Wildenfelser intermediate mountains
The Wildenfelser Zwischengebirge is located about 10 km south of Zwickau , between the towns of Wildenfels , Hartenstein and Langenweißbach . This fossil karst landscape is unique in Saxony due to its interesting geological and ecological conditions. In addition to numerous underground caves from the Tertiary era , a quarry area of around 60 hectares is particularly interesting.
history
Intermittently been in this area of about 1680 to 1950 limestone quarrying operation. Black and red stone ( coal limestone with crinoids and knot limestone ) were also mined in small quantities , which as Wildenfels marble temporarily gained supra-regional importance. Among other things, it was used for many famous works of art, for example in the entrance hall of the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden , or for grave monuments in the Cistercian convent of St. Marienstern in Upper Lusatia. After 1952, work in the quarries was stopped. After that, the quarries, some of which were filled with water, were a popular bathing place for young and old. As a testimony to the active mining phase, there is still a lime kiln to be seen in the Schönau district of Wildenfels . Every year the local fire brigade organizes a lime kiln festival where the blast furnace is fired.
Since 1994 this area has the status of a landscape protection area. It covers around 620 hectares. Furthermore, measures have been initiated to rehabilitate the area from the point of view of the limestone landscape. This is intended to ensure the continued existence of some of the lime-loving plant species that occur here and that are on the red list. The measures are intended to preserve the quarries as the habitat of the European noble crayfish ( Astacus astacus ), as this type of cancer is threatened with extinction.
The educational and hiking trail 'Museum in the Landscape'
In the period from 2003 to 2004 the nature trail “Museum in the Landscape” was built. Outside boards have been put up to bring interested hikers closer to the cultural and natural historical monuments. The nature trail comprises a total of nine stations.
literature
- Between Zwickauer Mulde and Geyerschem Wald (= values of our homeland . Volume 31). 2nd Edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1980.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ K. Dalmer, C. Gäbert: Explanations of the special geological map of the Kingdom of Saxony. Section Kirchberg-Wildenfels, sheet 125 . Leipzig, 1901, 2nd edition.