A Muschelkalk hillside sanctuary protecting rare dry grassland, scrub, and warmth-loving species near Hildesheim.
Steinberg bei Wesseln
Steinberg bei Wesseln is a small nature reserve (Naturschutzgebiet) in Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the town of Bad Salzdetfurth in the Landkreis Hildesheim, southeast of the city of Hildesheim. The protected area covers the moderately steep to steep southern slope of the Steinberg, a ridge in the east of the Tosmarberg range, and is wholly coincident with a similarly named European Fauna-Flora-Habitat (FFH) site.
The defining feature of the reserve is a hillside of Muschelkalk (shell limestone), whose easily warmed weathering soil supports semi-dry grassland (Halbtrockenrasen), scrub, small woodland patches, and grassland parcels, especially toward the eastern section. This combination of warm calcareous substrate and traditional grazing has created a habitat where numerous rare plants, snails, and insects adapted to dry, warm conditions occur.
With its protected status dating from August 2007, replacing an earlier 1984 designation of the same name and expanded to the southeast, the reserve sits among the network of protected landscapes that define the regional character of the Hildesheim hill country.
