Bottendorfer Hill

Bottendorfer Hill
View over the Bottendorfer Hills to the Hohe Schrecke
height	206.5  m
location	Kyffhäuserkreis , Thuringia
Coordinates	51 ° 18 '46 "  N , 11 ° 24' 17"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 18 '46 "  N , 11 ° 24' 17"  E

The Bottendorf carnation only grows on the heavy metal lawn of the Bottendorf hills

The Bottendorfer Hügel are a small mountain range and a nature reserve in the Kyffhäuserkreis in northeast Thuringia ( Germany ).

location

The Bottendorfer Hills are located in the eastern Kyffhäuserkreis, immediately north of Bottendorf and about 10 kilometers southeast of Artern . They consist of a chain of hills about 2.5 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide, the highest point is 206.5  m above sea level. NN on the Galgenberg.

geology

From a geological point of view, the Bottendorfer Hills are a layer of gypsum and copper slate from the Zechstein, broken into several clods . They are located between the Ziegelrodaer Buntsandsteinplatte in the north and the Hohe Schrecke , also a red sandstone mountain range, in the south. The hills rise on average 82.2 meters above the bottom of the Unstrut Valley (comparative value: Unstrutdamm on the western edge of Bottendorf at 124.3 meters) and are oriented lengthways from northwest to southeast.

vegetation

From a distance they stand out due to their extensive steppe lawns and their almost complete absence of trees. In particular, subcontinental turf grass and heavy metal turf are formed on the Bottendorfer hills . The heavy metal lawns appear over copper gravel and in the area of ​​the former copper slate mining, are very gaps and low-growing and consist almost exclusively of spring chickweed ( Minuartia verna ) and Bottendorf carnation ( Armeria maritima var. Bottendorfensis ), a variety of beach carnation , which emerged in the Bottendorfer Hills and only occurs there worldwide. The Trespenrasen contain the following species with a subcontinental distribution pattern: Hair awl grass ( Stipa capillata ), field man litter ( Eryngium campestre ), panicle knapweed ( Centaurea stoebe ) and yellow scabiosa ( Scabiosa ochroleuca ).

natural reserve

The Bottendorfer Hills are protected as a nature reserve on 131.6 hectares. Since 2008 they have been one of 13 areas of the EU LIFE project "Conservation and development of the steppe grasslands of Thuringia".

history

A burial mound as a protected ground monument testifies to the presence of people during the Bronze Age burial mounds . In the High Middle Ages , an exposed hill served as a place of execution, the field name Galgenberg reminds of this . Relics of copper slate mining (collapse funnels, heaps) can still be found in the NSG. The copper slate was mined from 1473 to 1781 and processed in the Bottendorf copper smelter. The complicated storage conditions, the strongly fluctuating metal content of the ore and the small production quantities are said to have led to the abandonment of mining. Due to the good all-round visibility, there was an anti-aircraft base on the Galgenberg during World War II. The flak position was later converted into a lookout point. The area is a very popular excursion destination for universities and is also used for leisure activities.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Official topographic maps of Thuringia 1: 10,000. Eichsfeldkreis, LK Nordhausen, Kyffhäuserkreis, Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis . In: Thuringian Land Survey Office (Hrsg.): CD-ROM series Top10 . CD 1. Erfurt 1999.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Nature reserves in the Kyffhäuserkreis: Bottendorfer Hills. Thuringian State Institute for Environment and Geology (TLUG), 2011, accessed on April 14, 2011 : "The" Bottendorfer Hügel "(NSG 88) ... The area comprises a unique complex of heavy metal corridors and large dry and semi-arid grasslands with an outstanding inventory of species. "  

Web links

Commons : Bottendorfer Hügel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Nature conservation project area 2 "Bottendorfer Hügel"