The National Park of Saxon Switzerland Bizarre Rocks, Rugged Gorges
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Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland National Park Region Introductory brochure The National Park of Saxon Switzerland Bizarre rocks, rugged gorges STAATSBETRIEB SACHSENFORST Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland National Park Region Introductory brochure Conservation areas in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains National parks in Germany - wild and beautiful Slogan of the 16 German national parks Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty National Park Sächsische Schweiz (93,5 km²) Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty National Park Sächsische Schweiz České Švýcarsko (287,5 km²) (80 km²) Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Labské pískovce (250 km²) National border Crossing point (pedestrians) Nature conservation area With the implementation of the Schengen Treaty, anyone can cross the na- Crossing point (pedestrians and cyclists) tional border anytime and anywhere. Independent of this, according to con- National park servation law only marked hiking paths in the core zone and recognisable Crossing point (motor vehicles) National park core zone tracks (outside the core zone) can be used in both national parks. Landscape | Nature Protection | Goals | Flora and Fauna | Nature Experience | Information Points | Hiking Unique in Central Europe I saw on my earlier journeys through southern Germany, Switzerland, Salzburg, Austria and Silesia many beautiful things of this kind, but I have never come across such magnifi- cent rock formations. Carl Merkel, 1826 View of the “Großer Zschand” Elbe Sandstone Mountains – actually this com- area give the sandstone landscape its special the porous stone causes water courses to quickly mon term for Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland is character. Conical basalt mountains and adja- drain away, and the term "Barren Creek" is apt misleading. To some it may look like a mountain cent slopes of granite complement the scenery. to describe the result. range. In reality it is the bed of a Cretaceous sea - 100 million years old. After this drained This landscape "functions" in a unique way: In There are also interesting features in the area's off, up to 600 m of strong sand layers remained. contrast to the climatic sequence of a real moun- land use history - a history, that up to the 15th Over millions of years this superstructure has tain range, in the gullies and gorges a damp, century was influenced by Bohemia and in which been deeply fissured. The Elbe and its tributar- cool cellar-like climate reigns. In the higher forestry, hunting and sandstone quarrying and ies ate through it and smoothed it out. The re- areas, on the rocky ridges, it is by contrast shipping played dominant roles. There are old sult is a wonderous ruined landscape of block warm and dry, so the distribution of plants and castles on the cliffs, mountain inns, mills and sandstone, which daily crumbles into sand. The animals is practically reversed from the norm: weirs, the Saxon form of the alpine farm, an upper surface sandstone forms are divided into Mountain inhabitants settle at basement level individual dialect.... three "storeys": and plainsmen have taken over the mountains. • Mesas, stone and rock formations As is only normal in high mountains, low-grow- Last but not least 200 years of tourism and 150 • Plateaus ing pines, which call to mind Bonsai trees, mark years of mountain climbing have left an inter- • Valleys, gullies and gorges out the battle zone between forest and rock. esting mark on the area. The cragginess of the highest "storey" and A typical feature of the Elbe Sandstone Moun- height differences of up to 450 m in a small tains is the lack of water. The sponge effect of Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland National Park Region Introductory brochure Magic world of shapes Elbe sandstone, a material that contains both If these are dissolved, impressive shapes are the destructive and creative powers of nature, created, which range from shell-shaped imprints can, despite its simple composition, take on to cliff walls of honeycomb structure. many different forms. Quartz sandstone is grey- white to yellowish in colour. What we admire is not the finished construc- In the South of the region it is rough- and in tion, but rather the collapsing building, which the North fine-grained. This has a great influ- first owes its real beauty to its ruins. ence on the shape of the rocks. Paul Güßfeld The quartz grains are kept together by ex- tremely diverse types of binding materials. Disintegrating side of a towering rock Hourglass shape Striking effects of iron weathering at the summit Shell imprint Layered structure Honeycombs and iron bands Brosin Needle Landscape | Nature protection | Goals | Flora and Fauna | Nature Experience | Information Points | Hiking Nature protection - both traditional and modern Our Elbe Sandstone Mountains - a mountain Short chronicle of nature protection world that unites both the wild and the tame 1877 Call to limit sandstone quarrying near Bastei in a small area, is