The oil mills are located in the Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park.
It was founded in 1979, is located in northeastern Baden-Württemberg u. includes large parts of the adjacent natural spaces.
The nature park includes parts of the rural districts Rems-Murr, Schwäbisch Hall, Heilbronn, Hohenlohe, Ostalb and Ludwigsburg.
From 1979 to 2006, more than € 15 million was invested in recreational facilities, landscape management, environmental education, public relations and the like. invested in the preservation of cultural heritage.
The nature park has a total area of about 900 km² u. lies in mainly mountainous landscape at an altitude of 200 m in the Sulmtal to 586 m in the Mainhardter forest. The climate ranges from a mild wine-growing climate in the Sulmtal to a cool, moist and stimulating climate at high altitudes. 53% of its area covers forest.
The nature park consists of five subregions: Murrhardter u. Mainhardter forest as well as Waldenburger and Löwensteiner mountains in the natural area Schwäbisch-Franconian forest mountains as well as Welzheimer forest, the the nature area Schurwald u. Welzheimer forest is attributed. At its eastern edge, the Frickenhofer Höhe is touched, which is part of the natural area of Eastern Alb foreland in this area.
In the nature park spring Murr, their tributary Lauter, Sulm, Ohrn, Lein u. some tributaries of the Rems such as Wieslauf. The Ebnisee on the upper reaches was created as a reservoir for rafting. He is today, like many other lakes in the park, approved as a bathing lake. The Hörschbach, a southern tributary of the Murr, crashes over two waterfalls at two points in its course.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, a 2nd-century border fortification of the Roman Empire, runs through the nature park almost straight-ahead in a north-south direction from Öhringen to Lorch.
The history of glassmaking from the 15th to the 19th century is presented in the Glasmuseum Spiegelberg. In the visitor mine Wetzsteinstollen near Spiegelberg-Jux, until 1920, whetstones were mined underground.
Visitors to the nature park will find a number of hiking trails on flora, fauna, geology, viticulture and more. History to choose from, including about the Limes hiking trail (HW 6) of the Swabian Albverein and the mill trail at Welzheim u. Kaisersbach. Since 2007, natural park markets have been held throughout the year in various locations in the Nature Park, selling regional products from the Swabian-Franconian Forest; a framework program presents various aspects of the park.