The Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park (german: Naturpark Elbhöhen-Wendland), formerly known as the Elbufer-Drawehn Nature Park (''Naturpark Elbufer-Drawehn'') is a German

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

east of

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Geography

Location

The nature park lies mainly in

Lüchow-Dannenberg Lüchow-Dannenberg is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany, which is usually referred to as Hanoverian Wendland (''Hannoversches Wendland'') or Wendland. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Uelzen and Lüneburg and the s ...

and, after being extended in 2006, covers the majority of this rural district. It has an area of about and belongs to some of the most sparsely populated areas in Germany. The park originally included two very different geographical regions from which it derived its name: *the ridge of Drawehn in western Lüchow-Dannenberg *the banks of the

Elbe River The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of ...

(''German: Elbufer'') in northern Lüchow-Dannenberg and partly in Lüneburg district Both landscapes were formed by the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. The Drawehn is an

end moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...

from the penultimate glaciation - a heap of rock debris pushed by the ice sheet and left behind at the end of the glacier. The Elbe valley by contrast was a

meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater ca ...

channel from the last ice age.

History

The park was founded in 1968. It is part of the Elbe River Landscape (''Flusslandschaft Elbe''), which was designated as a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

in 1997 and overlaps with the Lower Saxon Elbe Water Meadows Biosphere Reserve (''Niedersächsische Elbtalaue Biosphärenreservat''). On 1 June 2006 the protected area of the nature park was increased to , almost double its previous size. In Germany the mere designation of an area as a

does not make it a strict nature conservation area, but is first and foremost to promote tourism.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation of the nature park varies depending on the relief and soil composition. The higher, sandy

podsol In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of ...

soils supported extensive areas of heath until the 18th century. Today, following afforestation, they are covered by large pine forests. On clayey soils there are the remnants of a natural deciduous forest vegetation, especially in the

Göhrde Göhrde is a municipality in the district of Lüchow-Dannenberg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The municipality was named after the Göhrde State Forest, which has an area of about , famous for its oaks, beeches and game preserves. The hunting lodge s ...

. The better soils have been turned into arable fields. The banks of the Elbe are under special protection as breeding, stopover and winter sites on the

bird migration Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting b ...

routes between

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. During the summer months more than 150 species of bird breed here and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

and

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, th ...

cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname ...

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

s and

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal raptors ...

s can be seen. In autumn and winter migrating cranes, ducks, geese and swans may be observed. The lower Middle Elbe basin with its rich water meadow is also of outstanding important for

amphibian Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...

s such as the

European fire-bellied toad The European fire-bellied toad (''Bombina bombina'') is a species of fire-bellied toad native to eastern parts of mainland Europe, where it can be found near waterbodies such as ponds and marshes. It is known for its red colored belly used to wa ...

, the

European tree frog The European tree frog (''Hyla arborea'') is a small tree frog. As traditionally defined, it was found throughout much of Europe, Asia and northern Africa,Frost, Darrel R. ''Amphibian Species of the World''. Allen Press, Inc., 1985, p. 126. but b ...

and the

moor frog The moor frog (''Rana arvalis'') is a slim, reddish-brown, semiaquatic amphibian native to Europe and Asia. Moor frogs are known for their ability to freeze solid and survive thawing. The frog makes use of various cryoprotectants i.e. antifreez ...

External links

Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park
at www.umwelt.niedersachsen.de.
Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park
at www.reiseland-niedersachsen.de.
Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park
at www.luechow-dannenberg.de. {{DEFAULTSORT:Elbhohen-Wendland Nature Park Nature parks in Lower Saxony

Geography

Location

History

Flora and fauna

See also

External links