Beautiful lake with observation tower and rich bird life

Lake Frießnitz is comparable to a castle ruin, as the first evidence of its existence dates back to the High Middle Ages. Its shape has also changed many times over the centuries. The high sediment input of the red sandstone led to alternating silting/de-silting, enlargement/reduction and finally damming, so that the "lake" actually became a pond - a man-made biotope. Its high value for nature was recognized early on and botanical and ornithological studies were carried out as early as the 19th century, although ornithology at this time was mainly carried out with a shotgun. The "bird pastor" Christian Ludwig Brehm, the father of the famous Alfred Brehm, and Karl Theodor Liebe should be mentioned here. In the GDR, a duck farm was set up on the lake with the negative consequences of high levels of eutrophication. The vegetation was also subject to various changes. For example, the drinking water zone in the silting area prevented effective grazing for many years. Before and after German reunification, the Frießnitz

ornithologist Hans Günter Baum has campaigned for the area and pushed for its protection. In recent years, reeds have been successfully introduced and new willows planted. In all this time, the lake/pond has remained a hotspot for ornithology in Thuringia and a Mecca for birdwatchers, who now use a spotting scope instead of a shotgun.

With the desilting of the lake carried out by NABU in 2013, the acquisition of land and the establishment of extensive grazing with water buffalo, a considerable improvement in the biotope value, not only for birds, can already be seen (2015).