Military training area
MILITARY TRAINING AREA
The site was first used for military purposes in 1873, when cannon manufacturer Alfred Krupp established a firing range here. At that time the area was largely treeless heathland. From the mid-1930s, the German Wehrmacht used the site as an airfield. In the meantime, due to the great demand for pit wood for the nearby Ruhr area, large areas had been reforested with pine trees. In 1945, the British military took over the area and set up a large military training area with another area. In 2015, the British Army of the Rhine returned the site to the Federal Republic of Germany. This ended many decades of intensive use by the British military in the area of the two military training areas. With its heaths, dry sandy grassland and moors, the former military training area is one of the most valuable natural landscapes in North Rhine-Westphalia. Due to the fact that it has been used as a shooting range or military training ground since 1873, a large section of a semi-open heath and moor landscape has been preserved here, as was once characteristic of the pre-industrial cultural landscape of the Münsterland. Numerous endangered species find an important retreat in the roughly 1,800-hectare hilly, sandy landscape.
MY MEMORIES OF THIS PLACE
This military training area can be reached by bike from where I live. We used to go there as kids. However, the path is a difficult one and mostly it goes uphill. But after about two hours we had reached our destination. Once we camped right next to the military training area that was still active at the time. I can still well remember the vibration of the sandy soil caused by the heavy tracked vehicles. On Sundays my father took us with him and we looked for the 7.62 mm practice ammunition that had been fired on the paths and streets. But only if the flag at the entrance signaled that no military exercise was taking place on the site. Every boy in my neighborhood had a round or two of practice ammunition at home. Crazy times! And I'll never forget the lessons my father taught me to never stray from the paths. Never! Well, that was over 45 years ago and I always stick to it. After opening in 2015, the long concrete road through the site can officially be used. Now some days it's already too crowded for me, all full cycling, roller skating or jogging. Nobody pays attention to the beauty of nature. All people are busy with themselves. Weekdays and early mornings it's like it used to be...deserted.
HEATHLAND
In the center of the area, a large heath landscape has been preserved due to military use. Numerous sandy paths run through the area. In order to preserve this landscape and stop the threat of bush encroachment, flocks of sheep graze the vegetation.
THE FISH POND IN THE SWAMP
In the middle of the forest is a swampy depression. There is an in open area. In the center are former fish ponds with pronounced silting up zones. It is surrounded by mostly humid and near natural deciduous forests. Many rare waterfowl breed here. Only in early spring can you catch a glimpse of the old silted up fishpond, in summer and autumn the whole shore is overgrown and the animals have a quiet retreat.
THE HIGH MOOR
This high moor lies on the edge of the former military training area. Although it is very small, only a few hectares, it is a protected area. Bogs are habitats with a positive material balance. The formation of organic matter is greater than its decomposition and thus its consumption. The extreme lack of mineral salts, the low pH value and the permanent water saturation of the raised bog habitats result in a highly specialized, unique flora and fauna with a large number of endangered species. A small agricultural field path leads past this special habitat on the edge. This is where these photos were taken.
