Eichenberg near Frieda

Eichenberg near Frieda IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
View over the Kiesteich and Werraaue on the southern slope of the Eichenberg.
location	Frieda (Meinhard) and Wanfried in the Werra-Meißner district in Hesse
surface	14.14 hectares
WDPA ID	318328
Natura 2000 ID	4826-302 FFH no. 4826-302
Geographical location	51 ° 12 '  N , 10 ° 8'  E Coordinates: 51 ° 11 '41 "  N , 10 ° 8' 17"  E
Sea level	from 170  m to 300.5  m
Setup date	NSG 1997, FFH area 2008
particularities	Special protection as a nature reserve and Natura 2000 area.

The Eichenberg near Frieda is a 300.5  m high elevation in the North Hessian Werra-Meißner district , near the state border with Thuringia . Because of its importance as a habitat worthy of protection for rare species, it was designated as a nature reserve in 1997 and since 2008 it has been part of the Natura 2000 protected area system as a fauna-flora-habitat area . The dry oak forest on the southern steep slope, the forest edge area and the extensively managed grassland areas are protected. As a relic of traditional coppice forest use , the Eichenberg is important from a cultural and historical point of view.

Geographical location

The Eichenberg is located in the Werra-Meißner district in the suburbs of the community of Meinhard and the city of Wanfried , between the places Frieda and Wanfried. To the right of the Werra , the Eichenberg rises steeply from 170 m to 300 m. The federal road 249 and the route of the former Werrata railway , which is now used as a cycle path, run between the foot of the mountain and the Werra .

In terms of nature , the Eichenberg is assigned to the Treffurt-Wanfrieder Werratal and the Rosoppe-Frieda Bay in the Lower Werraland . The area belongs to the main unit group Osthessisches Bergland .

The geology of the area is shaped by the lower and middle red sandstone . On the eastern slope of the Eichenberg there is partially flat Zechstein limestone .

Protected position

With the designation as a nature reserve in November 1997, the warmth- loving dry oak forest was to be protected and the structurally rich forest edge areas preserved.

With the same area boundaries and conservation goals, the Eichenberg became part of the Natura 2000 network of protected areas in 2008 as a fauna-flora-habitat area . The reserve has a size of 14.14 hectares. As a nature reserve, the Eichenberg has the national number 636.035 and the WDPA code 318328 and as an FFH area the area number 4826-302.

habitat

For the inclusion of the oak mountain in the European protected area system "Natura 2000", the essential protected object according to the FFH guidelines was the habitat type 9170 "Bedstraw-oak-hornbeam forest" (Galio-Carpinetum), which has developed on around one hectare in the eastern part. As a narrow band, a continuation runs along the upper edge of the steep slope exposed to the southeast, to the west. The forest owes its name to the characteristic plants that occur in it: the tree species sessile oak , pedunculate oak and hornbeam and, from the herb layer, the forest bedstraw . It is part of the dry oak forest to be specially protected by the 1997 nature reserve ordinance, which covers the largest part of the reserve with 10 hectares.

This light forest, which is known as the thermophilic mixed oak forest (Lithospermo-Quercetum), grows in locations that are more dry and favored by warmth and is here on the northern edge of its range. Due to its historical management as an oak -peeled forest, it is richly structured and has a great biodiversity . The dominant tree species is the partly stunted sessile oak , which was probably promoted by the earlier intensive use of coppice . On the partially inaccessible steep slopes, the proportion of old or already dead trees is high. They provide a habitat for cave breeders and dead wood-dwelling insects and fungi . Because of its unusual floristic wealth of rare, protected and endangered species in dry and warm extreme locations , it is of national importance. Its moss and lichen flora is also remarkable . Most noticeable, however, are the large populations of blue-red stone seeds , which are mainly found in Hessen in the Werrabergland.

On the lower slope of the steep slope there is a structurally rich forest fringe with orchards and extensively used grassland.

Economic use as oak peeling forest

Dry oak forest on the top of the Eichenberg

One of the main industries in the nearby district town of Eschwege used to be leather production . Due to the strong demand for military needs and increased private needs, it experienced a huge boom in the 19th century. A closely related with the leather industry was the generation of Lohe for tanning , the raw material to a large extent in the domestic oak forest peeling was recovered of Werratales. The harvest began in May when the sap rose in the trees and ended when the sap turned into leaves, in favorable weather conditions in mid to late June. Above all, the glossy tan, which was rich in strong tannins and came from the glossy bark of the young oak trunks, was particularly popular. To detach it from the trunk, the bark was slit open from bottom to top with a hatchet and peeled off with a spoon-like instrument about 25 centimeters long . As far as the forest worker could reach with his arm, he peeled the bark on the grown trunk, then the trunk was felled and the bark that was previously inaccessible was removed. Harvesting was done in the form of coppice forest management . The trees were felled close to the ground and fell again after a short time. The weak, unpromising shoots were cut off from these rashes. The others developed in such a way that they could be peeled again in a cycle of 10 to 20 years. With the substitution of the oak bark by chemical tanning agents, the peeling forest operations were no longer profitable and declined from year to year and the forests were only used for firewood .

Tourist development

• The hiking trail 23 from Frieda to Wanfried leads through the south-eastern area of ​​the Eichenberg.
• Below the Eichenberg, on the right side of the Werra, the Werra Valley Cycle Path runs on an earlier railway line.

literature

• Lothar and Sieglinde Nitsche, Marcus Schmidt: Nature reserves in Hessen , Volume 3, cognitio Verlag, Niedenstein 2005, ISBN 3-932583-13-2 .
• Karl-Heinz Binzer: The Eschweger tanner. Leather from Eschwege - From the history of a lost craft. Self-published by the Eschwege History Association, 1992.
• BIOPLAN Marburg: Basic data acquisition for FFH area No. 4826-302 "Eichenberg bei Frieda". Upper nature conservation authority at the Kassel regional council, November 2007.

Web links

Commons : Eichenberg near Frieda nature reserve  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Classification of natural areas according to Otto Klausing in the Hessen Environmental Atlas at atlas.umwelt.hessen.de ; accessed on June 15, 2018.
2. ↑ Ordinance of November 21, 1997 on the nature reserve "Eichenberg bei Frieda" in the State Gazette for the State of Hesse, No. 50/1997.
3. ^ Ordinance on the Natura 2000 areas in Hesse in the Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse from January 16, 2008.
4. ↑ Eichenberg bei Frieda in the world database for protected areas; accessed on June 15, 2018.
5. ↑ Profile of the FFH area on the website of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN); accessed on June 15, 2018.
6. ↑ List of habitats occurring in Germany in Appendix I of the Fauna Flora Habitat Directive; accessed on June 15, 2018.
7. ^ Johannes Döhle "Im Eichenschälwald" from "Die Woche - Moderne Illustrierte Zeitschrift", Berlin 1913 in Karl-Heinz Binzer: The Eschweger Lohgerber. P. 49 f.