists of 14 stations at which various aspects of water are presented, e.g. B. Hydropower, aquatic life and water quality. Also in 2006, the second floor of the exhibition was opened in the main building of the biosphere house, on which an interactive story on the subject of "Waters and stream valleys" was created.
economics
With its tourist orientation, the biosphere house was a follow-up project to Lake Wasgau , which was abandoned in 1987 and which was also intended to create additional jobs in the Fischbach area. Around 45 jobs - 15 permanent and 30 seasonal - have been created around the biosphere house.
Since the number of visitors was initially well above the original forecast, the biosphere house was initially able to finance ongoing operations itself. However, this has not been the case since 2007 at the latest, as the number of visitors has plummeted by almost 75%. Since then, the local community has had to contribute almost 100,000 euros in operating costs from the community budget every year; it is now considered heavily indebted at 1.7 million euros. There are also disputes about subsidies from the state, which the Rhineland-Palatinate Court of Auditors complained about in 2005 as inadmissible aid. In 2017, the state demanded the total of 90,000 euros of grants paid from 2005 onwards from the local community.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ NSG Königs-Bruch. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c treetop path Fischbach (Pfalz) on baumwipfelpfad-baumkronenpfad.de.
- ↑ Fischbach under pressure - Land wants money back for the biosphere house. swr.de, March 7, 2017, accessed on March 7, 2017 .
