Why Speyerer Auwald stands out
The Speyerer Auwald is best known for its mosaic of Rhine floodplain habitats: softwood willow-poplar floodplain (Weichholzaue), hardwood ash-oak-elm floodplain (Hartholzaue), alluvial meadows (Stromtalwiesen), reed-fringed oxbows like the Goldgrube and Runkedebunk, and old oaks with woodpecker cavities. It is recognized as an important breeding, resting, and stopover area for waterbirds, waders, and songbirds, and as one of the key amphibian sites in the Upper Rhine valley, with notable concentrations of natterjack toads and tree frogs.
Speyerer Auwald history and protected-area timeline
Modern landscape planning for the Speyerer Auwald began in 1977, when the Goldgrube was placed under protection as a protected landscape element through an ordinance under section 16 of the Landespflegegesetz (state landscape conservation act), with the objective of preserving the water surface, shoreline, and surrounding terrain for their landscape character and as a habitat of rare plant communities. In 1987, the city of Speyer designated roughly 55 oaks of about 100 years old in the Auwald as protected landscape components, reflecting growing attention to old trees and deadwood as habitat. The broader landscape of the Pfälzische Rheinauen was placed under landscape protection in 1983.
The Speyer municipal council adopted further conservation targets for the city forest on 7 December 1993, explicitly aligning forest management with Natura 2000 obligations, the landscape plan accompanying the Speyer land-use plan, and the care and development plan for the Rhine floodplain between Speyer and Germersheim. The targets included increasing biotope diversity through species choice reflecting small-scale site differences, raising the share of veteran trees, old-growth groups, and deadwood, refraining from firewood harvesting in designated areas, and maintaining certification standards. For the floodplain forest specifically, the council called for preservation and restoration of near-natural silver willow stands, regular five-year coppicing of pollard willows, gradual conversion of black walnut and sycamore maple working forests toward site-typical species, sparing use of cultivated poplars with preference for older black-poplar-related varieties, and removal of poplars between the towpath and the cut-off arm to develop a silver willow floodplain forest.
A 2006 landscape plan (Landschaftsplan zum Flächennutzungsplan), prepared by Carola Schnug-Bögerding on behalf of the city of Speyer, continued to direct integrated planning for the area. Beyond ecological milestones, the Auwald reflects long human use: historical salmon fishing (giving rise to the Salmengrund name), the Herrenwiese as a former excursion ground of open-air concerts and dances, and a Cold War floating emergency bridge at the Rheinhäuser Fähre landing within a now-declassified military restricted area.
Speyerer Auwald landscape and geographic character
The Speyerer Auwald lies on the flat alluvial floor of the Upper Rhine Graben (Oberrheingraben). Its physical setting is defined by the active Rhine channel to the east, the main embankment (Rheinhauptdeich) running north-south, and a series of former river arms and backwaters to the west, including the Berghäuser Altrhein, the disconnected Runkedebunk, and the relic water bodies Goldgrube and Lausgrube. The Neuer Hafen of Speyer, with two harbour basins, cuts into the northern end and shapes the spit-like Färchenwärtel parcel.
Within this framework, the forest shows a clear altitudinal and hydrological gradient. Low-lying channels and inactive arms carry softwood floodplain vegetation of willows and poplars that is regularly influenced by groundwater and occasional summer flooding, as visible in the Weichholzaue of Insel Horn. Higher, older levee surfaces support a hardwood floodplain of ash, oak, and field elm with a near-natural Querco-Ulmetum character. Stromtalwiesen, special flood-distributed meadows, occupy open parcels such as the Sick'sche Wiese and the western An der Lußheimer Fahrt, while reedbeds fringe the Goldgrube, the Schluten of Insel Horn, and the Runkedebunk.
The Auwald faces both the active Rhine, with views across to Rheinhausen and the Speyer Cathedral above the tree line, and the inner backwater system with its still water surfaces and characteristic sedge, reed, and willow fringes. The land is a mosaic of named localities: from south to north, Hintere Hammelweid and Sick'sche Wiese, Im Hechenich with the Runkedebunk and Insel Horn, the Goldgrube and Lausgrube, Im Unteren Hechenich and Im Salmengrund at the Rheinhäuser Fähre, Schänzel and the Ratswört/Rheinanlage (the Anlach) with the Herrenwiese, and finally An der Lußheimer Fahrt and Färchenwärtel beside the harbour.
