オーヴェルゲンネの天然記念物・トップ20

Northern side shortly after the exit of the Hankhauser Bäke

Ellernteich with a fountain

The Ellernteich is a real curiosity - because this pond was created twice. The Grand Duke of Oldenburg, Peter Friedrich Ludwig, had a park built here in Rastede next to his summer residence. His son and successor, Paul Friedrich August, expanded the park in the style of an English landscape park. In the course of this, the local lowland, which was covered with alders, known in Low German as Ellern, was converted into a fish pond in 1842. How complex the undertaking was can be seen from the fact that the pond was only completed 9 years later, in 1848. When it was completed, a new line of sight was created from the castle across the Ellern and Mühlenteich ponds to the water mill.

The salt marsh adventure trail in Sehestedt leads from the dike entrance at the "Floating Moor" through the salt marshes to the Wadden Sea of the Jade Bay via Sehestedt back. On the 5km long circular trail, which can be walked in about 1.5 to 2 hours, over 30 information boards provide detailed information about the natural history of the Jade Bay. The range of topics ranges from the formation of the Jade Bay to the importance of the salt marshes as a breeding and resting area for birds to the special adaptations of plants and animals to this habitat characterized by extremes. Of course, there is also detailed information about the Wadden Sea and its inhabitants. Interesting facts are also reported about the cultural and historical aspects of land reclamation and dike construction. (Source: https://jade-touristik.de/jade-entdecken-erleben/natur/salzwiesen-erlebnispfad/)

In 1938, the "Floating Moor" was finally placed under nature conservation for geological, botanical, zoological and local history reasons, after some parts of the area had already been protected in previous years. This area has been part of the "Lower Saxony Wadden Sea" National Park since 1986 and has therefore been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010. In 2007, an international youth group and the "Meyershof" youth workshops in the Wesermarsch district laid out a boardwalk that leads to an observation and information hut. (Source: https://www.nationalpark-wattenmeer.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Das-Schwimmende-Moor-in-Sehestedt.pdf)

When can you see the moor floating? Floating up is a rare occurrence. The prerequisite is a heavy storm or hurricane flood from the northwest, where the water rises more than 1.70 m above mean high tide (MTHw) and there is heavy seas. In Sehestedt the MTHw is + 1.79 above sea level. Adding 1.70 m gives 3.49 m. The water is then at least 1.15 m high on the salt marsh in front. The moor rises when the salt water has almost reached the moor surface. The buoyancy is so strong that everything that is on the moor is lifted with it, in the past also the houses and wells. When floating up, the break-off point between the high and low moor is about 3.10 m below the surface of the moor and thus more than 1 m deeper than the salt marshes in front of it. If the moors break off and are washed away, deep moor holes remain that fill with water. (Source: https://www.nationalpark-wattenmeer.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Das-Schwimmende-Moor-in-Sehestedt.pdf)

The Moorhauser Polder is a flood polder that stores the flood waters of the Hunte. This year the water is particularly high due to the rainfall of the last few months. You could tell from the drift on the grass that it wasn't a meter higher. The Moorhauser Polder is an El Dorado for water birds. This year 15,000 barnacle geese and 10,000 white-fronted geese rest here. It is a spectacle when they fly in in the evening with loud cries and then fly off again in the morning to look for food.

Pure nature. Here you can enjoy a break.