Altwarmbüchener Moor

The Altwarmbüchener Moor was formed towards the end of the last Ice Age, 10,000 BC. Developed. Melt and rainwater created a small lake that silted up and developed into a fen. A raised moor bulged out of it over the next millennia. In 1365 the first rural peat cutting in the moor was mentioned. At that time, peat was mainly used for heating. The 17th century was dominated by moor drainage. In 1747 the moat was widened to transport peat to Hanover. In 1830 there were attempts to burn down the moor in order to gain arable land. Between 1905 and 1923, hard coal from the Deister peat was displaced as heating material. The Altwarmbüchener Moor became a landfill site for the excavated marl that arose during the construction of the Mittelland Canal. The excavation later formed the subsoil for the Lahe household waste dump. In 1934 a fire destroyed large parts of the moor. When sand and gravel were removed from the moor between 1978 and 1981 for the construction of the motorway, a quarry pond was created and, until 1982, today's local recreation area Altwarmbüchener See. Traces of human interference can still be found in the moor today. You can clearly see old peat cuttings in which small open bodies of water have formed. Since 1997 attempts have been made to recultivate the moor by closing old drainage ditches and built-in sheet pile walls to reduce water runoff. A 40 hectare area of the moor is under nature protection. The moor is a habitat for rare animal and plant species such as adders, grass snakes, various types of dragonflies, ferns and cotton grass.

Peat extraction by hand: