The Wölferlinger Weiher is a

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

in the municipality of Wölferlingen between the village of Wölferlingen itself and

Langenhahn Langenhahn is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Langenhahn lies in the Upper Westerwald and belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ...

in the German 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 (district), Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Rhein ...

. In 1979, the Wölferlinger Weiher was designated an official

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, funga, or features of geologic ...

. It is on the Seven Weiher Way (''7-Weiher-Weg'') in the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

region. Laid out along with six other ponds by Count Frederick III of Wied in the 17th century, the Wölferlinger Weiher is part of the

protected landscape IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

known as the

Westerwald Lake District The Westerwald Lakes () lie within the eponymous Westerwald Lake District (''Westerwälder Seenplatte'') in the Westerwald forest within the town quarters of Hachenburg, Westerburg, Montabaur and Dierdorf in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinat ...

. The Wölferlinger Weiher itself has an area of 1.02 hectares and is thus much smaller than the other waterbodies of the Westerwald Lake District. It is home to rare bird and plant species such as

Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder () is a ladder or staircase leading to Heaven that was featured in a dream the Biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of the dream has been de ...

and

lesser butterfly-orchid ''Platanthera bifolia'', commonly known as the lesser butterfly-orchid, is a species of orchid in the genus ''Platanthera'', having certain relations with the genus ''Orchis'', where it was previously included and also with the genus ''Habenari ...

. The lake has marshes and shallow water zones along its perimeter. The nature reserve around the pond has an area of about 90 ha.Rechtsverordnung der Bezirksregierung Koblenz dated 20 January 1979
/ref>

External links

Lagekarte beim Landschaftsinformationssystem der Naturschutzverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolferlinger Weiher Lakes of the Westerwald RWolferlinger Weiher Ponds of Rhineland-Palatinate Westerwaldkreis IUCN Category IV