Fehhaube-Kogelsteine ​​nature reserve

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The dry silica grassland in early spring: in the foreground pasque flower ( Pulsatilla grandis ), in the background the rocks of the Kogelstein

The nature reserve Fehhaube-Kogelsteine (also signposted in the verbalhorn form Feenhaube ) in the communities of Straning-Grafenberg and Eggenburg in the Horn district in Lower Austria is home to impressive granite rock formations. Surrounded the formations of nature conservation nationally important silicate - dry grasslands .

geology

The area is counted as part of the Moravicum , a geological unit that closes off the Bohemian mass in the east. The relevant rock this unit is the Thaya - Batholith and the Brno pluton consisting of granite up Granodiorit . The Diendorf fault , which stretches from Wieselburg to the Pulkau valley and has shifted the rocks along the fault lines by around 25 kilometers, was involved in the formation of the rock formations . As a result of this displacement, the rocks were sheared and vertical fissures formed. Horizontal rifts formed as a result of the pressure relief after the rock, located several kilometers deep and exposed to extremely high pressure, came to the surface over time. Scenting the fissures Granite crumb , and were formed so-called woolsack forms that gave the rock its unusual appearance. The weathered gravel contributed significantly to soil formation and gave it an acidic pH value . The still unweathered rocks just below the surface mean that the soils are shallow and very skeletal .

The rock formations have long stimulated people's imagination: a rock formation around six meters high is known as a guard and is reminiscent of a huge little man crouching in the landscape. The Fehhaube is sometimes corrupted as a fairy hood, because the word Feh with the meaning of small animal fur no longer appears understandable these days. So it should be reminiscent of a head wearing a fur-trimmed hat. Other stones are referred to as giant seats, devil's seats, devil's pulpit and devil's steed or just mushrooms. There are also stone bowls, tub-shaped depressions in the granite. Since the time before the First World War , these forms have been seen in publications as a product or at least part of prehistoric human cult activities . B. the stone bowls interpreted as devices for pagan (blood) victims . In fact, the vast majority of the bowls were created naturally: water, partially acidified by leaves and needles, penetrated horizontal surfaces into hairline cracks in the rock and, together with frost splitting and the destructive power of bacteria , fungi , lichens and mosses, led to gradual hollowing out over long periods of time . Nevertheless, the place is popular with esotericists today , who attribute a mystical power to it.

Flora and fauna

The nature reserve lies on the border between the Waldviertel and Weinviertel , but from a floristic point of view it is clearly part of the Pannonian flora province . In the underdeveloped soils, which were influenced by the weathering of granite, no arable use was possible, so dry silicate grasslands could develop. These are populated by pioneering societies formed from succulents , annelles , mosses and lichens . The vegetation consists of silicate rock and gravel corridors, acidic dry grassland and low bushes. As a characteristic plant species you can u. a. White sheep fescue ( Festuca pallens ), permanent ball ( Scleranthus perennis ), onion bluegrass ( Poa bulbosa ), dwarf sorrel ( Rumex acetosella ), mountain leek ( Allium lusitanicum ) and mild stonecrop ( Sedum sexangulare ) . In more profound areas grow u. a. Valais fescue ( Festuca valesiaca ), earth sedge ( Carex humilis ), heather ostrich grass ( Agrostis vinealis ), meadow stalk grass ( Anthoxanthum odoratum ), willow grass ( Avenella flexuosa ), awl grass ( Stipa capillata ), blue loosestrife ( Veronica spicata ), Sand cinquefoil ( Potentilla arenaria ), yellow leek ( Allium flavum ), heather gorse ( Genista pilosa ), hare clover ( Trifolium arvense ) and pasque flower ( Pulsatilla grandis ) as well as the dwarf sour cherry ( Prunus) fruticosa ). The botanical rarities of the area include the sand iris ( Iris humilis subsp. Arenaria ), the Bohemian yellow star ( Gagea bohemica ) and the lying goose clover ( Cytisus procumbens ). Among the endangered animals that have their habitat here, the European ground squirrel , the common hamster , the sparrowhawk warbler , the spotted cadaver , the black-spotted grasshopper , the red-bodied grasshopper , the blue-winged wasteland insect and the rare cinquefoil sand bee are to be mentioned.

protection

In 1942, four areas were designated as natural monuments:

  • The 5,317 m² plot 2056 in the south, which like the following two monuments is in the Grafenberg cadastral community, was placed under protection on May 13, 1942 (number HO-044 ). There is a hill on the property, the top of which is covered with granite debris.
  • The 15,406 m² plot of land 2024/1 to the northeast of it was protected on December 5, 1942 (number HO-049 ). The area houses, among other things, the Kogelsteine ​​and the Wächterstein.
  • To the north of this is the 1992 parcel measuring 1,233 m², which was granted the status of a natural monument on May 13, 1942 (number HO-045 ). There is a rock formation on the property, which houses an interesting flora.
  • Around 250 meters further northeast, already in the cadastral community of Stoitzendorf (Eggenburg), the 9,137 m² plots 784/2, 783 and 776 were elevated to a natural monument on November 7, 1942 (number HO-047 ). This includes, among other things, the rock formation Fehhaube and an occurrence of the sand iris.

