Walpketal

Coordinates: 51 ° 23 ′ 1.1 ″  N , 8 ° 2 ′ 17.3 ″  E

Walpketal​

North Rhine-Westphalia

The Walpketal , because of a medieval Leprosenhauses also Seufzertal called, is a valley in the city of Arnsberg and is in large part under conservation . It is named after the Walpke stream of the same name. This is 6.8 km long.

View from Arnsberg to the west with the Walpketal

history

The Walpketal was historically important because the Rüdenburg was built on a mountain above the confluence of the Ruhr and Walpke rivers . This controlled the Walpketal. The valley was long owned by the von Rüdenberg family .

In the Middle Ages and the early modern period , the leper house of the town of Arnsberg was located in the valley far outside the city walls. The house had a courtyard, a garden and two ponds. The leprosy house is the reason why the valley is mostly called the valley of sighs. The Wedinghausen monastery had fish ponds in the valley. In the immediate vicinity there was old mining and related iron production. On the Walpke itself there were still five grinding huts in the 16th century. Iron was still being mined on the upper reaches of the Walpke in the 17th century.

In the 17th century, Hermann Dücker acquired properties in the Walpke valley, which Elector Maximilian Heinrich of Bavaria bought from him in 1652 . He made it part of his zoo . He also had a powder mill built on the Walpke.

Apart from a courtyard with an excursion restaurant, the valley is now uninhabited. The valley is crossed by state road 735 . At the exit of the valley there is a shooting range.

Nature reserve

A large part of the valley was designated in 1998 by the Hochsauerlandkreis with the Arnsberg landscape plan as a nature reserve with the name Seufzertal and a size of 45.2 hectares. A distinction is made between the upper reaches of the Walpke, Middle Walpketal and Seufzertal, which are worthy of protection.

The upper course of the stream runs through a narrow kerbsohlental with deciduous forest . There are also some parcels of spruce . Overall, the upper course is an example of a near-natural stream of the North Sauerland Oberland and a good trout water . In the middle reaches the brook forms a relatively wide bottom valley in which the water meanders. Loose spruce stands turn into alder and ash stands at the edge of the stream . Grassland dominates further to the east. In the lower area there are pastures, partly fallow wet grassland. There are also riparian trees and bushes, as well as fish ponds. Characteristic of a cultural landscape is the small parts.

In recent years, parts of the stream have been renatured.

Among the fauna in the valley are the brown trout , the flat-bellied dragonfly , the pond newt , the dipper or the two-striped spring damsel .

See also

• List of nature reserves in the Hochsauerlandkreis

literature

• Karl Féaux de Lacroix : History of Arnsberg. Arnsberg 1895, p. 90 f.
• Katrin Liebelt: The social structure of the royal seat of Arnsberg in the 17th century. Dortmund 1996, p. 84.
• Hochsauerlandkreis - Lower Landscape Authority: Arnsberg landscape plan. Meschede 1998, p. 72.

Web links

• Nature reserve “Seufzertal” in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wilfried Reininghaus, Reinhard Köhne: Mining, smelting and hammer works in the Duchy of Westphalia in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Münster 2008, p. 189 f.