Wittmoor

Summary

Anyone entering the Wittmoor on dark autumn afternoons can grasp what makes the moor so unique in literature: its peculiar landscape, which is more morbid than vibrant, its oppressive silence, the cold dampness creeping through your clothes. And they will remember the legends and fairy tales, or even some poems, in which the moor provided the stage for both wondrous and terrible events.

Description

In fact, Wittmoor offers what is probably the most impressive view of a former bog in Hamburg. Many individual plant remains can still be seen at the edges of the mighty peat layers, which are up to three metres high. Raised bogs are quite species-poor due to the extreme acidification of their soil. Only true specialists can survive alongside the peat moss that dominates the landscape. Birch trees, myrica gale and blueberries grow at the edges; the wet areas of the bog lakes are characterised by bog bean, marsh cinquefoil, bog asphodel and beaked sedge. Beak-sedge, hare's-tail cottongrass, cranberries and various other dwarf shrubs can be found on the raised bog block. The acidic nature of the raised bog soil means that Wittmoor has a low species and individual count. Earthworms, leeches, woodlice and molluscs are mostly absent. However, certain species of dragonfly, such as the large white-faced darter, the moorland hawker and the black and ruddy darter, are abundant. Grass frogs and moor frogs have returned to areas that have become rewetted. Viviparous lizards, grass snakes and common European adders are once again common in Wittmoor. Notable bird species include the willow warbler, tree pipit and yellowhammer, which nest throughout the dried-out moorland areas. Common teals breed in the small moor ponds. Bird species typical of raised bogs, such as black grouse and Eurasian curlew, have disappeared from Wittmoor due to their sensitivity to disturbance. Eurasian goshawks and common kestrels like to hunt in the treeless areas, and during migration periods, Eurasian woodcocks, wood sandpipers and green sandpipers can also be observed.