Facts
- Reconnecting the Laach to the Rhine
- Renaturation of the island area
- Establishment of a nature conservation and recreation area
- Dismantling of buildings
In the 18th century, the Werth was still separated from the mainland by the Rhine. However, this channel has silted up in the south, so that today the Werth is only partially separated from the Niederkassel district of Rheidt by an oxbow lake of the Rhine. A navigable dam artificially separates the oxbow lake and the Werth.
As part of the Green C, the idea of reconnecting the Laach to the Rhine in the south in its original form was revived. The Werth would once again become an island, which could be connected to the Rheidt bank by a new bridge. This project was also the subject of very controversial political debate in Niederkassel, and not just because of the costs involved. The Green C deserves credit for intensifying the discussion about this perspective once again, even if implementation of the idea is only conceivable in the long term at best and still requires intensive technical discussion with the nature conservation and shipping authorities.
Since the 1930s, a sports facility with two soccer pitches and a sports home had been built on the Rheidter Werth. It was not least the regular flooding caused by the Rhine floods, which the athletes had to contend with, that made the people of Rheidt more willing to give up the idyllically situated pitches and move to the new southern sports park. This opened up the possibility of removing the cinder pitch and grass pitch and demolishing the sports home as part of the Regionale 2010. In the meantime, flora and fauna have begun to take possession of the cleared areas - a successful contribution to renaturation.
In addition to protecting nature, the aim of
renaturation is to create a place for peaceful,
recreation close to nature - the
The Rheidter Werth is to become a nature reserve
nature reserve that offers citizens
recreational areas.
In the area of the "planned Laach extension", the existing riverside path was extended to form a circular path with benches, a "bastion" in the north and opportunities to observe nature. A strip of floodplain forest was planted on the south bank of the Rhine, which is currently largely treeless. The outdated poplar stand was replaced with trees of the softwood floodplain that are suitable for the location. A landscape gate with information about the Green C was created in the area of the current crossing over the Laach.