Daniel C-Hazard

Germany - 02-Apr-24 -

I am surprised and excited to see this nomination. Born in Fulda and still returning to the Rhön a lot for visiting family and practicing paragliding, I know the Rhön very well - but actually the whole area between Rhön and Harz mountains (I focus on the Rhön area in this post). What I do not quite get though is the „Natural only“ nomination. Needless to say, the former border, a man-made strip of landscape with many monuments and museums nowadays, would also fall into the „Cultural“ category (so why not nominate a „Mixed“ site here?). That said, the decade-long off-limits character has surely contributed to some untouched nature. I can recommend a visit to the Rhön, already a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Here, you can visit Schwarzes Moor [picture], which comes with a boardwalk and a free observation tower. If you like, you can also sink your legs into the bog mud at a designated spot (and shower off afterwards). This rain moor is a legacy of the Last Glacial Period. From the parking lot (at „Haus zum Schwarzen Moor“), I recommend to walk NNW for 10 minutes to „Ehemaliger Grenzturm am Dreiländereck“, a good spot to see the former border with corresponding interventions in the landscape. Overall, despite the „Natural only“ focus, this would be a worthwhile WHS.