Mühlbachtal (Rumbeck)

The eponymous Mühlenbach

The Mühlbachtal (partly also Mühlenbachtal ) near Rumbeck near Arnsberg is a valley whose southern area has been designated as a nature reserve. This is followed by the Mühlenbachtal nature reserve . It is named after the mill stream . In the Middle Ages and early modern times , the valley was used intensively by the Rumbeck Abbey . The special shape of the water collection system installed there is recognized as a ground monument . Today there is also a heavily frequented poetry trail that aims to combine literature and nature.

Nature reserve

The nature reserve is 9.89 hectares in size. It was placed under protection in 1997.

The area consists of two different biotopes . The lower Mühlenbach lies between the village of Rumbeck and the adjacent forest. The valley is mainly used as pasture there. The stream of the same name flows at the edge of the valley. Alders grow on the banks . Overall, the stream is close to nature with trout stocks .

The lower course of the Mühlenbach forms a sole valley . He flows through this in meanders . In the middle part of the biotope, fallow land dominates. There are many different types of orchid in damp places . To the south of the grassland, the Mühlenbach flows through a mixed stand of birch , alder and beech trees and a stand of spruce . The stream as such is lined with alders. In the middle of the considered section of the valley there are newer, non-natural fish ponds . There is also a small, near-natural pond that is almost completely overgrown with reeds . The waters are home to large numbers of dragonflies . The fauna of the valley also includes brown trout , kingfisher , gray wagtail , dipper and wren .

The flora includes 162 different species, including orchids.

The protection purposes include the preservation of “a valley of regional importance with near-natural creek sections accompanied by woodland banks and adjacent wet grassland areas, as well as the protection of animals and plants, some of which are on the red list of endangered species , the protection of a habitat for amphibians and the Preservation of the cultural and historical value of the former pond and irrigation system of the Rumbeck monastery ”.

Cultural and historical significance

The Waldwiesental was owned by the Rumbeck Monastery in the Middle Ages and early modern times. The Premonstratensian women had intensive timber, water and fish management there. The fishing industry was of great importance for the monastic cuisine. There was also a forest glassworks . With the help of a pond and dam system, grain, oil and saw mills and even a rod iron hammer were operated. In the early modern period, a water collection system in the form of slope water ditches was created. A similar system is only known in Germany from the Maulbronn monastery. The system made it possible that in times of drought and a small amount of water from the Mühlbach there was enough water for the fish ponds and to operate the mills. The collection facility is now recognized as a ground monument (B 15 of the Arnsberg Monument List). The dams of the old ponds and dams are still visible in the landscape, as are the remains of the charcoal burning. After the secularization and the transition of the Duchy of Westphalia to Prussia , the valley passed into state forest ownership.

Poetry trail

Since 2005, a poetry path as a joint project exists in the ways of the valley Literary Society Arnsberg , the State Training and Research Forestry Commission Arnsberg and Arnsberg Heimatbund . Poems with a nature theme are intended to awaken the experience of nature "through a look into the forest reality behind it". The texts are exchanged four times a year at the time of the change of seasons. Every year the path is visited by around 15,000 people.