Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen International Nature Park
| International Nature Park Bourtanger Moor - Bargerveen | |
|---|---|
| location | Emsland , Lower Saxony , Germany |
| surface | 140 km² |
| recognition | June 1, 2006 |
| Nature park communities | Twist , Geeste , Emmen , Wietmarschen , Haren (Ems) , Meppen |
| website | www.naturpark-moor.eu |
The International Nature Park Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen is a nature park founded in 2006 in the west of the German state of Lower Saxony and in the northeast of the Netherlands . It extends over parts of the Lower Saxony districts of Emsland and Grafschaft Bentheim as well as parts of the Dutch province of Drenthe and is characterized by sparsely populated areas of moors , heather areas , water areas and canals as well as agriculture, forests and peat extraction. Another common name is Internationaler Naturpark Moor .
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) , the Province of Drenthe and the State of Lower Saxony recently invested 6.5 million euros in the preservation of the natural landscape and the cross-border expansion of the tourist infrastructure as part of the Grenzlos Moor project, which was implemented by the end of 2019 . Among other things, the cross-border cycling and hiking trails were expanded and consistently signposted. In addition, the information and adventure offers of the eight nature park contact points on both sides of the border, the so-called moor gates, have been networked and partially expanded.
geography
The 140 km² nature park encompasses the southern part of the former 1,200 km² Bourtanger Moor west of the Ems and on both sides of the German-Dutch border. Until it was cultivated from the middle of the 19th century, it was the largest contiguous raised bog in Central Europe. The Dutch part of the moor nature park is called Bargerveen and is around 26 km² in size. Twist is the only municipality that lies entirely within the nature reserve area.
Landscape image
The character of a moor landscape has been preserved in many places in the nature park, even if people changed the region considerably since the mid-19th century. In addition to original and renatured raised bogs, there are mainly forests, heather, fields and pastures. Since the different natural and cultural areas are separated in many places by the typical dead straight drainage channels, the impression of a small-scale landscape mosaic is created. The elongated settlements that grew along the canals are also characteristic, as are the wide, completely flat moorland areas on which neither trees nor bushes obstruct the view.
Geological development
When the Vistula Ice Age ended around 10,000 years ago, the ice thawed after more than 100,000 years and numerous meltwater lakes formed. Among the first plants in these waters were reeds and other reed plants, the dead remains of which formed the basis of the moor growth: at the bottom of the lakes, the parts of the plants decomposed only incompletely and formed a first layer of peat. It is typical for such fens that they do not come into contact with the nutrient-rich groundwater. This creates an acidic, nutrient-poor and oxygen-poor habitat in which only peat mosses colonize. Their dead remains also only decompose incompletely, also form peat and thus allow the raised bogs to grow in the nature park area.
Flora and fauna
In the International Moor Nature Park, there are various ecological and hydrological moor types, some of which are bordered by forest, heather or arable land. In this largely nutrient-poor landscape, various highly specialized and therefore endangered species exist : u. a. the Ringelnatter ( Natrix natrix ), the adder ( Vipera berus ), the Waldeidechse ( Zootoca vivipara ), the Ziegenmelker ( Caprimulgus europaeus ) and the Short-eared ( Asio Stain ) and Torfmoosrasen , the narrow-cotton grass ( Eriophorum angustifolium ) and the sun rope ( Drosera ) . More than 280 species of birds are at home in the Moor Nature Park, which is also an important resting station for numerous species of migratory birds.
Habitats and protected areas
Nature reserves take up around 45% of the park area. The largest of these is the Natura 2000 area Bargerveen with 2,500 hectares . As early as the end of the 1960s, after the raised bog had been peeled off, the Dutch forest administration began to rewet what is now the Bargerveen nature reserve, which was designated a special reserve and an important wetland area under the European Birds Directive . In addition to wide areas of water and renatured moors, the reserve also includes a 700 hectare moist heathland, the high groundwater level of which plays an important role in maintaining the adjacent raised moors.
As part of the EU funding project Grenzlos Moor, the sheepfold was built here, which is both an excursion destination and the heart of the efforts to preserve this charming and valuable heathland. Around 1,000 sheep and around 100 cattle graze on the area, preventing trees and bushes from overgrowing.
The 1,580 hectare Dalum-Wietmarscher Moor is also an EU bird sanctuary where meadow and waders such as lapwing and redshank breed. Peated and rewetted areas form the core of the protected area with almost no vegetation. At its edges there are damp locations as well as grassland biotopes and different heathland landscapes, which are also kept tree-free by sheep.
The Rühler Moor nature reserve (708 hectares) also shows the typical biodiversity of a moor area in which peat has been and is being mined for decades and until 2023. Various renaturation measures ensure a high water level, so that new bog can develop in flooded and wet areas. Woods of different densities from downy birch (Betula pubescens) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) are also characteristic .
