Im Auwald

Nature should not be judged by us, but by itself.
Blaise Pascal, Pensées, Frag. 457/Brunschvicg

The Leipzig alluvial forest is one of the largest preserved alluvial forests in Central Europe. It has an extensive, but heavily disturbed and dry water network. The Elster floodplains once (before 1930) created one of the most extensive floodplain systems in Europe. The destruction of river courses, the elimination of periodic flooding, canal and dyke construction, forestry, settlement pressure, coal mining and agricultural utilisation caused massive destruction of the conditions typical of floodplains. The alluvial forest continues to dry out. All small-scale aid measures to preserve the floodplain forest are ineffective. The clearly noticeable climatic changes are making the revitalisation that has been delayed for decades more difficult.

For several years, I have been photographing and documenting the condition and appearance of this landscape area, which has been destroyed for around 100 years and now has the status of an FFH protected area.

The magazine, which shows some of the pictures, was created on the occasion of the 5th International Leipzig Floodplain Ecology Symposium.