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A great place to visit, take a stroll, walk your furry friends or just enjoy and discover nature is just around the corner from Sembach and actually linked to the military. The main entrance to the nature reserve is just across the supermarket on road L 401/Kaiserstrasse. Driving on A63 you might not even realize that you’re traversing an amazing natural reserve close by the Sembach exit.
Ramstein Air Base is a member of the Foundation Mehlinger Heide (Mehlingen Heath), initially developed 2002 to fulfil environmental compensation requirements due to a lack of compensation possibilities on the air base itself. At that time many construction projects took place in lieu of the Rhein-Main Transition Program when Rhein-Main Air Base closed and Ramstein became the new “Gateway to Europe” and a new runway was built.
Until 1912 the area around Mehlingen was completely covered with forest. The Army administration in Kaiserslautern was then granted a drill ground at Kleiner Fröhnerhof and in 1938 first maneuvers took place at Grosser Fröhnerhof. Exercise operations with constant soil damage then fostered the emergence of heather and nature handled the rest. As of 1945 the area was used by French Forces, along with a part utilized by U.S. Armed Forces stationed at Ramstein and Sembach Air Bases.
In 1994 it was decommissioned and returned to the German government. The total area is 410 hectares and 150 hectares are comprised of heather, making it one of the largest heather landscapes in southern Germany. Numerous trails with educational stops along the way invite you to leisure strolls. Band wagon trips are offered in the summer and at point “Höhe 325°” you have a panoramic view over the countryside with Donnersberg in the distance. Since 2001 it has been a nature preserve area named “Naturschutzgebiet Mehlinger Heide.”
Countless animals and plants find their natural habitat in the Heide. The natural conditions give way to unique biodiversity as the landscape bears various facets of vegetation, including bushes, grass, sands, shrubbery and heather as well as trees and woods. All these different features are specially united at Mehlinger Heide.
Endangered plants and animals, such as wild bees or endangered birds, have settled here. Even a plant that had been declared extinct in Palatinate, the so-called Wiesen-Leinblatt, has been rediscovered in the area and a special bird that can be found there is called Ziegenmelker (European nightjar).
The best time of the year to visit is in August when the heather is in full bloom and gives the landscape a purple glow. But, a stroll is worthwhile year around, colorful wild flowers may pop up in the spring, early fall mornings will transform the area into misty scenery and it and can be especially exciting after snowfall when the landscape turns sugar-powdery white.
The heath also has a “small sister” on Ramstein Air Base. In 2008 two large ponds (Kilo Pond and Par Pond) in the airfield were backfilled due to BASH threat (Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard) and afterwards seven hectares were seeded and mulched with material gained from Mehlinger Heide.
This is the safest vegetation in respect to BASH and requires low maintenance, where mowing is only necessary every two to three years. Additional grounds adjacent to the flight line are scheduled to be seeded in 2024.
