A sheltered dry valley of calcareous grasslands and old sheep pastures in the heart of Thuringia.
Flachstal
Flachstal is a roughly four kilometre long dry valley in the Unstrut-Hainich district of Thuringia, Germany, cut into the gently undulating shell limestone plate that characterises northwest Thuringia. Although it carries only an episodic stream, the valley supports a remarkable mosaic of semi-dry grasslands, scrub fringes, and small patches of wetland along the streambed, set against steep valley flanks that expose weathered layers of Middle and Upper Muschelkalk.
The valley has been shaped not only by water and rock but also by centuries of grazing with sheep and goats, a land use that has maintained the open, flower-rich character of its slopes. After a long period of military use as a training area, parts of the valley were artificially planted with conifers, leaving an additional mark on today's landscape. Since 1999, the valley has been protected as a nature reserve and forms part of the European Natura 2000 network of protected habitats.
Flachstal stands out as a compact but ecologically rich refuge for species typical of dry-warm, calcareous open landscapes in central Germany, where rare plants, breeding birds, and butterflies find a maintained mosaic of grassland, scrub, and woodland edges within only a few kilometres of the wider intensively farmed plateau.