Speyerer Auwald ecosystems, habitats, and plant life
Ecologically, the Speyerer Auwald represents a near-complete sequence of Rhine floodplain ecosystem types in a compact area. The canopy of the Speyer Rhine floodplain forest is dominated by ash, poplars, oaks, and sycamore maple, with smaller shares of walnut, beech, and willows. Within this matrix, the softwood floodplain, dominated by silver willows and poplars, occupies the wettest zones along active and former river arms, while the older hardwood floodplain of ash, field elm, and oak occupies higher terraces. Insel Horn alone contains 81 trees with woodpecker cavities, distributed across poplars, oaks, ashes, willows, birches, grey poplars, and pear trees.
The aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats are equally important. Reedbeds of Phragmites line the Goldgrube, the Schluten within Insel Horn, and the Runkedebunk arm. Silberweiden-Gesellschaften (silver willow communities) characterize the Goldgrube and Lausgrube area, with a narrow belt of Weichholzauenwald of the Silberweidenauenwald type along the Berghäuser Altrhein on Insel Horn and at the northern edge of Insel Flotzgrün. The Speyer municipal forest management explicitly promotes the conversion of poplar stands to silver willow floodplain forest and the conservation of pollard willows.
The interplay of forest, meadow, reedbed, and open water creates the habitat mosaic that makes the Auwald ecologically significant: a single landscape that supports breeding wetland birds in reed-fringed backwaters, cavity-nesting birds in old trees, foraging bats in mature woodland, amphibians in seasonal pools and meadows, and migrating waterbirds on open water and mudflats.
Speyerer Auwald wildlife and species highlights
The bird fauna of the Speyerer Auwald is unusually rich for an inland European site. In the core area around Im Hechenich, Runkedebunk, Insel Horn, and Goldgrube, surveys recorded 15 strictly protected bird species and 11 other specially protected or endangered species, including seven listed in Annex I of the EU Birds Directive. Protected species include the purple heron (Runkedebunk), black kite (Goldgrube), goshawk (Insel Horn), sparrowhawk and common buzzard (Goldgrube, Insel Horn), common and hobbies (Goldgrube), green and wood sandpiper (Goldgrube), kingfisher (Goldgrube, Runkedebunk), wryneck (Goldgrube), grey-headed, green, black, and middle spotted woodpeckers, and red-backed shrike.
Among other specially protected species, the area supports little and great crested grebes, grey heron (Goldgrube, Runkedebunk), teal and water rail (Goldgrube), lesser spotted woodpecker (Insel Horn), melodious warbler and golden oriole (Insel Horn, Goldgrube), penduline tit and rook (Goldgrube), and large numbers of Laro-Limikolen (gulls, terns, and waders, around 50 species) and waterfowl (around 40 species). The EU Birds Directive summary lists the site as a key area for black kite, kingfisher, middle spotted woodpecker, bluethroat, purple heron, honey buzzard, marsh harrier, grey-headed and black woodpecker, red-backed shrike, corncrake, water rail, wryneck, sedge and great reed warbler, penduline tit, terns, divers, diving and dabbling ducks, geese, cormorant, and gulls.
Bats are also significant. Detector and netting surveys on Insel Horn recorded ten bat species, including Bechstein's bat (with confirmed breeding based on a pregnant female and the species' small action radius), brown long-eared bat, common and lesser noctules, greater mouse-eared bat (uncertain detector record), whiskered bat, Nathusius' pipistrelle, common pipistrelle, Daubenton's bat, and soprano pipistrelle. The reed-rimmed Goldgrube and Lausgrube, the Runkedebunk, and the Berghäuser Altrhein all host amphibians protected under the EU Habitats Directive, including great crested newt (Goldgrube, relict population), garlic toad, natterjack toad (Goldgrube, Sick'sche Wiese, seepage depressions, with several hundred individuals forming a distribution focus), European tree frog (northern range limit in the Rhine floodplain), moor frog (critically endangered), and pool frog. Reptiles include grass snake in the Goldgrube and Runkedebunk and sand lizard on the embankment near Insel Horn and on the Sick'sche Wiese. Invertebrate rarities include the blue-winged grasshopper (Blaue Ödlandschrecke) at the edge of the Sick'sche Wiese and the large copper butterfly (Großer Feuerfalter, Annex II Habitats Directive) in a wet meadow near the Dammwachthaus.
