Why Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests stands out
The area is best known for its interconnected lowland river system feeding into the Schlei, paired with patches of high-quality beech and bog woodland. It is recognised at the European level for the diversity of Annex I habitat types concentrated in a single rural landscape. Priority habitats such as bog woodland, calcareous springs and alluvial alder-ash forests are particularly notable. The waterways sub-area is ecologically central because it links the small rivers Wellspanger Au, Loiter Au, Füsinger Au, Oxbek and Boholzer Au with the Langsee, creating a chain of still and flowing water bodies. The rivers are home to protected species like the spined loach and brook lamprey, while surrounding wet forests and heaths add significant biodiversity value.
Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests history and protected-area timeline
The Natura 2000 standard data form for the site was prepared in June 2004 by the Schleswig-Holstein State Office for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas. It was proposed as a Site of Community Importance in September 2004, confirmed by the European Union in November 2007 and nationally designated as a Special Area of Conservation in January 2010 under the German Federal Nature Conservation Act together with the Schleswig-Holstein Nature Conservation Act.
Because the site spans many landowners and land uses, separate management plans were drawn up for the SHLF forest areas, the waterways sub-area and the Neuberend sub-area. The forest management plan was followed by first cartography in 2006 and a follow-up survey in 2012, which identified no significant changes in habitats. The waterways management plan was published in December 2017 by the Ministry for Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitalisation. The Neuberend plan was released in May 2016 by federal authorities responsible for Bundeswehr infrastructure and federal forests, followed by a detailed care and development plan in December 2017.
The Neuberend sub-area has a particularly layered history. The military training ground was set up between 1958 and 1968 and served as a pioneer training site until March 2003, when the last major Bundeswehr unit stationed in Schleswig, Pionierbataillon 620, was disbanded. After conscription was suspended in July 2011 and many Schleswig-Holstein military sites were closed, use of the area progressively declined. By September 2017 the official site user was Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 Immelmann at Jagel, and the heavily reduced military activity has allowed natural succession across much of the terrain.
The wider Angeln landscape carries much older human history as well. The forested area around Idstedtwege contains a megalithic collective grave popularly known as the Idstedter Räuberhöhle, accessible from a nearby district road. The Karenberg forest holds a mass grave associated with the Battle of Idstedt in July 1850 during the Schleswig-Holstein Uprising, while another forest sub-area near Idstedt-Osterfeld still contains visible remains of nineteenth-century trenches from the same battle.
Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests landscape and geographic character
The protected area sits in a gently rolling post-glacial landscape on the Angeln peninsula. Elevation runs from about 0.5 metres near the mouth of the Füsinger Au at the Schlei to approximately 52.4 metres in the Gehege Idstedtwege in the west, with overall relief differences in the forest of up to 30 metres. Morainic hills, glacial sands and peat-filled depressions create a mosaic of dry ridges and wet basins that supports both forest and open habitats.
Hydrologically, the area is dominated by elongated lowland streams and a long narrow lake. The central Langsee is roughly 5 kilometres long and up to 420 metres wide, feeding the Wellspanger Au, which later becomes the Loiter Au and Füsinger Au on its way to the Schlei. Tributaries such as the Boholzer Au, Oxbek and Flaruper Au add to the system. The river valleys are typically 80 to 100 metres wide within the protected area and combine natural meanders, straightened agricultural stretches, weir structures and small backwaters.
An unusually varied inland dune and heath landscape is found in the Neuberend sub-area and around Idstedt-Osterfeld. Here former glacial sand deposits have built low dunes, kettle mires and dry heath. Slightly higher ground is occupied by old beech and oak forest, while the lower and wetter ground carries alder and ash floodplain forest, bog woodland and sedge mire. The contrast between low forest hills, open heath dunes and dark bog hollows gives the wider site a strongly varied, though subtly expressed, topography.
Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests ecosystems, habitats, and plant life
Ecologically, the area is defined by the interaction between lowland rivers, nutrient-poor wetlands and ancient forest. Forests are dominated by different types of beech woodland, including Hainsimsen-Buchenwald on more acidic soils and Waldmeister-Buchenwald on richer substrates, with smaller shares of old acidic oak forest on sandy ground, bog woodland in peat-filled depressions and alluvial alder-ash forest along the rivers. More than three quarters of the SHLF forest sub-area consists of beech woodland, with heath forming roughly one fifth of the surface.
The stream system supports a rich freshwater ecology. Annex I habitat types in the waterways sub-area include naturally nutrient-rich stillwaters with pondweed and frogbit communities, dystrophic stillwaters, lowland streams with submerged vegetation, transition and quaking bogs, molinia meadows, tall herb fringes, lowland hay meadows and small calcareous springs. Several plant species recorded in the area are listed on the Schleswig-Holstein Red List, with species such as flutender Sellerie, kleiner Wasserschlauch and Knöterich-Laichkraut classified as endangered.