a piece of native soil that and other natural scenic attractions deserves to be cherished as one large nature 1873-1930 Successful protests against the conservation area. construction of mountain railways to Bastei and Lilienstein Paul Wagner, 1931 1911 First nature conservation area at Hohnstein 1938/40 Designation of Bastei and Polenztal as nature conservation areas 1954 Discussion on the designation of Saxon- Rathewalde in the nature conservation area Bohemian Switzerland as a national park 1956/72 Establishment of the nature conserva- tion areas Saxon Switzerland and Labské pískovce (Elbe Sandstone) 1961 Designation of further nature conservation areas: Großer Winterberg/Zschand, Kirnitzsch- klamm, Zeschnigleiten 1990 Designation of Saxon Switzerland as a national park 2000 Creation of České Švýcarsko (Bohemian Affensteine (Monkey Rocks) in the national park Switzerland) National Park Elbe Sandstone Mountains Nature conservation area The national park What one loves, one also protects. So it is no The Elbe Sandstone Mountains presents as a To the right of the Elbe, large connecting forest wonder that efforts to protect the landscape whole a cultural landscape that has been used and rocky areas remain despite land use. These and nature in Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland date and moulded by humans for centuries, with a are either unpopulated or very sparsely settled back to the middle of the 19th century. characteristic interplay of forest and rock, open and scarcely developed in terms of traffic. These The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, lying both land, mostly village settlements and transport areas today still possess features of a natural sides of the border between Saxony and the routes. landscape and were therefore designated as a Czech Republic, not only form a unit in the natu- Related to its designation as a nature conser- national park. They should be guided step by ral environment - both sides of the border there vation area, is the task of preserving the nature step towards natural development without hu- is a mutually supporting system of conservation and landscape in their entirety and retaining man exploitation and management. areas for their preservation and development. the area's suitability for recreation. This should On the Saxon side, the nature conservation At the same time, based on previous land use follow from sustainable land use and manage- area and national park together form the na- and settlement, specific protection goals and ment. As part of this, sustainable agriculture tional park region of Saxon Switzerland. The approaches are pursued. and forestry, a settlement limited to the needs national park administrative body is equally of the area, as well as respectful tourism, are responsible for both conservation areas. particularly important. Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland National Park Region Introductory brochure The national park – giving freedom to nature What (...) can give us reason to hope is (...) the wonderful assertiveness of nature. Let us confer in her, the creation, at least here and there, of a natural landscape. You can also call it wilderness. Siegfried Lenz Freedom and dignity are basic rights of man. to renounce exploitation and management. fires absolutely requires this. Doesn't that also apply to nature? The maxim is "let nature be nature”. Freedom for forest development means that Almost without exception we use, shape and Worldwide the national park family has around forests - over and above the usual phases of re- protect nature according to our own human 2,200 members on five continents. Our national generation, growth and maturity - can become needs and measures. Practical "second-hand park is one of 16 in Germany; in the Czech Re- old. They may even decay and regenerate in the nature". This applies to agriculture and for- public there are 4. Both national parks in the natural recycling process. However, to do that estry just as much as to hunting and fishing. Elbe Sandstone Mountains are as far as possible they need an enormous amount of time - about Moreover, as the result of our own actions state-owned. 400 to 600 years. (e.g. forest destruction, climate change), we In the public interest, the Free State of Saxo- This freedom also applies to the gradual re- view nature increasingly as an invalid, whom ny has renounced the use of natural resources forestation of pasture meadows kept open by we want to help in good faith. But nature is (e.g. wood, water, wild animals) for commercial mowing or grazing and the development of not static; in fact it constantly changes ac- purposes in the national park. Underlying this watercourses. cording to its own laws. This dynamic cannot policy is the realisation that the active cycle of Nature knows no disasters. Like rockslides, be replaced by exploitation and management. nature can only function when components are wind blasts and blizzards in forests or outbreaks not constantly removed. of insects must be recognized as natural pro- In national parks nature should get back Another guiding principle is that we should cesses and effective methods for the repair of its freedom and dignity.