The Augsburg-Western Woods Nature Park () is one of the two ''nature parks'' in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

. The 1988 founded park has a size of . The nature park is bordered by the rivers

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, Wertach, Schmutter, Flossach and Mindel. The biggest part of it is located in

Augsburg (district) Augsburg (; Swabian German: ''Augschburg'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the city of Augsburg and the districts of Aichach-Friedberg, Landsberg, Ostallgäu, Unterallg� ...

and extends to the edge of the districts

Unterallgäu Unterallgäu (, ) is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Neu-Ulm, Günzburg, Augsburg, Ostallgäu, Oberallgäu, and the districts Ravensburg und Biberach in Baden-Württ ...

Günzburg (district) Günzburg is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. Its capital is the town Günzburg. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Dillingen, Augsburg, Unterallgäu and Neu-Ulm, and by the state of Baden-W� ...

and

Dillingen (district) Dillingen is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Donau-Ries, Augsburg and Günzburg, and by the state of Baden-Württemberg (district of Heidenheim). History ...

Landscape

The gentle, hilly landscape is divided by the streams Schmutter, Neufnach and

Zusam The Zusam () is a river in Bavaria, Germany and a right tributary of the Danube. Its source is just north of the village of Könghausen, in the Unterallgäu district of Bavaria. It flows north for approximately 97 km, before converging into ...

into gently undulating plateaus and flat interfluves. It is part of the Tertiary Hills between the

and the

Bavarian Alpine Foreland The Alpine Foreland, less commonly called the Bavarian Foreland,Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 585-586. . Bavarian Plateau or Bavarian Alpine Foreland (), refers to a tria ...

. Nearly half (43%) of the region are forested and the proportion of grassland are high, too. The northern part around

Welden Welden is a community in the Augsburg (district), Augsburg district of Bavaria, in Germany, and is the seat of the commune of Welden. Since the local government reform in 1978 it comprises Welden, Reutern and Ehgatten. Geography Welden lies at t ...

is named Holzwinkel, the middle part around Dinkelscherben, Reischenau and the south part (south of the line Thannhausen- Ziemetshausen- Fischach- Gessertshausen- Stadtbergen) are the Stauden.

Sights and attractions

Nature-Park-House near Oberschönenfeld Abbey

The Nature-Park-House, which was opened in the year 1992, is located in an adjoining building of Oberschönenfeld Abbey south of Gessertshausen. In the rooms of the Nature-Park-House the exhibition ''Nature and Men in the Nature-Park'' is shown. Furthermore there is near the Nature-Park-House the last thatched ''Staudenhaus'', a little farm house in the type of construction which was typical in the ''Stauden''. This house was rebuilt at this place between the years 1974 and 1980. In the stables, unused since 1972, the Bezirk Schwaben established the Swabian Folklore and Crafts Museum (Schwäbische Volkskundemuseum) in 1984. File:Kloster Oberschoenenfeld Schwaben Ansicht West.jpg, Oberschönenfeld Abbey File:Staudenhaus 3.jpg, Staudenhaus

Further attractions and sights in the Augsburg-Westliche Wälder Nature Park

* people's observatory in Streitheim *

Nemeton A nemeton (plural: nemeta) was a sacred space of ancient Celtic religion. Nemeta appear to have been primarily situated in natural areas, often sacred groves.Koch, p. 1350. However, other evidence suggests that the word implied a wider variety of ...

s and former castles, built in the Middle Ages (for example the Haldenburg near Schwabegg) * Fuggercastle Kirchheim, from the 18th century, with the „Cedarhall“, one of the most beautiful

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

halls of Europe. The hall has a

coffered ceiling A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...

with timber of Cedar from the

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and 14 native kinds of wood, all in natura. * pilgrimage church of St. Michael in Violau and observatory from the 18th century * pilgrimage church of Maria Vesperbild near Ziemetshausen * pilgrimage church in Biberbach * pilgrimage church of Allerheiligen near Scheppach (municipality

Jettingen-Scheppach Jettingen-Scheppach is a market community in the Günzburg (district), Günzburg ''Landkreis'' in the Schwaben (Swabia (administrative region), Swabia) ''Regierungsbezirk'' in Bavaria. It lies between Ulm and Augsburg. Its population as of 1 Dec ...

) * church of St. Thekla in

* many little

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

- and

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

-churches in the "Swabian Pfaffenwinkel"

Gallery

File:Aystetten westl - Rauher Forst v O.jpg File:Rothsee Zusmarshausen.jpg, Rothsee File:Wald bei Mödishofen 04.jpg File:Christoph-Scheiner-Turm-01.jpg File:Sonnenaufgang_im_Naturpark_Westliche_Wälder_Augsburg.jpg

References

External links

Nature park website
{{Authority control Nature parks in Bavaria Augsburg (district) Dillingen (district) Günzburg (district) Unterallgäu Swabia (Bavaria) Protected areas established in 1988 1988 establishments in West Germany