Semi-open landscapes include dry heaths, wet heaths with cross-leaved heath on sand dunes inland, small patches of inland dunes, and species-rich grasslands used for extensive grazing or mowing. The Neuberend training-ground landscape in particular preserves an unusual combination of inland dunes, dry heath, wet heath, dystrophic pools and bog woodland that has developed after reduced military use. This mosaic supports high biodiversity in a relatively confined area and is one of the most distinctive features of the site.
Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests wildlife and species highlights
The site is important for a number of protected animal species alongside its habitat diversity. The waterways sub-area is home to fish species listed under the EU Habitats Directive, including the spined loach and the brook lamprey. Otters use the stream network and its fish-rich stretches, while great crested newts inhabit suitable ponds and wet forest edges. Four bat species have been recorded in the area, and additional reports include the moor frog.
The Broholm forest sub-area supports bats such as the common noctule and Nathusius's pipistrelle, as well as wetland-associated birds including the white-tailed eagle, eagle owl and black woodpecker, with the pond bat and mosquito bat also reported. Forest birdlife benefits from old beech and oak stands, while open heath and dune areas in the Neuberend sub-area provide habitat for heathland specialists. Together, these records indicate the area's role as a stepping stone for protected fauna between the Schlei coast and the inland forests of Angeln.
Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests conservation status and protection priorities
From a conservation perspective, the site is significant because it unites a wide spectrum of EU Habitats Directive habitats and species within a single rural landscape. These include several priority habitat types such as bog woodland, calcareous springs and alluvial alder-ash forests. Protection therefore extends across forest, freshwater, mire and open-land habitats, an unusually broad mix for an inland Natura 2000 site in Schleswig-Holstein.
Management focuses on raising groundwater levels to protect mires and buffer forests against drought, which is seen as a central task given the impacts of storm damage and climate change. This includes dismantling drainage systems and installing additional water-retention structures. Other priorities are converting conifer stands to broadleaf forest, preserving old trees and deadwood, maintaining grazing and mowing to prevent heath and grassland succession, and reducing nutrient and sediment inputs from surrounding farmland to protect river habitats.
The formal Natura 2000 designation process is documented through German federal and EU-level steps: data form preparation in 2004, proposal as a Site of Community Importance that year, EU confirmation in 2007 and national designation as a Special Area of Conservation in 2010. Multiple sub-area management plans, a six-yearly monitoring cycle and involvement of state, federal and military authorities show that the site is treated as a long-term conservation responsibility rather than a short-term project.
Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests cultural meaning and human context
The cultural layer of the landscape is unusually visible for a nature protection site. The Gehege Idstedtwege contains a megalithic collective grave known locally as the Idstedter Räuberhöhle, which is publicly accessible from a nearby road with an information board. The Karenberg forest contains a mass grave linked to the Battle of Idstedt of July 1850, which was a decisive engagement of the First Schleswig War.
In the Idstedt-Osterfeld sub-area, remains of nineteenth-century trenches from the same battlefield are still visible in the terrain and are protected as historical monuments. A small forest section near Broholm contains a tumulus grave, and the broader area has been shaped for centuries by water mills, farm clearings, fish-pond systems and traditional grazing. The twentieth-century military history of the Neuberend training ground adds a more recent cultural dimension, while the area's location within the Naturpark Schlei ties it into a broader regional framework for landscape-based recreation and environmental education.
Top sights and standout views in Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests
The site is notable for combining a complete lowland river system with extensive beech forest, rare bog woodland and an unusual post-military heathland complex. The rivers Wellspanger Au, Loiter Au, Füsinger Au, Oxbek and Boholzer Au connect in a single network that links inland lakes to the Schlei, producing a corridor of stillwaters, flowing waters, wet meadows and alluvial forest.
The forested Idstedtwege and Karenberg sub-area carries the best-preserved old beech stands, including trees over 220 years old and parts designated as natural forest. The Broholm forest offers accessible walking routes, a forest kindergarten and educational infrastructure within the Naturpark Schlei. The Neuberend training ground provides the most distinctive open-land habitats, with inland dunes, wet and dry heath, dystrophic pools and bog woodland. Together these features create a rich Natura 2000 site where forest, freshwater and heathland conservation meet.
Best time to visit Wellspanger-Loiter-Oxbek System and Adjacent Forests
Spring and early summer are generally the most rewarding seasons for observing the area, when wet meadows and river margins are lush, bog plants are flowering and forest birdlife is most active. Summer brings full leaf cover in the beech forests, which can make interior exploration more shaded, but open heaths and dunes in the Neuberend sub-area are at their most colourful.
Late summer and early autumn are good for spotting fungi, observing flowing water levels after the warmest months and approaching bat habitats around dusk. The site is largely used for quiet countryside walking; heavy rainfall can flood low-lying meadows and make some forest paths harder to use, while frost-free, mild days in late spring are excellent for amphibians along the wet woodland edges.
