The Bacher Lay is a nature reserve in Germany, which covers an area of 44.7 hectares in the county of

Westerwaldkreis The Westerwaldkreis ("District of Westerwald") is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Rhein-Lahn, the district-free ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. It is a

geotope A geotope is the geological component of the abiotic matrix present in an ecotope. Example geotopes might be an exposed outcrop of rocks, an erratic boulder, a grotto or ravine, a cave, an old stone wall marking a property boundary, and so forth. ...

of the

Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus Geopark The Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus National Geopark (german: Nationale GeoPark Westerwald-Lahn-Taunus) is a community initiative by the counties of Landkreis Altenkirchen, Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis, Westerw ...

Location

The Bacher Lay is a disused

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

quarry, which is situated between

Bad Marienberg Bad Marienberg (Westerwald) is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality. Geography The community lies in the Westerwald between ...

and

Nisterau Nisterau is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The community lies in the Westerwald between Limburg and Siegen. Nisterau belong ...

on the Black Nister, a tributary of the Great Nister. Its name is derived from the formerly independent hamlet of ''Bach'', now part of the municipality of Nisterau; "lay" in this instance means 'quarry'. The area lies within parts of the parishes ('' Gemarkungen'') of Bad Marienberg, Bach, Eichenstruth and

Stockhausen-Illfurth Stockhausen-Illfurth is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The community lies in the Westerwald between Limburg und Siegen. Through the co ...

.Legal regulation of the Bezirksregierung Koblenz dated 28 October 1996
(pdf, 70 kB) The Bacher Lay is characterised by a mighty, almost vertical, basalt rock face, which was produced as a result of basalt quarrying. The nearby "Pfaffenmal", an 18-metre-high columnar basalt cone which looks like a charcoal burner's pile, is also worth seeing. From the town centre of Bad Marienberg to the Bacher Lay it is about 4 kilometres on foot.

Nature reserve

The Bezirksregierung Koblenz passed a legal ordinance on 28 October 1996, in which the conservation aim is described as follows: : "The conservation aim is the preservation and development of the 'Bacher Lay' with its standing and flowing bodies of water with gentle and steep shore areas, with its dry grassland, tall herbaceous vegetation and basalt rock faces as a habitat for rare, endangered animal and plant species – especially amphibians, reptiles and birds, as well as orchids".

Gallery

File:Michelbachgrossneffe_057.jpg, Bacher Lay File:Michelbachgrossneffe 059.jpg, Bacher Lay File:Michelbachgrossneffe 064.jpg, Bacher Lay File:Michelbachgrossneffe 065.jpg, Bacher Lay

References

External links

{{coord, 50, 39, 13.7, N, 7, 58, 35.5, E, region:DE-RP_type:landmark, display=title Nature reserves in Rhineland-Palatinate Westerwaldkreis