Muritz National Park

Muritz National Park
The Käbelicksee near Kratzeburg , Müritz National Park
Coordinates: 53 ° 26 ′ 11 ″  N , 12 ° 50 ′ 12 ″  E
Location:	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Germany
Next city:	Waren (Müritz) , Neustrelitz
Surface:	32,200 ha
Founding:	October 1, 1990
Address:	Website of the National Park National Park Office Müritz Schlossplatz 3 D-17237 Hohenzieritz

The Müritz National Park, founded in 1990, is located in the south of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and is the largest terrestrial national park in the Federal Republic. The park extends over the two spatially separated areas of the Mecklenburg Lake District and part of the Feldberg Lake District . The larger western part is the Müritz sub-area, the smaller eastern part is called the Serrahn sub-area. The urban area of Neustrelitz is essentially located between the sub-areas .

With the area east of Leppinsee , Woterfitzsee and Priesterbäker See , the majority of the national park belongs to the historical cultural region of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , the area to the west of it to the Mecklenburg-Schwerin region .

Characteristics

View from the Käflingsberg tower over the core area of ​​the national park made up of forest and water

The national park, which covers a total of 322 km², is 72 percent covered by forests and 13 percent by lakes; eight percent of the area are moors and five percent meadows and two percent arable land.

The Vistula Ice Age shaped the landscape around 15,000 years ago. The glacier masses of the Pomeranian main terminal moraine left boulders , tongue pools , gullies and countless dead ice holes . The latter are now scattered all over the landscape as lakes (for example the Wienpietschseen ) and Sölle .

In total, there are 108 lakes with more than one hectare and countless smaller still waters in the national park . The Müritz , with an area of 117 square kilometers, the largest body of water that lies entirely within Germany.

Müritz sub-area

The Müritz sub-area mainly comprises the eastern hinterland of the Müritz. Besides the Müritz, which is only partly in the national park, larger bodies of water in the western part are the Feisnecksee , Rederangsee , Specker See and Woterfitzsee . Some lakes on the east bank of the Müritz were at times part of the Müritz due to fluctuations in the water level caused by mill dams and the regulation of the Elde .

The highest elevation in the generally flatter Müritz part is the Käflingsberg at 100.3  m above sea level. NHN . Here is the Käflingsberg tower, a combined observation tower, fire station and mobile radio transmission tower.

Serrahn sub-area

Serrahn primeval forest with dead wood

Käflingsberg tower near Speck , a lookout tower in the Müritz National Park with a height of 55 m

The Serrahn sub-area comprises the eastern part of the national park and is located in the transition between the Mecklenburg Lake District and the Feldberg Lake District. In the densely wooded, hilly part of the national park there are larger lakes: the Großer Fürstenseer See , the Schweingartensee and the Zwirnsee . However, they are not as characteristic of the landscape as in the western part. The Serrahn sub-area is enclosed by the Feldberger Seenlandschaft nature park .

In the Serrahn sub-area, the Hirschberg ( 143.7  m above sea  level ) and the Warsberg ( 143.2  m above sea  level ) are the highest peaks in the national park. Other significant hills are the Serrahner Berge with 124.2  m above sea level. NHN . On June 25, 2011, parts of the forest in this protected area were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The area received this international award together with four other forests in different parts of Germany, adding to ten primeval beech forests in the Slovak and Ukrainian Carpathians. Together they form the UNESCO World Natural Heritage " Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Old Beech Forests of Germany ".

climate

The Müritz National Park lies in a zone of transition from the subatlantic to the subcontinental climate. This means that the oceanic influence is only weakly pronounced, and the continental weather is only of minor importance.

The microclimate in the Müritz area is significantly influenced by the lake. The annual temperature change is cushioned by the large water surface both when it warms up in spring and when it cools down in autumn.

Waren (Müritz) has the lowest February temperature in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with a long-term average of −4 ° C. The fact that precipitation often rains down over the Müritz and the other large Mecklenburg lakes means that there is relatively little precipitation in the western part of the national park. In the eastern part, precipitation increases, especially in summer. The cause could be the strong summer warming of the sand areas and the associated increased thunderstorm activity, as well as the raining at over 140  m above sea level. NHN high heights of the Strelitzer Lobus , the Pomeranian terminal moraine , can be assumed.

In the eastern part, local climatic influences occur due to large closed beech forests with embedded depressions. So-called cold air lakes very often form in the depressions.

geology

When the ice sheet melted over Northern Europe during the last glaciation around 12,000 years ago, the slowly flowing glacier ice pushed terminal moraines in front of it. With the increasing thawing of the ice masses, the melt water washed up sand. The region owes its very sandy soil to this fact. In the course of the glacial series, such an area is called sander .

fauna and Flora

Many sea eagles and ospreys are found in the area . In particular, the ospreys can be observed from the viewing platform during their breeding and hunting.

Teal and teal ducks breed in the dense bank vegetation of the Müritz, while the reed warbler and the rare bittern are at home in the wetlands. During the bird migration season, wading birds such as pygmy sandpipers , redshank and greenshank can be found in the area. With over 100 breeding pairs, cranes are frequent breeding birds in the Müritz National Park.

Botanically noteworthy are reeds made of rare sour grass species such as the Schneidried ( Cladium mariscus ) and large, landscape-defining, extensive juniper stands on the east bank of the Müritz , which were formerly used intensively as pastures for cattle. Orchid species are widespread on these pastures.

