Gorges and Moors at the Upper Furlbach

The Furlbachtal is a 205 ha nature reserve in the Senne in North Rhine-Westphalia (official name: "Gorges and bogs on the upper Furlbach"). 121 ha are in the municipality of Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock in the district of Gütersloh, 84 ha belong to Augustdorf in the district of Lippe.For the production of roof tiles in the Furlbachtal earlier peat was excavated, in order to reduce the stagnant clay layer can. After completion of the mining rainwater ran into the clay pits - at this point, the so-called bent ponds, today a valuable biotope.Already at the headwaters the runoff of the Furlbach is so big that in 1849 a watermill, the Tütgemühle was built there. It was operated until 1925, used from 1951 as a country school home and aborted in 1978.As early as 1937, 17.5 ha were registered as a nature reserve in the Furlbachtal (then in Paderborn district). On 11 March 1991, the protected area was extended by the landscape plan Senne to its present size. Since 2004, the area has been part of the pan-European network Natura 2000.
Source: Wikipedia