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The Barnbruch is a wetland of international importance in the old glacial valley of the river Aller that provides a habitat for endangered species of birds,
Originally the Barnbruch was a carr (''Bruchwald'') or fen woodland. In 1830 it was the cause of complaint by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages to their king. They said that, for years, they had not been able to harvest any hay and that their farms had been ruined by floods. Following a state treaty in 1860 between Prussia, the Kingdom of Hanover and Duchy of Brunswick over the regulation of the Aller and the Ohre, work began on draining the area. The main contribution to this effort was the Aller Canal, built 1860-63, between Wolfsburg and Gifhorn. Draining the land of water turned the
Description of the Barnbruch nature reserve
{{Coord, 52.45643, N, 10.65262, E, region:DE-NI_type:landmark, display=title, format=dms Nature reserves in Lower Saxony Wolfsburg Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Gifhorn (district) Wetlands of Germany
The Barnbruch is a wetland of international importance in the old glacial valley of the river Aller that provides a habitat for endangered species of birds, amphibian
Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
s and insects. It lies between the city of Wolfsburg and town of Gifhorn and consists of an enclosed woodland area of around with surrounding meadows and pastures. This low-lying depression lies partly within the territory of the city of Wolfsburg and partly within Gifhorn district
Gifhorn () is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Geography
The district is located at the border of Saxony-Anhalt and extends from the southern edge of the Lüneburg Heath () in the north to the suburbs of Braunschweig and Wolfsburg in the so ...
. Together with the Drömling around 15 km to the east, the Barnbruch is the most valuable ecological lowland region along the upper course of the Aller.
Location
The Barnbruch is about 4 x 7 kilometres across and is bordered: *To the west by the Elbe Lateral Canal and the artificial lake of the Tankumsee (Isenbüttel
Isenbüttel is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km southeast of Gifhorn, and 20 km north of Braunschweig.
Isenbüttel is also the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde Isenbütte ...
)
*To the north by the Aller and the villages of Osloß
Osloß is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...
and Weyhausen
Weyhausen is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...
*To the east by the industrial facilities of the Wolfsburg Volkswagen factory
*To the south by the ''K 114'' district road (Wolfsburg-Gifhorn northern link) and the village of Calberlah
Drainage
Originally the Barnbruch was a carr (''Bruchwald'') or fen woodland. In 1830 it was the cause of complaint by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages to their king. They said that, for years, they had not been able to harvest any hay and that their farms had been ruined by floods. Following a state treaty in 1860 between Prussia, the Kingdom of Hanover and Duchy of Brunswick over the regulation of the Aller and the Ohre, work began on draining the area. The main contribution to this effort was the Aller Canal, built 1860-63, between Wolfsburg and Gifhorn. Draining the land of water turned the swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s into a wetland with a rich variety of trees, in which both fen and riverside woods with birch, oak, ash and alder trees could flourish. Today large parts of the Barnbruch are nature reserves, in which several areas have been left to evolve without any human intervention.
Wood
Up to 1770 the swampy Bruchwald was not forested and pine trees only grew on a few higher points (sand dunes of ice age origin). The high levels of ground water and periodic flooding created alder groves which were largely inaccessible to people. In 1833 softwood trees, especially the alder accounted for 82% of the total area, whilst pines covered only 1%. In 1875, as a result of the drainage, this had fundamentally changed. Now alders on covered 42% of the land, whilst pine and birch now made up 51%.Sources
*''Der Barnbruch'' in: ''Naturschutzgebiete im Raum Gifhorn-Wolfsburg'', Jürgen Schröder, 1986 GifhornExternal links
Description of the Barnbruch nature reserve
{{Coord, 52.45643, N, 10.65262, E, region:DE-NI_type:landmark, display=title, format=dms Nature reserves in Lower Saxony Wolfsburg Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Gifhorn (district) Wetlands of Germany