Until 2023, peat will also be extracted in the Provinzialmoor (530 hectares) and Wesuweer Moor (409 hectares) nature reserves . At the same time, renaturation is already taking place here. In addition, areas with near-natural raised bog, cotton grass and heather areas as well as smaller larch forests and young deciduous forest can be discovered.
Other nature reserves are the Geestmoor (260 hectares), the southern Versener Moor (112 hectares), the Versener Heidesee (40 hectares), the Hengstkampkuhlen (40 hectares) and the Meerkolk (34 hectares).
history
Beyond the Middle Ages, the moor only played a role for people as a setting for horror stories. Settling the barren and impassable areas of land was out of the question and peat , which was in great demand as a fuel, was only cut in the peripheral areas.
Early modern age
The systematic colonization of the Bourtanger Moor did not begin until the beginning of the 17th century: Oude Pekela was founded as fen colonies on its northern edge in 1599 and Papenburg further east in 1630 .
In the area of today's Moor Nature Park, large-scale cultivation did not begin until the middle of the 19th century. Previously, there were only spatially limited attempts to make the soil usable by cultivating peat bogs: After superficial drainage, raised bogs were set on fire; buckwheat , wheat, oats and potatoes thrived in the ashes . By the seventh year at the latest, however, the floors were depleted.
The fen culture was more sustainable . First of all, channels were created which, firstly, withdrew the water from the ground and, secondly, the peat could be transported away with boats. The pitted areas were then filled in with silt from the rivers. The fact that this type of colonization was laborious and only yielded good yields in the grandchildren's generation is summed up by this popular saying in the region: "Death to the first, hardship to the second, bread to the third".
19th and 20th centuries
The use of mineral fertilizers ( guano ) from around 1880 onwards was made possible by the German raised bog culture : After the uppermost bog layer had been drained, the vegetation was removed, then the soil was fertilized so that extensive and intensive agriculture could develop. In the long run, however, the quality of the soil also deteriorated with this method.
During the Nazi dictatorship, six of the 15 Emsland camps were located in the area of today's Moor Nature Park. The old camp cemeteries in Wesuwe , Versen , Fullen, Groß Hesepe , Dalum and Wietmarschen are a reminder that thousands of people of many nationalities suffered and lost their lives here under the inhumane conditions of imprisonment, imprisonment and forced labor in the moors.
In the 1950s, the implementation of the Emsland Plan began with state funding . Its central project: after large areas of bog had been drained, deep plows powered by steam power tore the bog up to two meters deep, so that the peat mixed with the sand from the depths. Agricultural yields rose significantly and permanently, but large areas of bog were lost.
Oil and gas production played another important role in the economic upswing in Emsland. The deposits were discovered as early as 1938, but production did not start until the 1950s and continues to this day. A few typical hoisting machines , the “nodding heads”, are still active, especially around Twist .
In the Netherlands, a rethink began as early as the 1960s, and peat mining was stopped. In today's Bargreveen nature reserve with its original or renatured moors, drainage ditches were filled and 40 km long dams were built to rewet large areas - with success: the moors began to grow again. Another 1.6 kilometer long dam was built near the German-Dutch border in 2018 as part of the EU funding project Grenzenlos Moor. Together with a 65 hectare buffer zone including a catch basin on the northern edge of the Bargerveen, it ensures the long-term success of the moor renaturation. At the same time, this prevents the risk of flooding in surrounding settlement areas and on agricultural land.
On the German side, drainage and cultivation measures have only been phased out since the 1990s, so that here a very early stage of peatland growth can still be seen on rewetted areas. Peat extraction, which only exists on small areas, will end in a few years.
The Red Franz
In the summer of 1900 was a Moor now about 1700 years old, at Meppen-Versen in Bourtanger bog body found. It was named "Der Rote Franz" because biological-chemical processes colored the hair of the male bog corpse in the muddy water. New research has shown that the man was a cavalryman and died from a throat cut. Red Franz is now in the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover.
Nature park contact points
The history as well as the flora and fauna of the different natural and cultural landscapes are made clear by eight nature park contact points. There are five of these bog gates on the Dutch side and three on the German side.
Emsland Moor Museum
The Emsland Moor Museum in Geeste gives the most comprehensive overview of the cultivation of the Bourtanger Moor . The multimedia exhibition in two halls and on a large outdoor area shows the complete history from the first colonists to the current protection of the moor. The most impressive showpiece is the mammoth, the largest plow in the world, with the help of which huge raised bog areas were transformed into arable land in the post-war period.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Museum
The crude oil and natural gas museum Twist shows the history of crude oil and natural gas production in the Emsland, which began in the 1950s and continues to this day. Exhibits in the museum and on the open-air site show both the conveyor technology and the geological origins of oil and natural gas.
German-Dutch bee center
The most recent bog gate shows the importance of beekeeping in a region whose barren soils otherwise yielded little: The sale of heather honey and wax represented an essential source of income. The highlight of the exhibition is the walk-in replica of a beehive. The German-Dutch association Imme Bourtanger Moor is responsible for the bee center, which was set up on a historic farm. He also runs a competence center for bee breeding and migration here.
