Lüneburg Heath Nature Park (German: ''Naturpark Lüneburger Heide'') is a nature park, a form of protected environment, located in the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

in northern

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 an area of . The centre of the nature park is the

Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve The Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve (German: ''Naturschutzgebiet Lüneburger Heide'') is one of the oldest and largest nature reserves ('' Naturschutzgebiete'' or ''NSG''s) in Germany, and the oldest and largest in Lower Saxony. It was first establ ...

with an area of .

Geography

The nature park belongs to the former province (''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'') of Lüneburg and, after its expansion in 2007, extends into the districts of Harburg,

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 calle ...

and

Heidekreis Heidekreis ("Heath district") is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Harburg, Lüneburg, Uelzen, Celle, Hanover, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg. History Hist ...

. The Lüneburg Heath Nature Park is bordered in the north by Buchholz, in the east by

, in the south by

Soltau Soltau () is a mid-sized town in the Lüneburg Heath in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 22,000 inhabitants. The city is centrally located in the Lüneburg Heath and is known nationwide especially for its touri ...

and in the west by Neuenkirchen. It lies roughly south of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, 70 km east of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

and 90 km north of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. It was established as early as 1922, initially with of nature reserve. In 1993 this area was increased to . By the beginning of 2007 the area of the nature reserve almost coincided with the area of the nature park. On 14 February 2007 the park was expanded to . The areas added included various protected areas (''Landschaftsschutzgebiete'').

Legal status

The park is one of 98 nature parks in Germany. They were established under section 22, paragraph 4 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG). They comprise about 25% of the total land area of Germany and are linked by the ''Verband Deutscher Naturparke'' (Association of German Nature Parks).Verband Deutscher Naturparke
/ref> Note that this is a separate category from the 14 ''Nationalparke'' (national parks) of Germany, under paragraph 24 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act. ''See

List of national parks of Germany The following are the 16 national parks of Germany, sorted from North to South: Germany also has 14 Biosphere Reserves, as well as 98 nature parks. Including the national protected areas, about 25% of Germany's area is national parks or nature ...

.''

Nature reserves

There are some 20

nature reserves 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 o ...

(''

Naturschutzgebiet A ''Naturschutzgebiet'' (abbreviated NSG) is a category of protected area (nature reserve) within Germany's Federal Nature Conservation Act (the ''Bundesnaturschutzgesetz'' or ''BNatSchG''). Although often translated as 'Nature Reserve' in Engli ...

e'' or ''NSG''s) in the park. NSGs with an area of more than 100 hectares are: *

23,440 ha * Upper Wümme Depression 1,415 ha * Kiehnmoor 440 ha * Upper Fintau valley 416 ha * Valley of the Kleine

Örtze Örtze () is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. The Örtze rises north of Munster in the ''Große Heide'' (in the ''Raubkammer'' federal forest) and, after , joins the Aller southeast of Winsen. Source and course The Örtze valley is an old gl ...

330 ha * Schierbruch and Forellenbach valley 250 ha * Brambostel Moor 105 ha

Protected areas

There are more than 50

protected landscape Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

s (''Landschaftsschutzgebiete'' or ''LSG''s) in the park. LSGs with an area of more than 500 hectares are: *

Garlstorf Garlstorf is a municipality in the district of Harburg, 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, ...

er Wald and the surrounding area 10,383 ha *

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

-Oerrel 3,476 ha * Sottorfer Busch 2,589 ha * Eichenhaine (The Schweineweide) 2,239 ha * Schwindebeck 1,750 ha * Rosengarten

Kiekeberg The Kiekeberg is, at 127.1 metres above sea level, one of the more prominent hills in the Harburg Hills in north Germany. It is located in the parish of Ehestorf in the municipality of Rosengarten in the district of Harburg in the southern footh ...

Stuvenwald 973 ha * Woods on the edge of the Raubkammer 824 ha * Riensheide 759 ha * Lohbergen 550 ha * Klecker Wald 517 ha

Natural monuments

Glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...

s, a "century stone" (''Jahrhundertstein'') near

Soderstorf Soderstorf is a municipality in the district of Lüneburg, 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 Russi ...

* Lime trees,

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

Norway Spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

Juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

Myrica gale ''Myrica gale'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae, native to parts of Japan, North Korea, Russia, mainland Europe, the British Isles and parts of northern North America, in Canada and the United States. Common names include ...

near Wesseloh,

Holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

near

* Deposited rocks (''Wanderblöcke'') at Heimbusch and near

Egestorf Egestorf is a municipality in the district of Harburg, 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, ...

(see

glacial erratics A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

) * Source of the Schwindebach, a

clay pit A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits. A brickyard or brickworks is of ...

near Lieste and a "bottomless pit" near

* Schwalinger Flatt near Neuenkirchen (flat marshy lake from the ice age)

References

External links

Lüneburg Heath Nature Park Association (''Verein Naturparkregion Lüneburger Heide'')

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luneburg Heath Nature Park Lüneburg Heath Nature parks in Lower Saxony Cultural landscapes of Germany