Buchswald near Grenzach

NSG Buchswald near Grenzach IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
Buchswald am Westweg in Grenzach-Wyhlen (2014)
location	Grenzach-Wyhlen , Loerrach district , Baden-Württemberg , Germany
surface	92.8 ha
Identifier	3,018
WDPA ID	81484
Natura 2000 ID	DE-8411-341
FFH area	92.8 ha
Geographical location	47 ° 33 '  N , 7 ° 40'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 33 '17 "  N , 7 ° 40' 27"  E
Setup date	May 4, 1939

The Buchswald near Grenzach is a nature reserve consisting of four parts in Grenzach-Wyhlen , district of Lörrach , in the southwest of Baden-Württemberg . Until its extensive death around 2007, it was one of the oldest, last and largest wild habitats of evergreen boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens ) in Germany. Nowhere else in Germany was Buchs so dense and extensive, up to four meters high.

There are other box forests in Germany on the Moselle (between Karden and Müden as well as in the Kehrbachtal near Löf ), otherwise for example in the forests of the southern slopes of the Jura in Switzerland (eponymous for Buix ), in Provence , in the maquis of Istria , in southern England ( South Downs ) or in the Giant Mountains .

location

The Buchswald is part of the community forest of Grenzach-Wyhlen on the Upper Rhine , directly on the Swiss border across from Basel . It belongs to the Kandern forest district and stretches over several kilometers - divided into several partial areas - east of the so-called Grenzacher Horn at an altitude of between 290 and 460 meters above sea level along the upper edge of the southern slope of the Dinkelberg . It is criss-crossed by numerous paths.

Protection status

The Buchswald has been an officially designated nature reserve (NSG) since 1939 with the official area name Buchswald bei Grenzach (area number of the State Institute for Environmental Protection Baden-Württemberg (LfU): NSG 3.018). It is also located in the larger FFH area for forests near Wyhlen , which means that it is part of the European Natura 2000 network of protected areas . In addition to the approximately 93- hectare box forest, the FFH area includes other protected areas in whole or in part: the Ruschbachtal (NSG 3.150), the Altrhein Wyhlen (NSG 3.047), the Leuengraben (NSG 3.167), the Grenzacher Horn and the Rheinhalde (landscape protection area, LSG 3.36.003).

Emergence

The Grenzacher Buchwald does not consist solely from book tree, but is located in one of hollow paths traversed natural mixed forest with Downy oak , beech trees , Linden, maple, etc. in the Rhine rift , on a slope above the high Rhein -Tales. This region of Germany has particularly suitable climatic values, with relatively little precipitation and mild winters. The locations below the forest have been used for viticulture since Roman times. Fresh winds from the wooded slopes ensure a pleasant climate in the sunny summers here. This near-natural forest in a dry, warm (thermophilic) location is characterized by a wealth of woody species that is unusual for Central Europe, which is only surpassed by alluvial forests . You can also find other rare plants here, such as European holly growing in the wild ( Ilex aquifolium ), the Immenblatt ( Melittis melissophyllum ) and almost the only occurrence of the spring maple ( Acer opalus ) in Germany.

The book has been at home in Central Europe since the end of the Ice Age. It has been documented in Wyhlen since the early Middle Ages, but its occurrence here probably goes back to Roman times. The Romans used the boxwood to border their gardens, and this use has also been proven in the areas they conquered in Central and Western Europe. Not far from Grenzach-Wyhlen, on the opposite side of the Rhine, was the Roman town of Augusta raurica , now known as Augst in Switzerland . In Grenzach itself there is a villa rustica (today Roman Museum) and several of these Roman properties have also been excavated in the area. The place name Wyhlen goes back to the Roman term villa ( ze wilon = for the villas). It was not until the 3rd century AD that the Alemanni followed the Romans.

