Protected nature reserve at "The Huckenhof Track"

The area north of Eppelsheim was purchased by the German Wehrmacht in 1933 for a depot for anti-aircraft ammuniton. After the war the buildings were pulled down and from 1946 until 1953 the land was used as farmland. In 1953 the US Armed Forces again built an ammunition depot with 10 open and 24 closed buildings as well as several protective walls. Since 1970 ammunition has no longer been stored there.

It was not until 1991 that the area was given back to the Federal Republic of Germany and on 5th April 1995 after lengthy negotiations the municipality of Eppelsheim could purchase it with all the buildings for 31,000 DM.

In one and a half years it took 18 voluntary helpers 1756 hours to create a beautiful nature reserve on an area of 10 hectares. The buildings were pulled down, bushes removed from dry and half-dry lawn areas , 2500 new bushes and trees were planted, a "Benjes hedge" was laid out and two stone heaps for reptiles were piled up.

Today a lot of plants and animals find a refuge there. The changing of the former ammunition depot into an ecologically valuable area was celebrated with an open day on 8th June 1997. Since then people have really made use of the recreation area a lot. You can walk around the nature preserve on a 1.3 km long round course while enjoying the natural surroundings. When the weather is fine you can see as far as to the Odenwald, Donnersberg (Thundermountain) and the Pfälzer Wald (Palatinate Forest).