In the course of the LIFE project "Pannonian rock and dry grasslands" carried out around the turn of the millennium , the protected area was enlarged to 7.03 hectares. Some edge areas as well as a large connecting area between the Kogel stones and the hood are now under protection. In addition, trees, especially invasive robinia , were removed and a small-scale, differentiated maintenance began to improve the condition of the dry grassland and promote the rare species. A management plan is to ensure permanent protection. The area has been grazed with sheep since the beginning of 2009 in order to protect the dry silicate grassland against matting and bushes. The area, which has now been designated as a nature reserve (number 68 ), has also been included in the Natura 2000 area “Western Weinviertel”.

Two hectares of land between Kogelsteinen and Fehhaube, previously used as arable land, were donated as part of a project by the Lower Austrian Landscape Fund and with the support of the EU by the Lower Austrian Nature Conservation Association , the Krahuletz Society in Eggenburg , the Frankfurt Zoological Society , the Straning-Grafenberg community and the Klosterneuburg Monastery and private individuals and converted into a sheep pasture. The areas are intended to serve as a connecting corridor between the two silicate dry lawns, which are valuable in terms of nature conservation but located in the middle of the intensively used agricultural landscape .

To protect the area, the association “Friends of the Kogelsteine ​​Nature Reserve - Fehhaube” was set up under chairman Fritz F. Steininger . Johannes M. Tuzar is currently chairman of the association. Problems are caused by the illegal lighting of fires in the nature reserve, which leads to sintering and destruction of the granite remnants. In addition, foreign plants are sometimes anointed and the autochthonous , rare plants dug up and stolen. Robinia immigrating into the dry grass , and in some cases the impact of visitors on foot, as well as fertilizer and pesticide drift from the surrounding agricultural areas, pose further threats .

photos

  • Matthias Laurenz Gräff, painting "The Guardian (Kogelsteine ​​near Eggenburg)"

  • Natural monument HO-049 with Kogel stones and guard stone

  • Rock formation Kogelstein

  • The Diendorfer fault is responsible for the vertical fissures in the rock

  • The so-called guardian of the Kogel stones

  • View from natural monument HO-044 in northeast direction to natural monument HO-049 (with a.o. Kogelsteinen and Wächterstein)

  • Natural monument HO-045 (rock formation)

  • Natural monument HO-047 - rock formation Fehhaube

  • Granite remains, in the background the church of Wartberg

  • Rock steppe at the Fehhaube

  • Care work with voluntary helpers to maintain the dry grass

  • Bohemian yellow star ( Gagea bohemica ), endangered in Austria

  • Sand iris ( Iris humilis subsp. Arenaria ), endangered in Austria

  • Dillenius speedwell ( Veronica dillenii ), endangered in the Pannonian region of Austria

  • Small dogwort ( Anacamptis morio ), endangered in Austria

  • Lying goat clover ( Cytisus procumbens ), endangered in Austria

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Holzner et al .: Austrian dry lawn catalog. “Steppes”, “heaths”, dry meadows, poor meadows: existence, endangerment, possibilities of their conservation. In: Green series of the Federal Ministry for Health and Environmental Protection , Volume 6, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-900649-06-5 , objects ÖK 22/30, ÖK 22/31
  2. ↑ Geologische Bundesanstalt (Ed.): Geological Map of Lower Austria 1: 200,000, Lower Austria North , Vienna 2002
  3. ↑ Volker Höck: The geological construction of the basement , in: Fritz F. Steiniger (Ed.): Erdgeschichte des Waldviertel - series of publications by the Waldviertler Heimatbund 38 , Horn-Waidhofen / Thaya 1999, p. 49f
  4. ↑ Thomas Hofmann: Sagenhaftes Niederösterreich, A search for traces between myth and truth , Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-85431-198-2 , p. 115f
  5. ↑ a b c d Heinz Wiesbauer: Diversity in the wasteland, protection and maintenance of Pannonian steppe and dry grasslands as part of a LIFE-Nature project , St. Pölten 2009, ISBN 3-901542-30-2 , p. 20 Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 4.57 MB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.steppe.at
  6. ↑ Rupert Leutgeb: Mystical Places of the Waldviertel, Part I , Zwettl 1998, ISBN 3-901287-02-7 , p. 100ff
  7. ↑ a b c d e Naturschutzbund Niederösterreich: Nature reserve Fehhaube-Kogelsteine , archived copy ( memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 143 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / noe-naturschutzbund.at
  8. ↑ Karl Heinrich Huber: On the treasure trove of granite weathering and erosion in the northwestern Waldviertel , in: Fritz F. Steiniger (Ed.): Erdgeschichte des Waldviertel - series of publications by the Waldviertler Heimatbundes 38 , Horn-Waidhofen / Thaya 1999, p. 125f
  9. ↑ a b c d e f Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 .
  10. ↑ Heinz Wiesbauer (Ed.): The steppe lives, rock steppes and dry grasslands in Lower Austria , St. Pölten 2008, ISBN 3-901542-28-0 , p. 73 Archived copy ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 775 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.steppe.at
  11. ↑ a b c Heinz Wiesbauer: "Fehhaube-Kogelsteine" nature reserve, maintenance as part of the LIFE Nature project "Pannonian steppe and dry grasslands" Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 603 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / noe-naturschutzbund.at
  12. ↑ Notice HO-044 ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / noel.gv.at
  13. ↑ Notice HO-049 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / noel.gv.at
  14. ↑ Notice HO-045 ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / noel.gv.at
  15. ↑ Notice HO-047 ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / noel.gv.at
  16. ^ Friends of the Kogelsteine ​​Nature Reserve - Fehhaube: Minutes of the General Assembly of April 3, 2011

Web links

Commons : Fehhaube-Kogelsteine  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 38 '27.9 "  N , 15 ° 51' 17.3"  E