Veenpark
Veenpark in Barger-Compascuum, the largest open-air museum in the Netherlands, is about the life and everyday life of the former peat farmers . There is a narrow-gauge railway on the site, the museum villages' t Aole Compas and Bargermond, a peat cutting site in the moor and boat trips on the Veenvaart, the King Willem Alexander Canal.
Narrow gauge museum
The narrow-gauge museum in Erica, the Netherlands, is dedicated to what was once the most important means of transport in the bog. Guests travel in small moorland trains to a historic peat litter factory.
Veenloopcentrum
The Veenloopcentrum in Weiteveen is a central starting point for guided hikes through the moorland.
Collectie Brands
The Collectie Brands in Nieuw-Dordrecht is the result of 60 years of passion for collecting by Jans Brands, who brought together innumerable historical cultural assets in the Drenthic Moorland. One of the highlights is a medieval register of vassals. Museum guides tell the history of the region based on the exhibits.
Van Gogh House
Vincent van Gogh painted in Drenthe for three months in 1883 and stayed at Hendrik Scholte's inn in Nieuw-Amsterdam. His room at that time was restored true to the original and is considered the only publicly accessible place of work of the artist in the Netherlands.
Attractions
- Emsland Moor Museum in Geeste-Groß Hesepe
- Natural gas oil museum in Twist
- Maritime Museum Haren (Ems)
- St. Martinus Church in Haren (Ems)
- Wietmarschen pilgrimage church and the historic abbey area of the former women's abbey
- Mersmühle with mill museum in Haren (Ems)
- Dankern Castle Holiday Center
- Emsland Archeology Museum Meppen
Leisure activities / experiencing nature
The Moor Nature Park can be explored by bike or on foot - either on themed and adventure trails with fixed stations or on guided tours with nature park guides. In addition, the region can be discovered individually with the help of the cycling or hiking junction system. This type of signposting comes from the Netherlands and was introduced across the board and uniformly throughout the nature park area by 2018. The principle: All crossroads are numbered and provided with signposts that point to the next intersection. A series of numbers is sufficient as a description of a route planned in advance. If you are on the road spontaneously or want to make detours, you only have to remember the numbers of the junction points you have traveled to in order to reliably find the way back.
There are several observation towers and mounds along the way, as well as bird watching points. In addition, the different natural spaces can be explored on signposted themed trails such as the nature trail moor land create through a rewetted moor in Twist. The moor energy adventure path in the Klein Heseper Moor between Twist and Geeste also illustrates topics such as peat extraction, oil / gas extraction, agriculture, renewable energies and raised bog restoration at various adventure stations. In the Fullener Forest, dandelion discovery tours show how a former peat mining area is transformed into a species-rich mixed forest.
See also
Web links
- International Nature Park Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen eV
- http://www.umwelt.niedersachsen.de/master/C24290611_N24290672_L20_D0_I598.html
Individual evidence
- ^ Character of the nature park Moor - Veenland. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ INTERREG VA project "Boundless Moor". Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ On the trail of moor secrets - Bourtanger Moor International Nature Park - Bargerveen | Nds. Ministry of the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Bourtanger Moor - Bargerveen: VDN - Verband Deutscher Naturparke eV Accessed on December 19, 2019 .
- ^ Character of the nature park Moor - Veenland. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Bourtanger Moor - Bargerveen: VDN - Verband Deutscher Naturparke eV Accessed on December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Bargerveen Natura 2000 area (2,500 ha). Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ INTERREG VA project "Boundless Moor". Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ "Dalum-Wietmarscher Moor" nature reserve | Nds. State agency for water management, coastal and nature conservation. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ "Rühler Moor" nature reserve | Nds. State agency for water management, coastal and nature conservation. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ^ Character of the nature park Moor - Veenland. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ^ The district of Emsland - geography, history, present; Page 394 ff. District of Emsland, accessed on December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ gedenkstaette-esterwegen.de - Esterwegen Memorial. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ^ The district of Emsland - geography, history, present; Page 519 ff. District of Emsland, accessed on December 19, 2019 .
- ^ The district of Emsland - geography, history, present; Page 105 ff. District of Emsland, accessed on December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ INTERREG VA project "Boundless Moor". Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen International Nature Park. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ EMSLAND MOORMUSEUM | www.moormuseum.de. Accessed December 19, 2019 (German).
- ^ Petroleum-Natural Gas Museum Twist. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Bee Center. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ^ Veenpark. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Smalspoor Museum. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Weiteveen Veenloopcentrum. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ^ Museum Collectie Brands | German. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ MartinMedia.nl: Van Gogh Huis Drenthe, Veenoord / Nieuw Amsterdam. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Be active in the Moor - Veenland Nature Park. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Excursion and sights in the nature park Moor - Veenland. Retrieved December 19, 2019 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 39 ′ 10.8 ″ N , 7 ° 10 ′ 12 ″ E