New visitor center for the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park
After two years of construction and a total cost of eleven million euros, a new visitor center for the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park in Nonnweiler-Otzenhausen was opened on Friday. According to Saarland Minister President Anke Rehlinger (SPD), the Celtic Park National Park Gate combines "first-class architecture" with Saarland culture and nature. "With its wide range of offers, the visitor center has great potential to become a tourist magnet in Saarland, something we can be proud of," said Rehlinger.
The new building, which has a special wooden façade with material from the surrounding area, will be a nature experience center offering permanent exhibitions as well as events. As an excursion destination for school classes and a meeting point for ranger tours, it will also fulfill an educational function. It also houses administrative and office space.
The joint national park of the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland was opened in 2015 and covers around 10,000 hectares. Ten percent of this is located in Saarland. The key objective is to let nature be nature on at least 75 percent of the area and to gradually take the land out of forestry use. "However, the national park is not a closed area that must not be entered," says the Saar Environment Ministry. On the contrary, it invites visitors to experience nature. Three gates with different thematic focuses will provide the entrance.
"For our transnational Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park, today's opening is another milestone in the joint development of the national park gates," says Rhineland-Palatinate State Secretary Erwin Manz (Greens). Visitors to the Erbeskopf can discover the habitats of the national park: extensive forests and the typical hillside moors. At a third location, the Wildenburg game reserve near Kempfeld, the focus will be on native wild animals. This will create three attractive points of contact for visitors.
According to Saar Environment Minister Petra Berg (SPD), the national park as a nature conservation project is making a significant contribution to the National Strategy on Biological Diversity by protecting biodiversity and developing into a wilderness area. From spring 2024, a new permanent exhibition will take visitors on a journey through the past to the time of the Celts and their influence on the forest.
During their leisure time, many visitors will undoubtedly be attracted to the new visitor center's array of nature-themed events and exhibitions. Furthermore, the center's commitment to nature conservation aligns with the National Park's goal to preserve at least 75% of the area as a wilderness, protecting biodiversity and providing valuable habitat for native wildlife.
Source: www.dpa.com
