Upper Selketal

Coordinates: 51 ° 40 ′ 30 ″  N , 11 ° 10 ′ 32 ″  E

Upper Selketal​

Saxony-Anhalt

Selke at Alexisbad

The Upper Selketal is a nature reserve in the towns of Ballenstedt , Falkenstein / Harz , Harzgerode , Oberharz am Brocken , Quedlinburg and Thale in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt .

The nature reserve with the registration number NSG 0178 is around 1611  hectares in size. In the west it borders in parts on the nature reserve " Albrechtshaus ", in the east on the nature reserve " Selketal ". Except for a small, agriculturally used area north of Harzgerode, the nature reserve is completely part of the approximately 4522 hectare FFH area "Selketal und Bergwiesen bei Stiege". The area of ​​the nature reserve north and northeast of Harzgerode is, with the exception of the agriculturally used area, also part of the EU bird sanctuary "Northeastern Lower Harz". The nature reserve is almost entirely from the conservation area surrounded "resin and flood plains". The area has been under protection since 1998 (date of regulation: March 26, 1998). The responsible lower nature conservation authority is the Harz district.

The nature reserve extends within the Harz / Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park along the Selke from the headwaters southeast of Stiege to the municipal border with the town of Falkenstein / Harz and includes an area of ​​around 28 hectares in the Pansfelde district of the town of Falkenstein / Harz. The nature reserve includes the source area of ​​the Selke, the Selke and their bank areas as well as the lower slopes of the adjacent mountains and north or northeast of Harzgerode also larger areas of the mountain landscape surrounding the Selke valley with the plateau areas of the mountains. Furthermore, thirteen side valleys have moved into the protected area, namely the valleys Mordtal, Elbing stal below the federal road 242 , Großes and Kleines Kämpental, Limbachtal, Westerbachtal, Kaulwiese, Agezucht, Eisenwasch, Uhlenbachtal below the federal road 242, Friedenstal, Krebsbach valley with hunting lodge and Brettenbachtal, Teufelstal below the federal road 185 (without Teufelsteich) and Schiebeck stal below the district road 2344. The nature reserve is interrupted in Güntersberge , Straßberg and Silberhütte .

Large parts of the nature reserve are characterized by near-natural forest communities with a high proportion of old and dead wood . For example, ravine and hillside mixed forests, bedstraw oak and hornbeam forests , hornbeam and woodruff beech forests as well as alder , ash forests and moor birch forests on fens in the source area of ​​the Selke along the flowing waters . Around 25 hectares of the forests in the nature reserve are designated as total reserves and left to develop naturally. Large parts of the flood plain of the Selke be of grassland dominated, which are often only used extensively. So pipe grass wet meadows and grass grass turf can be found.

The nature reserve is the habitat of the wildcat . There are also various birds , including the middle woodpecker , black stork , dipper and kingfisher . The Selketal is also the habitat of the common swift with the largest known tree-breeding swift population in Germany. Bats are u. a. with mouse ears , 's Small Noctule and Bechstein's bat , amphibians with salamander , alpine newt and palmate newt , dragonfly with beautiful demoiselle and Two Striped source of honor and butterflies with Big Purple Emperor and Skabiosenscheckenfalter represented. The Selke and the streams that flow into it are part of the upper and middle trout region and are the habitat for bullhead , minnow , brook loach and brook lamprey .

The nature reserve is crossed by several roads. The federal highway 185 crosses the nature reserve between Mägdesprung and Alexisbad . The federal highway 242 crosses the protected area at Alexisbad and touches it at Güntersberge . The state road 234 touches or crosses the nature reserve south of Alexisbad, at Silberhütte and near Straßberg , the state road 235 at and in Mägdesprung and the state road 236 at Friedrichshöhe . District road 2344 touches the protected area east of Harzgerode and district road 2363 runs between Mägdesprung and Selkemühle to a large extent through the nature reserve. In addition, numerous forest and farm paths as well as hiking trails run through the protected area, such as part of the Selketalstieg . Finally, the Selke Valley Railway runs through the nature reserve.

Web links

Commons : Upper Selketal Nature Reserve  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Upper Selketal , State Administration Office Saxony-Anhalt
• Refugium Selketal , lecture by Christiane Funkel, State Office for Environmental Protection Saxony-Anhalt, Selketal Conference, Aug. 31, 2002

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Maintenance and development plan for the NSG “Oberes Selketal” , Lamprecht & Wellmann landscape architects and landscape planners. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
2. ↑ Selketal-Stieg , Lower Harz Tourism Association. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
3. ↑ Selketal-Stieg long-distance hiking trail , Harzer Tourismusverband e. V. Accessed May 20, 2014.