A Saxon nature reserve combining an old millpond wetland, open hills, and a former military range now left to biodiversity.
Alte See, Ruhmberg
Alte See – Ruhmberg is a compact nature reserve in the Landkreis Leipzig region of Saxony, Germany, centered on a centuries-old pond and the rolling hill country east of it. The protected area covers roughly 266 hectares straddling the boundary between the community of Parthenstein, in the village of Grethen, and the larger town of Grimma. Its landscapes blend a still-water wetland with alder carr, traditionally managed meadows, and open grassy hills shaped by more than a century of military training use.
The reserve was formally designated in 2015 after the withdrawal of Soviet-era troops in 1993 allowed nature to recover across large parts of the former training ground. Earlier protection had already existed since 1961 for the much smaller original pond reserve around the Alte See itself, which had been created in the fifteenth century as a millpond on the Parthe river. Today the site is recognized for its unusually rich flora and fauna for such a small area, including more than 450 vascular plant species and a diverse community of breeding birds, bats, and invertebrates.
Beyond its ecological value, Alte See – Ruhmberg illustrates a typical Saxon story of layered land use: medieval fish and mill management, early twentieth-century military conversion, mid-century conservation efforts, and late twentieth-century ecological rewilding after the departure of the military. The combination of wetland, meadow, scrub, and dry grassland creates a mosaic that supports an unusually high number of red-listed species within easy reach of the Leipzig region.
