Alder Swamp Forest (Eller Forst Nature Reserve)

The Eller Forest was declared a nature reserve (NSG) as early as 1935, making it the oldest NSG in the city of Düsseldorf. What was a vast wetland hundreds of years ago is still home to a number of bird species that breed there. AAs a hiker you can go there through the beautiful forest area where you will find many bridges. From them you can throw great views of the wet meadows. A great natural area on the outskirts of Düsseldorf.

The whole area tells us that this is an area that was purely marshy in the past.

In the interior of the Eller Forest, special forest forms - the so-called alder swamp forests - have been preserved on marshy soil. It is known from old records that 300 years ago such swampy areas stretched from Unterbach via Gerresheim to Mörsenbroich. Over the centuries, however, they were drained as part of urban development and gradually disappeared. However, the ditch system that already exists in the Eller Forest was closed again about 20 years ago, since drainage would have massively threatened the character of the protected area.

The groundwater in the Erlenbruchwald is so high that in the winter months the trees are often surrounded by water or ice for weeks. Only the alder can withstand this high water level in the long term. The roots of other native tree species, such as the beech, literally drown in the water under the same conditions. In addition to alder, oak, ash and hornbeam can only be found in somewhat drier areas.

The ditches and pools of this alder swamp forest are a paradise for amphibians. Newts, common toads and common frogs find an ideal nursery here. With a bit of luck you can see gray herons, marsh tits, wrens, hawks or other of the 41 species of breeding birds that occur in the Eller Forest. The flora also has some peculiarities to offer, such as the iris and the very rare water feather, which is on the red list of endangered plant species.

If you walk parallel to the Rothenbergstraße via the so-called Siebenbrückenweg, you will soon leave the closed forest and reach a large open wet meadow with reeds and types of sedge. The reed warbler breeds here in spring and it is not unusual to see a deer or a fox in the early morning hours, as long as the grass has not yet grown too high.

Source: duesseldorf.de/stadtgruen/landschafts-und-naturschutz/nreservate/eller-forst.html