Speyerer Auwald conservation status and protection priorities
The Speyerer Auwald is, in conservation terms, a recognized component of two European ecological networks. It is part of the EU Birds Directive site DE 6716-402 "Berghäuser und Lingenfelder Altrhein", valued for its substantial breeding populations of reed- and tree-nesting target species, its oxbows and large mudflats as indispensable resting and staging habitat for Laro-Limikolen, ducks, geese, and other waterfowl, and its preservation target of a structurally rich floodplain landscape forming a natural mosaic of shallow water zones, mud and gravel banks, reedbeds, and soft- and hardwood floodplain forests, as defined by the Rhineland-Palatinate state ordinance on conservation objectives for Natura 2000 sites.
It is also part of the FFH site DE 6716-301 "Rheinniederung Germersheim-Speyer", characterized as a Rhine floodplain landscape with extensive hardwood floodplain forests, former river arms, clay-pit waters, and reedbeds. The site's worthiness is documented through rarely encountered plant communities, animal occurrences of supra-regional importance, habitats for migratory fish, particular relevance as a stopover and resting area for birds, bat habitats, and old-wood-rich floodplain forests.
At the local level, the city of Speyer has layered additional protection: the 1977 protection of the Goldgrube as a protected landscape element, the 1987 designation of about 55 century-old oaks as protected landscape components, the 1993 municipal council targets tying forest management to Natura 2000 obligations, and ongoing conversion of poplar working forests toward silver willow floodplain forest and site-typical hardwood species. Totholz (deadwood), Überhälter (veteran trees left standing beyond normal rotation), and Altholzgruppen are all part of the management approach aimed at increasing habitat complexity.
Speyerer Auwald cultural meaning and human context
Several place names in the Speyerer Auwald preserve the cultural memory of Speyer's historical relationship with the Rhine. The Salmengrund name recalls Speyer's once-significant salmon fishery. The Goldgrube takes its name from historic extraction of Rhine gold and extinguishing sand, reflecting pre-modern use of floodplain resources.
Within the Auwald, the Herrenwiese served as a traditional excursion ground for the city's inhabitants, hosting open-air concerts and dances; the cultural memory of this recreational use still attaches to the site. At the north of the Im Salmengrund parcel, during the Cold War a floating emergency bridge was stationed in a fenced military restricted area for defense contingencies, a reminder of the strategic position of the Rhine in that period. Today the site of the Rheinhäuser Fähre is again a cultural link, connecting Speyer via a seasonal passenger ferry to Rheinhausen for walkers and cyclists.
Top sights and standout views in Speyerer Auwald
The Speyerer Auwald's signature combination is a near-natural mosaic of silver willow floodplain, hardwood ash-oak-elm floodplain, Stromtalwiesen, relic oxbows, and over 80 old cavity-bearing trees concentrated on Insel Horn. Within a few square kilometres it supports Annex I species such as kingfisher, purple heron, middle spotted and black woodpeckers, and red-backed shrike, alongside a confirmed breeding population of Bechstein's bat and one of the most important natterjack toad populations in the Upper Rhine valley.
Conservation-wise, the Auwald stands out as a documented part of two Natura 2000 sites (DE 6716-402 Birds Directive and DE 6716-301 Habitats Directive), supported by decades of local protection dating back to 1977 and 1987 ordinances in Speyer. The Rheinhäuser Fähre landing within the forest also makes it a gateway for visitors exploring the Rhine floodplain by foot, bicycle, or river crossing.
