The Haidenweiher is a large pond about southwest of the village of Dreifelden 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 ...

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 the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It has a surface area of c. and is the second largest of the Westerwald Lakes. It is linked to the Dreifelder Weiher by a drainage ditch and is used today for breeding fish. The pond was designated as a

nature 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 ...

in 1979 and is surrounded by dense woods. Rare bird species nest along its shores, especially waders.

History

Creation

The Haidenweiher was laid out by Count Frederick of Wied and first recorded in 1691.
Even at that time the lake, like the others in the Westerwald Lake District, was used for

fish farming upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

, a practice which continues today.

Origin of the name

The name of the pond reflects the countryside at the time it was created. As a result of intensive and centuries-long cattle grazing by the neighbouring villages, the area around the lake became

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

and

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

. As a result of the habitat, the lapwing which has become rare today, often nested in this region. As a result, its eggs were collected and sold as a delicacy to the castle kitchen in Neuwied.

Nature reserve

On 20 January 1979, the Haidenweiher was designated a nature reserve by the

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

. The reserve has an area of about and lies on the terrain of

Steinebach an der Wied Steinebach an der Wied is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location On the southern boundary of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Hachenburg ...

. The conservation aim is the preservation of the wetland with its water areas, shallow water zones, marshes and adjacent wet grassland as a site for rare plants and as a habitat for endangered and rare species of animal, especially rare birds, for scientific reasons.{{Cite web , url=http://www.naturschutz.rlp.de/Dokumente/rvo/nsg/pdf/NSG-7143-002.pdf , title=Verordnung der Bezirksregierung Koblenz vom 20. Januar 1979 , access-date=2017-12-18 , archive-date=2016-03-05 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305180658/http://www.naturschutz.rlp.de/Dokumente/rvo/nsg/pdf/NSG-7143-002.pdf , url-status=dead

References

External links

Lagekarte beim Landschaftsinformationssystem der Naturschutzverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz
Ponds of Rhineland-Palatinate Lakes of the Westerwald Westerwaldkreis LHaidenweiher IUCN Category IV