Why Säulingssee Nature Reserve stands out
Säulingssee is best known as a surprisingly rich wet habitat complex built on the former bed of a lost lake. Its eutrophic shallow pools shelter highly endangered aquatic plant species of national importance, including pillwort and water feather, and provide breeding and stopover habitat for uncommon wetland birds such as bluethroat, snipe, and water rail. The site is also notable for the long-running conservation grazing by water buffalo, which helps keep the wetland open and diverse.
Säulingssee Nature Reserve history and protected-area timeline
The lake that once filled the Säulingssee basin was first documented around 1155 in the Codex Eberhardi, a record of the possessions of the Imperial Abbey of Fulda, where it was listed as a "fish estate." In the early 15th century, the lake and nearby settlements, including Kleinensee, passed into the administration of the Hessian landgraves, and the modern state border gradually took shape.
For centuries the lake supported local fishing. Carp and pike were reportedly abundant, and the fish became especially important when the fortified hunting lodge of Friedewald was converted after 1476, drawing the landgrave and his guests to the area, particularly during Lent when fish was a staple food. The lake's economic importance faded after the Friedewald castle was destroyed in 1762 during the Seven Years' War and after the Reformation reduced the ritual significance of fish in local diets.
Drainage of the lake began around 1760 to convert the fertile basin floor into farmland. The Suhlbach, which had originally fed the lake, was redirected past the basin. Drainage intensified in the 1930s with a large ditch and a dense tile drainage network, allowing full agricultural use of the area. After agricultural use declined between about 1960 and 1970, drainage stopped being maintained and the basin grew wetter again. The formal protection of the site in March 1984, its designation as a European FFH site in 2008, and its inclusion in the National Nature Monument Grünes Band Hessen in 2023 mark the modern phase of the area's history.
Säulingssee Nature Reserve landscape and geographic character
The reserve sits in a basin-shaped subrosion sink at roughly 230 metres elevation, just outside the floodplain of the Werra river. Soils in this former lakebed are made up of loamy and sandy sediments, with muddy lake deposits in the deeper southwestern portion and peaty, semi-boggy soils in the northwest where seepage water emerges.
The surface of the reserve is a patchwork of small-scale features. Wet meadows alternate with abandoned grassland, tall herb communities, clumps of trees and shrubs, still-water ponds, and ditches. Several of the ponds are over a metre deep in places, with shallow banks. Water levels fluctuate strongly through the year, and some of the water bodies dry out in summer. The whole area is bordered by a surrounding ditch and by land that is no longer used for farming, giving the reserve a distinct buffer of open, unmanaged ground.
Säulingssee Nature Reserve ecosystems, habitats, and plant life
Ecologically, Säulingssee is defined by its wetness and its mix of open and lightly wooded habitats. The eutrophic shallow ponds are the heart of the reserve. They harbour highly endangered aquatic plants of national importance, including pillwort and water feather in a silting-up pond, alongside water mosses and shield-leaved water buttercup. Extensive pondweed belts have developed in several of the water bodies.
Around the ponds, a varied mosaic of reedbeds, tall herb vegetation, wet meadows, scrub, and small tree groups creates a richly layered habitat structure. The basin's cool, moist microclimate, with longer frost periods and a shortened growing season of about 250 days, supports plants and animals that would not otherwise thrive in this part of eastern Hesse.
Säulingssee Nature Reserve wildlife and species highlights
The wetland mosaic at Säulingssee supports an unusually broad range of fauna for such a small site. The shallow ponds are important breeding habitat for several amphibian species, including common toad, European tree frog, water frogs, pool frog, smooth newt, palmate newt, and northern crested newt, all of which use the pools for spawning and early development.
In the clearer, plant-rich pools, a population of the endangered Moderlieschen, a small fish, has been documented. This species forms the food base for two Red List bird species that use the area: little grebe and kingfisher. NABU Heringen's bird surveys between 2008 and 2013 recorded a remarkable suite of breeding and migrating birds at the reserve. Confirmed breeding species of conservation concern include common snipe, bluethroat, whinchat, grasshopper warbler, Eurasian teal, tufted duck, red-backed shrike, reed bunting, Savi's warbler, marsh warbler, and water rail. Migrants and resting visitors have included wood sandpiper, greylag goose, garganey, red and black kites, great egret, common pochard, green sandpiper, and white stork.
Since 2006, water buffalo have grazed the northeastern part of the reserve. Their trampling, browsing, and wallowing maintain open conditions and create additional small biotopes.
Säulingssee Nature Reserve conservation status and protection priorities
Säulingssee carries several overlapping layers of protection, which together highlight its conservation importance. It has been a German Naturschutzgebiet since 1984 and a European FFH site since 2008, both with the same external boundaries. The FFH designation targets in particular the habitat type of natural eutrophic lakes with amphibious and water plant vegetation, and the populations of yellow-bellied toad and northern crested newt.
Since 2023 the reserve has been part of the National Nature Monument Grünes Band Hessen, where it lies within Zone I, the core zone of outstanding conservation value. Together with adjacent reserves along the former inner-German border and the middle Werra valley, Säulingssee acts as a stepping stone in the Natura 2000 network and in the larger Grünes Band biotope corridor. The site's mix of rare aquatic plants, amphibians, and wetland birds means it contributes to regional and national biodiversity targets, not just local habitat protection.
Säulingssee Nature Reserve cultural meaning and human context
The reserve has a layered cultural history shaped by centuries of human management. The lake that once filled the basin was first documented in the 12th century as a fish estate belonging to the Imperial Abbey of Fulda, and the fishing economy that grew around it influenced the local nobility, including the landgraves of Hesse and the Boyneburg lords of Kleinensee. The present-day state border between Hesse and Thuringia, which runs directly past the reserve, is itself the result of long historical conflict between these territories and was fixed through medieval boundary stones. The agricultural drainage that destroyed the original lake, the later abandonment of that farmland, and the eventual rewetting of the basin all form part of the site's cultural story.
Top sights and standout views in Säulingssee Nature Reserve
Among the reserve's most distinctive qualities are the endangered aquatic plants in its eutrophic shallow ponds, especially pillwort and water feather, which give the site national importance for freshwater flora. Its amphibian fauna is also unusually rich, with multiple newt and frog species using the pools each spring. The reserve's bird list, including rare breeding species such as bluethroat, snipe, and Savi's warbler, and visiting species such as kingfisher and white storch, is exceptional for an area of its size. The grass-based nature of the conservation grazing with water buffalo gives the reserve a unique management character, while its inclusion in Grünes Band Hessen places it within one of Germany's most important ecological corridors.
Best time to visit Säulingssee Nature Reserve
Spring and early summer are generally the most rewarding periods at Säulingssee. Amphibians are most active around the spawning ponds in spring, reed and meadow birds are easiest to observe in late spring, and the mosaic of wet meadows and aquatic plants is at its greenest. Late summer may expose the seasonal character of the ponds, several of which partially dry out, which still attracts wading birds and insects. Wet boots are helpful because of the soft, muddy soils typical of any former lake basin.
