Landscape protection area Middle Ilm Valley

The Middle Ilm Valley landscape protection area is an approximately 150 km² landscape protection area on the middle course of the Ilm in Thuringia , south of Weimar .

geography

In the southeast, the conservation area comprises the jagged red sandstone formation located on both sides of the Ilm between Kranichfeld and Bad Berka , which is geologically referred to as the Tannrodaer Saddle and in natural terms as the Tannrodaer Waldland , as well as the strata that adjoins the north and east and the framing shell limestone plateaus of the northern Ilm-Saale-Platte at Riechheimer Berg (513 m, WSW) and Kaitsch (497 m, E).

The area is roughly bounded by the course of the federal motorway 4 in the north, the valley of the Magdel in the east, the valley of the Schwarza in the south and the transitions to the Riechheimer Berg and the Willroder forest in the west.

The area is divided into smaller areas by valleys. In the south there is a contiguous forest area between the towns of Bad Berka (north), Blankenhain (east) and Tannroda (west), which is delimited by the Ilm valley in the north-west, the Klingelbachtal in the north-east and the Schwarzatal in the south. Kohlgrund and Dammbachsgrund run through this area; in between the Vogelherd (428 meters), the Mittelbergskopf (378 meters) and the Eichleite (389 meters) are the highest mountains.

Another part of the area lies between Bad Berka in the west, Blankenhain in the south, Mellingen in the north and Magdala in the east. The western part is forested, the eastern part serves as an agricultural area. The borders are the Ilm in the north, the Magdel in the east and the Klingelbach in the west. To the south this part merges seamlessly into the Saale-Ilm-Platte . The highest elevations in this part are the 497 meter high Kaitsch and the 416 meter high Adelsberg near Bad Berka, on which the Paulinenturm is located.

North of the Ilm Valley between Bad Berka and Mellingen, the Thuringian Basin breaks off towards the Ilm, so that its valley at Buchfart is a good 100 meters deep. The only passage through the steep face is the valley of the Hengstbach between Hetschburg and Legefeld . To the north, the 380-meter-high ridge slopes gently towards Weimar to the Thuringian Basin.

A similar steep drop is also the Harth, which extends from Bad Berka to Kranichfeld north of the Ilm Valley. It rises steeply from the valley to around 400 meters in altitude and falls gently on the back to Eichbach / Tonndorfbach in the west and Steingraben in the east. The villages Tonndorf , Tiefengruben and Nauendorf are located in this area . North of these places, the landscape rises sharply again. The highest peaks here are the 483 meter high Quingerberg near Nauendorf and the 471 meter high Kesselberg near Tiefengruben. To the north, this part of the area slopes gently towards Erfurt / Thuringian Basin.

Culture

Since the area in the Middle Ilm Valley closes off the southern and southeastern access to the important cities of Erfurt and Weimar and there are only a few passable places, these places had to be strongly fortified in the Middle Ages. To this end, a large number of castles were built, such as the Upper Castle , the Niederburg and the Schleussenburg in Kranichfeld, the Tannroda Castle , the Blankenhain Castle , the Bad Berka moated castle , the Buchfart cave castle in the Ilmteilufer and the Tonndorf Castle . In addition, the cities of Kranichfeld, Tannroda, Berka and Blankenhain were laid out and fortified. Other special features are the historic Rundlingsdorf Tiefengruben and the wooden bridge over the Ilm in Buchfart . Another effect of the landscape is the rise of Bad Berka to a large hospital, rehabilitation and spa center in the 20th century. Mainly heart, skin and respiratory diseases from the nearby cities were and are treated here.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Walter Hiekel, Frank Fritzlar, Andreas Nöllert and Werner Westhus: The natural spaces of Thuringia . Ed .: Thuringian State Institute for Environment and Geology (TLUG), Thuringian Ministry for Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Environment . 2004, ISSN  0863-2448 . → Natural area map of Thuringia (TLUG) - PDF; 260 kB → Maps by district (TLUG)