Aerial view of a lake with lots of shore greenery and a tributary

Gentle Bird Paradise in Upper SwabiaFedersee Nature Experience

15.4.202510 min. read timeby Hirsch & Greif

The birdlife in the Federsee nature reserve is as diverse as it is curious. You can discover it on a birdwatching tour with Kerstin Wernicke.

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A Mystical Place

Federsee Moor Landscape

Behind the reeds, where the lake is today, there used to be a large town. So in the past... and then again an age before. Many people lived in this great city. They were rich. They lived well. Perhaps they lived far too well. Because they were immoderate and godless - so the city perished. In its place there is now a huge black-brown hole filled to the brim with bog and other muck.

There are many myths and legends that surround the Federsee - this wonderful and mysterious place, which is located in the middle of the largest contiguous moorland area in Baden-Württemberg.

Perhaps it is important to understand the people who told these tales. Back then, they stood in front of an impenetrable meadow of reeds and wetlands. They could neither go in nor see what it really looked like. They would have sunk into the depths of the moor. So they imagined what might be behind the curtain of reeds. Of course, they couldn't imagine how beautiful, how rich and how fantastic nature is there. Today you can see it. Live and in color, with all your senses, in complete peace and serenity and in some places even on comfortable footbridges.

On a Discovery Tour

A Paradise for Birdwatching

The second largest lake in Baden-Württemberg is hidden behind 250 hectares of reeds up to four meters high. When the Federseesteg did not yet exist, reed beds and wet meadows were all that the people of Bad Buchau saw of their lake. The 33 square kilometer moor around the lake in Upper Swabia is a nature reserve and habitat to 700 plant species, 600 butterfly species and 272 bird species. Over 100 of these are breeding birds. As an important, protected habitat, the Federseemoor belongs to Natura 2000 and is a European bird reserve. In order not to disturb the biodiversity, the Federsee footbridge was built in 1911. That was also the year in which Nabu founder Lina Hähnle acquired the first areas on Lake Federsee and allowed them to run wild undisturbed. The Nabu nature conservation center has been located in Bad Buchau since 1987. From there, Nabu organizes guided tours and monitors the nature reserves in the moor.

A woman stands in front of binoculars and looks out over the landscape of Federsee.

Nature Guide Kerstin Wernicke

On Narrow Paths

A Footbridge on Over 1,000 Oak Piles

A small entrance hut stands at the entrance to the Federseesteg, black water glistens through the wooden planks, valerian and meadowsweet, among others, bloom on the wet meadows. The footbridge is 1,500 meters long, stands on 1,091 oak piles and is over 100 years old. It was built to allow visitors to reach Federsee without disturbing the flora and fauna. Suddenly Kerstin stops - “now be very careful!”: A small reed bunting, a bird the size of a sparrow with a black head and white cheek stripes, is sitting on a reed directly in front of us. Kerstin Wernicke keeps looking through her binoculars and pointing at the greylag geese and red kites flying over the reeds. After about a kilometer, the observation tower rises out of the reeds. A black coot stalks through the water, the rare common tern flies its spectacular hunting maneuvers, and a beaver has built a small house made of twigs and branches right next to the jetty.

Aerial view of Lake Federsee. In the middle, a wooden footbridge leads across the lake.

Floating Viewing Platform

An almost meditative walk, accompanied by the gentle rustling of the tall reeds.

Aerial view of the landscape near Lake Federsee. Many meadows, trees and houses in a village.

A long wooden walkway leads across a large meadow.

A family with three children and a woman behind them are walking across a footbridge above a lake. At the end of the footbridge, behind the family, there is a wooden building on the lake.

Three people look out over Lake Federsee from a wooden footbridge.

A coot swims on the Federsee. There are many water lily pads on the water.

Federsee Marshland

The belt around Lake Federsee is considered to be the richest bog in Central Europe.

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One With Nature

Biodiversity at Federsee

What is particularly fascinating is what happens in the second. If you take the time to look closely, you will be richly rewarded. It moves everywhere. It wobbles. It flies. It chirps. It mocks. It chases. It squeaks. It whistles. It shimmers. It sings. It flees. It courts. There are thousands of species: birds in all colors, insects in all forms and reptiles in all elements, i.e. in water, in the moor and on the ground. You don't have to be an ornithologist to rave about Lake Federsee.

„In late fall, up to 3,000 swimming birds rest on the lake. You can hardly see the water for all the feathers.“

Kerstin Wernicke

Perhaps this is where the name of the lake comes from. Feather Lake. But only perhaps, after all, this explanation could be a legend.

In nature, early risers have an advantage. Those who adapt to the rhythm of the birds are treated to a wonderful natural spectacle in the morning. We squint into the sun, it's 8 a.m., the sky is bright blue. "200 years ago, the town was enclosed by the Federseemoor. Back then, you could only cross over to the neighboring community by boat," says Kerstin Wernicke as we walk the few hundred meters from the Nabu center to the Federsee jetty. "In order to make the area around Bad Buchau usable for agriculture, the lake level was lowered back then. Today, the lake, which used to be up to 6 meters deep, is now only 0.6 to 2.8 meters deep."

It's fun to listen to her - and the birds, of course. You become very quiet and calm. It's not just animals and plants that can relax thanks to the tranquillity of Federsee. People can do the same.

Curiosities: The Fog Man

You've read a lot about the legendary Nebelmännle in many mythical places in Upper Swabia. But no one has ever spoken to the little man in the opaque haze. There are now even rumors that he may have perished with the great city that once stood where Federsee now lies.

Excavation Sites

Federsee Unesco World Heritage Site

Ein Besuch im Zentrum des Naturschutzbunds lohnt sich. Von dort starten auch die Führungen durch Moor und See. Auf keinen Fall sollte man das Federsee-Museum auslassen, in dem man tief in die wahre Geschichte des Sees eintaucht. Im modernen Holz-Kubus, der auf Pfählen gebaut ist, sind Pfahlbaudörfer konserviert. Dörfer wohlgemerkt, keine Städte. Diese gibt’s nur in der Legende. In Wirklichkeit gilt der Gürtel um den Federsee herum als fundreichstes Moor Mitteleuropas. Die vier Ausgrabungsstätten Alleshausen-Grundwiesen, Ödenahlen, Olzreute-Enzisholz und die Siedlung Forschner am Federsee gehören längst zum UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe. Das feuchte Moor hat stille Zeugen der Vergangenheit erhalten. Bei so viel Abwechslung sollte man sich Zeit nehmen. Er verträgt viel, aber bitte keine Unruhe. Bad Buchau und die umliegenden Dörfer bieten eine üppige Auswahl an traumhaften Hotels und Pensionen.