Colbitzer Lindenwald

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NSG Colbitzer Lindenwald

IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area

Forest picture in the NSG Colbitzer Lindenwald

Forest picture in the NSG Colbitzer Lindenwald

location Borde district , Saxony-Anhalt , Germany
surface 188.7 ha
Identifier NSG 0014
WDPA ID 14442
Geographical location 52 ° 20 '  N , 11 ° 32'  E Coordinates: 52 ° 20 '28 "  N , 11 ° 32' 28"  E
Colbitzer Lindenwald (Saxony-Anhalt)
Colbitzer Lindenwald
Sea level from 80 m to 120.5 m
Setup date 1939
administration Borde district

The Colbitzer Lindenwald has approximately 220 hectares of the largest closed lime tree forest in Central Europe with an average age of around 200 years. The area is located in the north German lowlands ( heights between 80 and 120 m) of Saxony-Anhalt and is under nature protection .

Location and protection status

The forest is located in the Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide area in Saxony-Anhalt, about four kilometers northwest of Colbitz . 199.3 ha of the linden forest have the status of a nature reserve (as of 2019); 25.9 hectares of which are designated as a total reserve. The nature reserve is part of the 527 hectare FFH reserve of the same name Colbitz Lindenwald, which in turn is part of the Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide bird reserve with a total size of around 204 km².

Flora and fauna

In the area of ​​the nature reserve there is a society of deciduous forests , which is determined in particular by winter lime and hornbeam . The for this type of forest ( oak-hornbeam forests ) participatory sessile oak have almost completely disappeared by shading or were taken in the past. Some of the trees are very old: the oldest linden trees are between 180 and 200 years old, the oldest oaks between 400 and 600 years old. Other less common tree species are common oak , aspen and birch .

In the undergrowth - which is only weakly developed due to the shading - above all bell heather , white swallowwort and large-flowered foxglove are of nature conservation importance. Otherwise there are mainly some forest grasses.

In terms of fauna , the bird species are particularly important: a tree-breeding population of swifts is particularly noteworthy . In addition, Hobby , Honey Buzzard well as middle spotted woodpecker and spotted woodpecker significantly.

Because of the old trees of the forest also is a suitable habitat for the species of bat Pipistrelle , Natterer's bat , brown long-eared , Pipistrelle and Noctule .

Other interesting animals in the reserve are pine marten , bank vole , tawny owl , sand lizard , adder and slow worm .

history

Old oak in the NSG

The formation of the forest goes back to the mean warm period after the last ice age ( Atlantic : between approx. 8000 and 4000 BC), when the climate was particularly favorable for linden trees. Due to the favorable clay soil structure on gravelly sands, the forest has been able to survive as a relic biotope to this day.

In a document from 1292 the "Lindenberge" are mentioned for the first time.

According to local tradition, Napoleon is said to have ordered the linden forest to be laid out after the oak trees were cleared. Biologically, this seems improbable, and there are no proven historical sources for such an assumption either.

In older publications, the forest is mentioned in connection with a high level of commercial wood use. However, the strong growth of the stumps from the stumps of the felled trees explains why the linden forest was preserved and not replaced by the usual planting of pines or oaks.

As early as 1907 , a 13.4 hectare sub-area was first placed under protection as a primeval forest by the Magdeburg- based provincial government. In 1920 the protected area was enlarged to 128 hectares and in 1939 to 185 hectares. 28 hectares were completely protected and kept close to the jungle for research purposes ( process protection ). After a border correction carried out by GDR authorities in 1958 , the protected area comprised 188 hectares.

Until 1986, the linden forest was within the restricted military area, which is now known as the Altmark military training area .

Another area of ​​197 hectares was temporarily secured in June 1992 by ordinance of the district president for a possible later nature conservation submission.

Tourism, exposure, development

The forest can be easily reached from Colbitz to the east. There are several hotels and inns in the vicinity. Two hiking trails have been running through the south-east corner of the forest since 1990 as a result of a citizens' initiative. The large Lindenwaldrundweg is 4 km long, the small Lindenwaldrundweg is 3 km. Various information boards provide information about the area. Both circular routes are only permitted for pedestrians. Most of the forest is pathless, so that an expansion of the total reserve would be easy to implement with regard to nature conservation. An important measure to secure the area would be an educational trail to guide visitors. Furthermore, studies should be carried out on the natural regeneration of sessile oak and winter linden with different tillering and soil conditions.

The linden forest is a popular destination for cycling trips from the area. As a bike excursion of approx. 30 km there is a route from the Zielitz train station to Colbitz and Groß Ammensleben , the end and starting points can be reached from Magdeburg by public transport by S-Bahn and regional trains. The Lindenwald is signposted in Colbitz - a restaurant just before the actual Lindenwald is available for catering.

The high point of the season is the period when the linden tree blossoms at the end of June and beginning of July.

There are drinking water pumping systems on the edge of the nature reserve, as the area is part of a drinking water catchment area in which up to 150,000 m³ of groundwater is pumped from a depth of 60 m to supply over 500,000 people.

The pumping of drinking water leads to a lowering of the groundwater level, which has an impact on natural communities. The contaminated sites from decades of use as a military training area pose a threat to active nature conservation or tourism measures.

Documentary film

  • In the largest linden forest in Europe . Documentary by Peter and Stefan Simank. Production: Simank-Filmproduktion, Germany 2005. 60 minutes

Web links

Commons : Colbitzer Lindenwald nature reserve  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Information board No. 3 at the Lindenwald.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Colbitzer Lindenwald , information on the state portal sachsen-anhalt.de, accessed on July 20, 2020.
  3. ↑ Directory of the nature reserves in Saxony-Anhalt , accessed on July 20, 2020.
  4. ↑ a b Info board No. 2 at the Lindenwald.
  5. ↑ Information board no. 1 at the Lindenwald.
  6. ↑ V. Lüderitz, H. Kunze and D. Mißbach: Nature park conception for the "Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide" nature park , Scientific Advisory Board of the "Naturpark Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide" association, undated, online at offenheide.de, accessed on 21. July 2020.