Großer Kranichsee is 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, funga, or features of geologic ...

in the

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

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 ...

, Germany. It includes the smaller part of the eponymous bog, which is one of the most important

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombro ...

s in the Ore Mountains.

Geography

The nature reserve is located at an elevation of 950 metres above sea level in a high forest in the territories of

Eibenstock Eibenstock is a town in the Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western Ore Mountains, near the river Mulde. Geography Eibenstock has the following constituent communities: Eibenstock, Blauenthal, Wolfsgrün, Neidhardtsthal, ...

and Muldenhammer. The nature reserve is located next to the border with the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The larger part of the Großer Kranichsee bog () is located on the Czech side of the border within the Rolavská vrchoviště National Nature Reserve. In the southwestern part of the Großer Kranichsee Nature Reserve is located the Schwarzer Teich pond. To the east is the Kleiner Kranichsee, where the heart of the bog, unlike the Großer Kranichsee, lies on the German side of the border. It is a watershed and

krummholz ''Krummholz'' (, "crooked, bent, twisted" and ''Holz'', "wood") — also called ''knieholz'' ("knee timber") — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped by continual e ...

bog that is drained to the northwest by the

Große Pyra The Große Pyra is a river of Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde, which it joins in Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz. See also *List of rivers of Saxony A list of rivers of Saxony, Germany: A * Alte Luppe B * Bahra * ...

and to the southwest by the

Rolava The Rolava () is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Ohře River. It flows through the Karlovy Vary Region. It is long. Characteristic The Rolava originates in the territory of Přebuz in the Ore Mountains at an elevation of ...

Nature

Among the vegetation typical for the nature reserve are mountain pine (''

Pinus mugo ''Pinus mugo'', known as dwarf mountain pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, Swiss mountain pine, bog pine, creeping pine, or mugo pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Sou ...

''), hare's-tail cotton-grass (''

Eriophorum vaginatum ''Eriophorum vaginatum'', the hare's-tail cottongrass, tussock cottongrass, or sheathed cottonsedge, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout t ...

''), black crowberry (''

Empetrum nigrum ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, mossberry, or, in western Alaska, Labrador, etc., blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. Desc ...

''), bog bilberry (''

Vaccinium uliginosum ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. Description ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is a small deciduous shrub growi ...

'') and bog rosemary (''

Andromeda polifolia ''Andromeda polifolia'', common name bog-rosemary, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus ''Andromeda'', and is only found in bogs in ...

''). Among the fauna in the area are European viper (''

Vipera berus ''Vipera berus'', also known as the common European adder Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. . and the common European viper, ...

'' and ('' Lacerta vivipara'').

Tourism

As early as 1900 the Ore Mountain Club branch at Carlsfeld laid a

corduroy road A corduroy road or log road is a type of road or timber trackway made by placing logs, perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the best ...

into the bog and erected an observation platform that has since disappeared.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosser Kranichsee Kranichsee, Grosser Bogs of Saxony