Todtenau

Landscape in the Todtenau with characteristic spiral vegetation

The Todtenau is a raised bog in the municipality of Kirchberg im Wald in Bavaria . With the neighboring small floodplains Reischau, Dorner Au, Muckenau and Höllenau, it forms the nature reserve "Todtenau and surrounding floodplains". The Todtenau lies at a height of just over 700  m above sea level. NN .

history

Since the last Ice Age around 13,500 years ago, a 8.50 meter thick layer of peat has formed in Todtenau . In the last few centuries, the natural moor landscape has been impaired by agriculture with associated drainage and afforestation with non-native spruce. Furthermore, until the end of the 1970s there were plans to mine the peat on a large scale, which would have led to the destruction of the bog. Therefore, in 1983 the nature reserve was designated with a size of 148 hectares . During this time there was also a remnant stock of black grouse , which soon went out. There is now a development plan for the nature reserve, private land is being purchased and renaturation measures are being carried out (including clearing of spruce trees , backfilling ditches, mowing from an ecological point of view). The measures are carried out jointly by various interest groups, such as B. the state forest, the hunting association, various nature conservation associations and the lower nature conservation authority. The nature reserve is now also designated as an FFH area.

Ecological importance

The Todtenau with the surrounding floodplains is unique in the Bavarian Forest due to the various bog areas and wet meadows and is home to a variety of rare animal and plant species, such as B. woodcock , tree pipit , meadow pipit , otter , round-leaved sundew or low salsify . The characteristic black grouse died out in the mid-1980s, and there are now specific plans for reintroduction. A special feature is the remaining occurrence of juniper , a reminder of the forest pasture use in earlier times, since the juniper, unlike other plants, was not eaten by cattle, but was pushed back again by the later reforestation . The characteristic tree species in the natural parts of the floodplains is the Spirke , which only forms sparse stands. The bogberry is not uncommon in Todtenau.

Say

There are many legends about the Todtenau, e.g. B. is said to have sunk a city there. It is also claimed that the name of the Au comes from the plague dead that were sunk there. However, there is no evidence for the old stories, nor is there any reliable explanation for the origin of the name.

hike

The nature reserve is beautiful to walk through a paved nature trail, information boards along the way explain the origin, importance and protection of the moor. An accompanying brochure is available free of charge from the tourist information office in Kirchberg im Wald town hall. Please note the number of paths within the nature reserve.

Geotope

The high moor area has been designated as an important geotope by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (Geotope number: 276R028).

See also : List of geotopes in the Regen district

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotop Hochmoorgebiet Todtenau SE from Dösingerried (accessed on October 18, 2017).

Web links

Commons : Todtenau and surrounding Auen (NSG)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information from the Bavarian Forest Nature Park (PDF file; 277 kB)
• Ordinance on the nature reserve (PDF file; 37 kB)

Coordinates: 48 ° 53 ′ 3 ″  N , 13 ° 8 ′ 11 ″  E