The box forest in legend and tradition

Book spirit of the Wyhlen fools guild "Rolli-Dudel"

The book has been firmly anchored in the cultic and cultural life of the Wyhlen population for centuries. It is still the custom to use wreaths made from boxwood to decorate churches and houses on festive occasions.

An old tradition says the following: The former Wyhlen monastery Himmelspforte (today a retirement home) was threatened by robbing soldiers in the 14th century. In the monastery chapel there was a particularly valuable image of grace (Virgin Mary statue with baby Jesus). A forest or box spirit hid the statue in the box forest and thus saved it. In any case, she “disappeared as if by magic”. By chance she was discovered many years later by a hiker in the Buchswald and brought back to the monastery. Because of this incident, a pilgrimage to the monastery chapel "Maria im Buchs", which has been documented since the 15th century, developed.

The Buchsgeist saga was used (according to initial ideas as early as 1962) in 1969 to found a carnival clique that embodied customs and traditions, the “Buchsgeister”, with the symbolic figures “Buchswiebli” and “Buchsmännli”. The book is one of the symbols of the Wyhlen fool's guild "Rolli-Dudel". When the official carnival season of the fools' guild begins on Epiphany (beginning of January), the carnival symbolic figure of the "Butzemommel" is taken out of the box forest and brought back to life.

Decline

Sick box forest above Grenzach (2014)

In 2007, a strong infestation with the tubular fungus Cylindrocladium buxicola was found for the first time, especially in the lower slope and in moist forest areas of the box forest , through which the beech tree in the trunk base area up to a height of 1.50 meters in large parts of the nature reserve (several dozen hectares) has been completely defoliated.

Also in 2007 the box tree moth , which was introduced from Asia, appeared in the region for the first time , which initially caused less damage to the wild box than to the ornamental box plants in the neighboring residential areas of Grenzach-Wyhlen. In the late summer of 2010, the population was heavily infested, at the end of September 2010 the foliage of the wild plants was destroyed.

At the end of summer 2011 only small parts of the box forest were left in the old state, these areas are mainly in the Wyhlen (eastern) part of the forest. The Grenzach forest, on the other hand, was largely defoliated and described as a "victim of globalization "; it was not possible to combat the two polluters. Members of the BUND local group have observed the situation since the disaster summer 2010 and created a differentiated damage profile, according to which the damage varies greatly.

See also

• List of nature reserves in the Lörrach district

literature

• Helmut Bauckner u. a .; Association for local history Grenzach-Wyhlen (Hrsg.): On the way in the forest of Grenzach-Wyhlen. Buchswald - Ruschbachtal - bird world - history - geology - hiking trails on the Dinkelberg . Greiner, Remshalden 2005, ISBN 978-3-935383-78-3 .
• Gerhard Fuchs u. a .; State Institute for Environmental Protection Baden-Württemberg (ed.): The box forest near Grenzach (Grenzacher Horn) . Institute for Ecology and Nature Conservation, Karlsruhe 1979, ISBN 3-88251-035-8 (= The nature and landscape protection areas of Baden-Württemberg , Volume 9).

Web links

Commons : Buchswald nature reserve near Grenzach  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Profile of the nature reserve in the LUBW's list of protected areas

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Box tree moth - The box forest is in agony , www.badische-zeitung.de, August 16, 2010, Ralf H. Dorweiler
2. ↑ Natural drama by importing China - Buchswälder dead: Zünsler has devoured the Upper Rhine , www.badische-zeitung.de, September 19, 2010, Local, Lörrach district , Roger Lange, SDA
3. ↑ badische-zeitung.de, Lokales, Grenzach-Wyhlen , May 6, 2009: The book is very heavily damaged
4. ↑ badische-zeitung.de, Julian Kutzim: caterpillars and mushrooms left him no chance of survival , September 8, 2011.
5. ^ Badische Zeitung: One can learn from comparisons, March 10, 2011.
6. ^ Badische Zeitung: Enemies of the book are still active , April 2, 2012.