The Mellenthiner Heide is an area south of the municipality of Mellenthin in the interior of the island of Usedom. Contrary to its name, it is in many parts not a landscape, but a closed forest area and place marsh. The area is crossed by the federal road 110, borders westwards to the Usedom city forest and extends to the south almost to the Stettiner Haff. Its biggest attraction is a Wisentreservat. Edit HistoryQual
The area shares the history of the municipality of Mellenthin.
From the mid-1930s, the naval ammunition depot for the Flak batteries in Central Pomerania was built in the eastern part of the heath. It consisted of a widely branched bunk system, numerous storage halls and accommodation for forced laborers of different nationalities. After the end of the war the installations were blown by the Red Army. Today, the site is (partially) used by the ammunition collection company of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and is closed to the public. The extensive route of the remaining forest area between the federal road and the villages on the Stettiner Haff (Stolpe on Usedom, Gummlin, Prätenow and Dargen) is accessible to cyclists and hikers.
Since 1999, the area is part of the Naturpark Insel Usedom. Wisent-Reservat Edit the source text
Since July 2004 there is a Wisentreservat of about 6 ha size at Prätenow. The first 4 animals were a gift from the Ministry of the Environment in Warsaw and come from various Polish national parks. Wisente im Wisentgehege Usedom
In the wild, Wisente in Pomerania had already been exterminated at the end of the 14th century; on the island of Usedom the last Auerochse is documented in 1364.
Already in GDR times (1979), representatives of the national park of the Polish neighboring island Wollin, where there had been a Wisent-Freigehege since 1976, expressed interest in a cooperation with the island of Usedom. This first initiative, however, was not supported by the responsible district administration in Wolgast as well as the district administration in Rostock and ended with the closure of the border in 1981. Only in 1999, when nature conservationists from the island Usedom came to an excursion to the national park Wollin became the idea again taken up. When looking for a location, the Mellenthinerheide, which was not very developed in tourism, was considered to be particularly suitable. Approval was granted in November 2003; in January 2004 the construction of the show was completed, which was completed in the summer. One bull and three cows were imported from the Polish virgin forest of Białowieża. In Bialowieza the last wisete of Europe lived in the wild before they were exterminated there in 1919. It was not until 1952 that the Wisent returned to the jungle, after an international breeding program could literally be saved at the last minute. The Usedomer Wisentgehege is expanded in 2009 by a permanent exhibition and an information center. Thus the Usedomer Wisentgehege then also a bad weather offer and is open throughout the year. All information in the enclosure is in German and Polish.
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