Queichwiesen - Immaterielles Kulturerbe Wiesenbewässerung

Queichwiesen - Where Humans and Storks Play a Double Pass

They are essentially the connecting element between the Wine Route and the Rhine Meadows: the Queich Wiesen. With an area of around 350 hectares, it is the largest contiguous meadow irrigation system in Germany that is still actively operated. It extends over Landau, Offenbach, Hochstadt, Ottersheim, Knittelsheim, Bellheim, Zeiskam to Germersheim. The meadows are usually irrigated from west to east in a sophisticated system during spring and summer. Weirs and closures designed to dam and direct the water of the Queich, a tributary of the Rhine, partly date back to the 17th century.
This ancient agricultural culture technique – through irrigation, farmers achieve good hay yields despite largely forgoing fertilization – was added to the Federal Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage under the UNESCO Convention in 2018. Because the knowledge passed down from generation to generation over centuries can only be maintained through the application and transmission of the practice. Besides agriculture, nature conservation particularly benefits from the irrigation of the fields, ensuring the characteristic flora and fauna of the Queich Meadows is preserved (Information Boards/TIP: Queichwiesen Circular Hiking Trail ).

This also enables a successful double pass between humans and storks.
The interplay creates a natural spectacle in summer when up to 400 storks gather here before their migration south. The stork has become a common sight along the Queich. The first birds arrive as early as February and soon begin to nest. The young birds are ready to fly after eight to nine weeks and, along with their parent stork pair, have quite an appetite. A stork family with four young requires up to six kilograms of food a day. The Queich Meadows serve as a “richly laid table” with beetles, grasshoppers, worms, and mice. Sometimes up to 50 storks follow a tractor that is currently mowing the meadow.
Biking tours, walks, and hikes promise special experiences here – even during times when storks linger elsewhere. The Queichwiesen Interest Group offers guided tours and excursions. Independent exploration on a dense network of paths, created by agricultural use, is, of course, also possible. Very important: The irrigation facilities are off-limits, nature and agricultural areas must be preserved, and animals must not be disturbed when observed. A good overview is also provided at the Rhineland-Palatinate Stork Center in Bornheim. There, in addition to numerous information about the stork, there is also an interactive model of the Queich Meadows irrigation system. Armed with background knowledge, it becomes even more interesting outdoors in nature.

For more information, please visit:

Südpfalz-Tourismus Landkreis Germersheim e.V., Südpfalz-Tourismus Bellheim e.V.

Südliche Weinstraße e.V.

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