Jasmund National Park

Infobox_protected_area | name = Jasmund National Park
("German": Nationalpark Jasmund)
iucn_category = II

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caption = cliffs and coast-line
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location = flagicon|Germany Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
nearest_city = Sassnitz, Stralsund
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area = 30 km²
established = 12 September 1990
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The Jasmund National Park is a nature reserve in the northeast of Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is famous for the largest chalk cliffs of Germany, the so called "Königsstuhl" (German = "king's chair"). These cliffs are up to 161 m high above the Baltic Sea. The undisturbed beech forests behind the cliffs are also part of the national park.

Consisting of only 30 km², this is the smallest national park of Germany. The park was founded in 1990 by the last government of the GDR prior to the German reunification.

Chalk cliffs

The chalk cliffs face constant erosion. With every storm, parts of the cliffs fall down to the ground, including rocks and fossils of sponges, oysters and sea urchins.

The most majestic part of the cliffs is the 118 metre high "Königsstuhl" (English: king's chair). One of the most scenic and best known of the chalk outcrops, the "Wissower Klinken", collapsed into the Baltic Sea on February 24, 2005 in a landslide caused by spring-thaw weather conditions. The steep and sweeping vista was the subject of a well-known painting by the 19th century German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.

Flora and fauna

Because of the special geological characteristics of the Jasmund National Park, it is home to many rare plants and animals.

There are many swamp-like ponds in the forest behind the cliffs. In den Wäldern der Stubnitz sind zahlreiche mit Wasser gefüllte, abflusslose Senken und Mulden zu finden, die meist als eiszeitliche Toteislöcher entstanden. This is the place to see many plants, e.g. Black Alder, Malus sylvestris, Wild Service Tree, Taxus and types of orchids, for instance Cypripedium calceolus.

Ornithologists can find a variety of birds, for example the White-tailed Eagle, Kingfisher, House Martin and the Peregrine Falcon.

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.nationalpark-jasmund.de/ nationalpark-jasmund.de] (German)
* [http://www.germanplaces.com/germany/chalk-cliffs-jasmund-national-park.html Jasmund National Park] pictures and information about the chalk cliffs