Schleimünde Nature Reserve & Pilot Island

The extensive protected area is a retreat and undisturbed habitat for numerous bird species. If you want to go deeper into the flora and fauna, you can take a tour that the bird keeper regularly offers.

Telephone: 0464 61 17

The NSG located on the northern bank of the Schleimündung is a naturally created beach landscape with beach, dunes, beach walls and dry grasslands. On its western side are so-called. Nehrungshaken formed with dry falling wind wadding, which are unique on the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic Sea coast. This NSG is very important for the birdlife. Entering the whole NSG is only allowed under the guidance of a bird keeper of the association Jordsand e.V. Guided tours are available from the Vogelwärterhütte in the north and the pilot house in the south. Opening times of the bird watchers hut and start times of the guided tours as well as further information about the NSG can be found here: naturparkschlei.de/de/Landschaft-Naturschutz/Naturschutzgebiete/NSG-Oehe-Schleimuende.
Further back on the horizon, where the loop ends in the Baltic Sea, is the pilot island with the old pilot house, the poison booth and the small harbor. The pilot's house was built at the end of the 19th century and was used for the accommodation of Schleilotsen. The use of pilots on the Schlei lasted many hundreds of years. The many shoals and shallow waters of the Schlei presupposed local skippers and so the pilotage was a lucrative business. In 1980, the last pilot left the ship. Now the fairway was out, later the colored plastic tons were used.
In Schleimünde, an emergency port was maintained next to the pilotage port, and accommodation and food were kept ready in the poison booth. Ships that could not land on the Baltic due to inclement weather landed here and the crew was taken care of in the poison booth. Incidentally, the name Giftbude has nothing to do with poison or poison, but is derived from the Old High German term for gift = poison (as in English). In northern Germany, this term is no longer so common, formerly simple inns were so named here.
I would like to recommend you an interesting page about the historical events on the pilot island, the building located on it and their current use as well as the nature protection relevant meaning: lotseninsel.de

From the Hegeberg, an 8 m high moraine elevation from the Ice Age, you can enjoy a wonderful panoramic view of the NSG Schlemmünde.