The Worringer Bruch is a section of swampy lowlands in the far north of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is approximately 8,000 years old, and is now almost a completely dried up

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

part of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. It was named after an adjacent district of Cologne,

Worringen Worringen is a ''Stadtteil'' (quarter) of the city of Cologne, Germany. Situated 15 km north of the city centre, on the left bank of the Rhine, it is part of the district of Chorweiler. In 1288, it was the site of the Battle of Worringen ...

, which once was an independent city, which has a thousand years of history (first mentioned in 922). The Worringer Bruch is geographically 37.5 m above sea level, and is the lowest point of Cologne (the highest is 118.3 m –

Monte Troodelöh Monte Troodelöh is the highest point in the municipal area of the city of Cologne. It lies in the Rath/Heumar district, approximately 1,250 metres south of the A4 at Wolfsweg between the intersection of Pionier-Hütten-Weg and the Brück-Forsbach ...

in Königsforst). The water level is closely related to the water level of the river Rhine. Today, Worringer Bruch offers shelter for different types of forest and cultural landscapes such as pastures and orchards, the most important being the floodplain landscape. In addition, Worringer Bruch serves as a valuable regional habitat for several endangered plants and animal species. Playing an essential role in the conservation and protection of nature, rare animals and plant species, it also serves as the "green lungs" of Cologne. It is also a notable area for recreation and nature experience such as hiking, and flora and fauna exploration. In 1991, the Worringer Bruch was designated as a nature reserve.

Fauna

As large parts of Worringer Bruch are difficult for people to access, it is an ideal habitat for many animal and bird species, including: *

Slowworm The common slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a species of legless lizard native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple, steelworm, and hazelworm. The "blind" in blindworm refers to the lizar ...

Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

s * About 20 species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s *

Nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, ...

s *

Marsh harrier The marsh harriers are bird of prey, birds of prey of the harrier (bird), harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized Bird of prey, raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. ...

s *

Black woodpecker The black woodpecker (''Dryocopus martius'') is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the ...

s *

Long-eared owl The long-eared owl (''Asio otus''), also known as the northern long-eared owlOlsen, P.D. & Marks, J.S. (2019). ''Northern Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)''. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook o ...

s *

European honey buzzard The European honey buzzard (''Pernis apivorus''), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Taxonomy The European honey buzzard was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in ...

References

* This article was translated from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

. The entry is available

here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

External links

Expert information on the nature reserve (German language)

Some additional detailed expert information in German language
{{Coord, 51, 2, 49.2, N, 6, 51, 31.8, E, region:DE_type:landmark, display=title Geography of Cologne Nature reserves in North Rhine-Westphalia Bogs of North Rhine-Westphalia