The occurrence of numerous different types of biotopes also ensures a high biodiversity of the animal and plant species in the national park. So far 54 mammal species, 214 bird species, 859 beetle species, 673 large butterfly species, 61 spider species, 16 reptile and amphibian species and 26 fish species have been observed in the national park. The flora settles down u. a. together from 910 vascular plant species , 133 moss species and 17 candelabrum algae . In addition, 593 types of fungus and 152 types of lichen were counted.

In May 2012 a so-called “wandering wolf” was confirmed for the first time in the Müritz National Park. Since then, wandering wolves have been registered in and around the national park. The national park offers enough space and food for a wolf pack. Other species of predators come mainly from the marten- like family , such as B. tree and stone marten, but also the red fox and raccoons are represented.

The hoofed game is represented in the Müritz National Park by black , roe deer , red , dam and mouflon game .

history

The settlement of the Müritz region, which includes today's national park, began at the end of the last glaciation by some nomadic tribes. The region also repeatedly offered different settlement areas for the Slavs, but these were repeatedly abandoned because the nutrient-poor sands were not a good basis for agriculture, which was particularly popular in the Middle Ages.

As one of the last official acts of the government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the then Deputy Environment Minister Michael Succow, together with other committed conservationists, succeeded in designating several large protected areas ( national parks , biosphere reserves ), including 320 km² in the middle of the Mecklenburg Lake District, within the framework of the national park program .

Moor renaturation: When the water levels rise again, the birch trees die

During the time of the GDR, a so-called "production-integrated nature conservation" was propagated in this region. The extremely sparsely populated land was used for military exercises, state hunts, and intensive forestry and agriculture. The Soviet Army used an area of ​​approx. 3,500 ha, which is centrally located in what is now the Müritz part of the national park, as a tank training and firing range. Furthermore, the population was not allowed to enter the forests used as state hunting grounds. Twelve kilometers of the banks of the Müritz were already under stricter nature protection during the GDR era.

The intensive forestry has ensured that monotonous pine forests still characterize the national park today. The national park administration has initiated a development towards natural deciduous forest, but this process will take several decades. Logging has been discontinued in the national park area since 2018. In a separate area in the east of the national park, on the hills of Serrahn , you can already see what face the area will bear when forest communities can develop again undisturbed according to the natural conditions. Here you can find a larger, primeval forest-like population of old beeches.

The drainage of the area through canals and ditches, continued by the GDR administration, continuously lowered the water table. Extensive birch forests emerged over the years. The national park administration has closed canals and ditches and thus raised the groundwater to the original level. As a result, birch trees died and the actual flora is slowly emerging again. Since the process takes place without any further human intervention, extensive areas with birch stumps can currently be seen.

Tourist development

National park bus in front of the Boek National Park Information Building

The national park is fully developed with hiking and cycling trails, rest areas, observation towers and observation stands.

Since 1997 there has been a National Park bus route from May to October including bicycle transport . It runs from Waren via Federow, Speck, Boek and the Bolter Mühle to Rechlin-Nord . Numerous stops are served in the parking area closed to vehicles. The special national park ticket is also available as a special combined offer for bus and Müritz boat trips; the timetables are coordinated for round trips.

Since 2018, overnight guests in the resorts of Klink, Rechlin, Röbel / Müritz and Waren (Müritz) who are in possession of a valid spa card have been able to use the national park bus (and other bus routes) free of charge.

In Waren itself, the Müritzeum has existed since 2007, a larger information and nature experience center for the national park region and the surrounding area . There are also seven other free information points of the national park administration, where exhibitions provide information about nature and the landscape.

The initiative of the "Müritz National Park Partners", a cooperation of 47 predominantly tourist businesses, has existed since 2005 and works closely with the national park administration and the Mecklenburg Lake District Tourism Association.

partner

Müritz National Park partners are regional companies that are committed to the national park and thus contribute to the protection of nature. The National Park currently has 48 partners (as of 2020) who use regional products in their company and maintain close cooperation with the National Park Office and other partners. An awarding council decides annually which companies are to be recognized as partners.

Filmography

• In the Müritz National Park . Documentary, 45 min., Germany, 1998, by Hanna Lehmbäcker and Martin Rötger, production: Complete-Media-GmbH, Grünwald ( ISBN 3-89672-494-0 ), short description of the MDR

Web links

Commons : Müritz National Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Müritz National Park  - Travel Guide

• Ordinance on the establishment of the "Müritz National Park" national park of September 12, 1990
• National park plan from 2003 (mission statement and goals, status analysis, project overview)
• National Park Office website
• Literature about Müritz National Park in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Numbers - Müritz National Park ( Memento from August 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Fred Ruchhöft: The water level of the "Upper Lakes" in Mecklenburg in the Middle Ages and early modern times. In: Archaeological reports from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Vol. 6, 1999, ISSN  0946-512X , pp. 195-208.
3. ↑ Beech forests are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Die Welt
4. ^ Severin Zillich: Müritz. Forests, moors, lakes . In: BUND magazin, 3/2010, p. 28 (original source not given)
5. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Forests are not there for the fun of individuals , Nordkurier dated May 30, 2009
6. ↑ http://www.nationalparkticket.de/ Timetables and information on the National Park bus
7. ↑ "Müritz all around" - bus travel with the tourist card comes in 2018 . In: Mecklenburg Lake District . July 21, 2017 ( mecklenburgische-seenplatte.de [accessed October 10, 2018]).
8. ↑ Information points ( Memento from April 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive )