Why Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve stands out
Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp is best known for the Plästerlegge waterfall, a roughly twenty-metre cascade set in a cool, humid slate gorge that supports one of North Rhine-Westphalia's most distinctive ravine forests. A large population of the large-flowered silverleaf (Lunaria rediviva) grows in the gorge, which is uncommon at this scale in the region and gives the forest its rare 'silverleaf ravine forest' character. The reserve is also recognised for its contrasting ecology: above the gorge, a small saddle high moor adds a peatland dimension that is unusual within an otherwise rocky, forested valley system. The combination of slate cliffs, damp spray zones, ancient beech-ash-elm forest, and intact bog fragments makes the area a key reference site for protected gorge-and-bog mosaics in the Sauerland.
Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve history and protected-area timeline
The protection history of Plästerlegge extends back to the early post-war period. The Wasserfall area was first designated as a nature reserve by the Arnsberg district government on 29 July 1952, covering about 11.7 hectares in the then-municipality of Ramsbeck. The original ordinance was renewed on 23 January 1968, again by the district government of Arnsberg.
In 1975, the municipal restructuring in North Rhine-Westphalia transferred the reserve, now catalogued as NSG HSK-452, to the enlarged municipality of Bestwig. The Plästerlegge reserve continued in its original form until the early 2000s, when the Hochsauerlandkreis began reviewing its landscape plans.
On 16 December 2004, the district council of the Hochsauerlandkreis adopted the new landscape plan for Olsberg, formally designating a new 'Plästerlegge – Auf'm Kipp' nature reserve (NSG HSK-260) of about 14.7 hectares on Olsberg municipal territory. This linked the waterfall and gorge to the moor and slopes of the Auf'm Kipp hill, and integrated the reserve into the larger FFH site 'Schluchtwälder bei Elpe' under the EU Habitats Directive.
A second extension followed on 14 December 2007, when the district council adopted the Bestwig landscape plan and added a further 13.78 hectares on Bestwig territory to the same combined reserve. At this stage the original Plästerlegge reserve was enlarged from 11.7 to 13.78 hectares. The two new sub-areas together give the present-day reserve its hybrid character: a small, mosaic nature reserve spanning two municipalities but unified by stream, slope, and rock.
Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve landscape and geographic character
The landscape of Plästerlegge – Auf'm Kipp is dominated by a narrow, steep-sided gorge that drops sharply from the slopes of the Auf'm Kipp ridge down to the valley floor near the village of Wasserfall. The stream leaps roughly 20 metres in a single cascade through the gorge, creating a turbulent spray zone at the foot of the fall.
The gorge walls are formed of Middle Devonian slate, which has weathered into jagged rock bands and a high cliff face along the Auf'm Kipp ridge (outside the protected boundary itself). Deep, narrow side valleys known locally as 'Siepen' cut back into the slopes, adding further relief and shelter to the terrain.
Above the gorge, the land opens into a rougher upland slope with a small basin-shaped high moor near the watershed. The moor lies in a relatively gentle saddle position between higher ground, with boggy outflow channels descending back into the forested slopes. The combination of sharp gorge, broadleaf forest, rocky cliff faces, and an elevated peat basin gives the reserve a strongly three-dimensional character over a small area.
Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve ecosystems, habitats, and plant life
Ecologically, Plästerlegge – Auf'm Kipp is essentially a protected mosaic of two priority habitats: ravine and slope mixed forest (FFH habitat type 9180) and degraded, but still restorable, raised bog (habitat type 7120). Both are listed as priority habitats under the European Habitats Directive.
The ravine forest is the most prominent feature and is unusually well developed. The canopy is a patchwork of European beech, sycamore maple, wych elm, pedunculate oak, and hornbeam, with many individual trees older than 165 years. The floor and lower slopes of the gorge are dominated by Lunaria rediviva (large-flowered silverleaf), giving the site its special 'silverleaf ravine forest' status. Splashes, seepage, and cool humid air along the waterfall create conditions in which rare ferns, mosses, and lichens typical of the Mauerraute fern association survive.
The high moor component is smaller, but ecologically significant. The raised bog contains a classic mosaic of rushes and purple moor grass, with bog birch woodland and spruce moor woodland developing along the wetter outflow edges. Rewetting is a key management goal, alongside converting surrounding spruce plantations to broadleaf forest, particularly beech, to improve water retention feeding the waterfall.
Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve wildlife and species highlights
The reserve is most strongly characterized by its plant communities rather than its large mammals, but it supports notable bird life typical of mature, mixed upland forests. Confirmed breeding species in and around the reserve include the wood warbler, the grey wagtail (especially along the waterfall and stream), the blackcap, and the common whitethroat in warmer scrubby edges near the village.
The combination of mature broadleaf trees, deep gorge microclimate, and bog margins provides nesting and feeding habitat for several woodland and edge species typical of the Sauerland. While the published record focuses on breeding birds, the continuity of older forest, deadwood-rich slopes, and connected FFH woodland also supports typical woodland invertebrates, small mammals, and bats associated with the broader Schluchtwälder bei Elpe site.
Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve conservation status and protection priorities
Plästerlegge – Auf'm Kipp holds conservation significance at three nested levels: as a small-scale nature reserve under North Rhine-Westphalian law, as a part of the regional protected-area network in the Hochsauerlandkreis, and as a contributor to the EU Natura 2000 network through the FFH site 'Schluchtwälder bei Elpe'.
Its particular importance lies in representing habitat type 9180 (ravine and slope mixed forests) and habitat type 7120 (degraded still-restorable raised bogs), both of which are priority habitats under the Habitats Directive. The gorge forest is notable for its silverleaf populations, its old-growth tree age structure, and its relict glacial flora surviving in the spray-zone cliff microhabitats, giving the site strong botanical value beyond the regional scale.
Active management targets include restoring natural hydrology in both the bog and the waterfall's catchment, replacing spruce with broadleaf forest to reduce water loss through transpiration, reducing agricultural intensity around springs, and preventing illegal ice climbing in winter that disturbs frozen waterfall habitat. Together with neighbouring reserves on the Auf'm Riese and Steinmarkskopf-Hardenberg, Plästerlegge forms a network of protected gorge and slope forest along the upper Sauerland valleys.
Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve cultural meaning and human context
Plästerlegge – Auf'm Kipp sits within a region shaped by centuries of small-scale farming, slate mining, and forestry. The nearby village of Wasserfall itself takes its name from the cascade, reflecting how the waterfall has long been a local landmark. The wider Bestwig and Olsberg area belong to the historic Sauerland, whose economy and identity have long been tied to waterpower, slate quarrying, smelting, and walkable mountain scenery.
The hiking routes crossing the reserve, including the Sauerland long-distance trails (X10 and X16), the Bestwig panorama trail, and the Bergmannsweg mining route, link the gorge to a broader regional tradition of cultural and industrial hiking tourism. The reserve is also a focus for environmental education in the Hochsauerlandkreis, illustrating how steep gorge forests, peat bogs, and old mining landscapes coexist in a single small valley system.
Top sights and standout views in Plästerlegge, Auf'm Kipp Nature Reserve
The most striking highlight of Plästerlegge – Auf'm Kipp is the 20-metre waterfall in a narrow slate gorge, framed by ancient beech-maple-elm forest and dense silverleaf undergrowth. Equally distinctive is the unusual pairing of this cool ravine ecosystem with a small high moor on the slopes of the Auf'm Kipp hill, complete with bog birch woodland and a cotton-grass-rich peatland mosaic.
The reserve also stands out for its relict glacial flora on the waterfalls's rocky cliffs, its age-structured mixed broadleaf forest, and its role in the EU Habitats Directive site 'Schluchtwälder bei Elpe', one of the few Sauerland FFH sites explicitly anchored to a single, iconic waterfall. Active rewilding, hydrological restoration, and former spruce conversion to beech give the reserve a strong restoration dimension alongside its protected natural features.
