Wental
The Wental (spoken with a long / e: /) is a typical dry valley northwest of Steinheim am Albuch on the karst plateau of the Swabian Alb and a popular excursion destination.
geography
The valley basin begins recognizable in nature in a northeastern bay about three and a half kilometers northeast of Bartholomä and thus less than two kilometers south of the Albtrauf , runs from here south-south-west, turns east of Bartholomä to south-south-east and then runs to the residential area Am Wental at the edge of the forest. The so-called sea of rocks lies on the latter section . Then the valley on the other side of the road from Bartholomä to Steinheim completely enters the forest and runs in long loops and under towering rocks approximately to the southeast. Before the last turn to the left, the entire width of the valley trough is cordoned off by the Wental flood retention basin . The valley is about ten kilometers long to get there. The valley then runs eastwards over the Hirschtal valley, which is about two kilometers long, to Steinheim, where it flows into the Steinheim basin created by a meteorite impact . The Wentalgraben , which drains the basin - and, more rarely, lower sections of the valley - later flows, after exiting the Steinheim basin into the Stubental , into the Wedel , which has been developed as an artificial moat and only rarely carries noticeable water , which flows through the Heidenheim city center into the Brenz .
Protected areas
Almost all of the wental is located in several protected areas. The Stuttgart Regional Council has with Regulation of 29 December 2008, the Wental under the name " Wental with valleys and field island Klösterle (1274 reserve number)" as a nature reserve reported. The area has an area of 288.9 hectares (ha) and is located in the districts of Heidenheim (municipality of Steinheim am Albuch - 262.7 ha) and Ostalbkreis (municipality of Essingen - 26.2 ha). The protection purpose is, in particular, the preservation of the striking rock formations, the rough grass areas and the natural and near-natural forest areas as valuable habitats for many rare plant and animal species.
The entire area is also in the FFH area “ Steinheimer Becken ”, which is around 3,000 hectares in size. The “ Albuch ” bird sanctuary, which covers a total of 8,645 hectares, also overlaps the nature reserve and the FFH area in the Wental.
Particularly worth seeing in the nature reserve are the free-standing rock formations made of dolomite with wonderful names such as 'hippopotamus', 'sphinx', 'Spitzbubenstadel', 'Wentalweible' or 'deer rock '. Despite the steep valley walls, there is no longer a stream bed to be seen at the valley floor. Due to the lowering of the karst water level , the valley fell dry a long time ago. The flora of the Wental is also worth seeing, such as the juniper heaths and dry grass communities typical of this area .
literature
- Johannes Baier: Geological features in the Albuch. In: fossils . Special volume Geopark Swabian Alb, 47–51, 2015.
- Naturkundeverein Schwäbisch Gmünd (Ed.): The Wental. Einhorn-Verlag, Schwäbisch Gmünd 2003, ISBN 3-927654-99-X .
- Reinhard Wolf , Ulrike Kreh (Hrsg.): The nature reserves in the Stuttgart administrative region . Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7995-5176-2
See also
Web links
- Profile of the nature reserve in the LUBW's list of protected areas
Coordinates: 48 ° 44 ′ 0 ″ N , 10 ° 1 ′ 0 ″ E