The Düben Heath Nature Park (), which covers large areas of the eponymous Düben Heath, was the first

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

in Germany that resulted from a citizen's initiative and not from a government office. Around 1990, in order to prevent the further spreading and advancement of

brown coal Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, Combustion, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered ...

mining in the neighbourhood, the first citizens' initiatives were established for the protection and conservation of nature in the area. The park is covered by a very varied, rolling

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

land formed as a result of the Saale glaciation. It is a traditional excursion and recreation area in the relatively sparsely wooded heart of Central Germany. Its area is roughly evenly divided between the states of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

, about midway between

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

in the northeast and Leipzig in the southwest. Other major towns in the immediate vicinity are

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

Bitterfeld Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Hall ...

and

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies first met near ...

. In the north and northeast the nature park is bounded by the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

of the Middle

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) 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 the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

. On its western perimeter are the towns of Bitterfeld and

Gräfenhainichen Gräfenhainichen () is a town in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography The town was the seat of the offices of the administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') of Tor zur Dübener Heide until it was disbanded in Jan ...

and the River Mulde. The interior of the park is accessible on the B 2 federal highway. It extends south as far as the B 87 with the towns of

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; , ) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge of the D� ...

and

Bad Düben Bad Düben (), until 1948 Düben is a town in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony in Germany. It is situated at the southern end of the Düben Heath Nature Park (Düben Heath), between the rivers Elbe and Mulde, which runs through the city cente ...

. Geologically it is a landscape of

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an 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 e ...

s and sandurs, composed predominantly of coniferous forest, mixed forest, lakes, bogs and grassland. The main species of tree is the pine. The park covers about 770 square kilometres in toto and has a population of 68,400 (as at 31 Dec 2000) with a density of 89 inhabitants per km². 66% of the area is forest, 29% is used for agriculture, 2% are urban areas, 2% is

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

and 1% is used by

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

. There are about 1,000 kilometres of designated cycle paths and hiking trails. The nature park is supported by the Düben Heath Association (''Verein Dübener Heide''). The association, founded on 28 September 1930, was re-established on 31 March 1990. It is a member of the Association of German Nature Parks and the Association of German Mountain and Rambling Clubs. File:Dübener Heide beeches2.JPG, Open beech forest File:Dübener Heide pond.jpg, Pond File:Bad Schmiedeberg Blaues_Auge.jpg, '' Blaues Auge'' near

Bad Schmiedeberg Bad Schmiedeberg () is a small town in the Wittenberg (district), district of Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It lies within the Düben Heath Nature Park. History The town was first mentioned in 1206 as ''Smedeberg''. In 1350, it was grant ...

External links

Home page of the nature park

Presseler Heath woodland and moor region - the most beautiful part of the Düben Heath
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duben Heath Nature Park Nature parks in Saxony-Anhalt Nature parks in Saxony Nature parks in Germany Nordsachsen

See also

External links