Origins & mining: mountain pine raised bog

Natural remedies. Sustainable. Effective.

How the mountain pine raised bog came to be

An illustration of the Ammer Valley when it was covered by glaciers during the Ice Age.

Glaciers covered the Alps and the Alpine foothills during the Ice Age. Like giant grinding machines, they sculpted valleys and depressions. When the glaciers melted at the end of the Ice Age, around 10.000 years ago, small lakes and ponds formed in these depressions, lacking inlets and outlets. Without circulation, the water was poor in oxygen and nutrients, so only specialized plants could grow in these newly formed habitats. Reeds, rushes, and sedges, for example, thrived there.

An illustration of the Ammer Valley after the glaciers retreated. The lakes silted up and peat formed.

The plants decompose only incompletely. Organic material accumulates, and the former body of water slowly begins to silt up. The accumulated plant remains gradually form an increasingly thick layer of peat.

Peat formation initially occurs in fens. Fens are still fed by groundwater and are therefore nutrient-rich. The surface of the fen rises slowly, with an annual growth rate of approximately 1 mm. As the peat layer thickens, it loses contact with the nutrient-rich groundwater.

An illustration of how the peat layer grows upwards and loses contact with the groundwater.

This process now occurs solely through nutrient-poor precipitation. From this point onward, it is referred to as a raised bog. Due to the new conditions, different plants thrive in the bog. A special feature of the raised bog in the Ammergau Alps is the mountain pine. The mountain pine withstands the harsh conditions of the raised bog. Its resinous root system and the sphagnum mosses provide organic substances from which humic acids are formed. These are the components that make the bog in the nature park so special in its healing properties.

Moorland knowledge: What is actually…

A bog is a permanently waterlogged habitat with a lack of oxygen in the soil, in which dead plants are not completely decomposed and peat is formed.

Peat is a deposit of incompletely decomposed plant remains. It forms the material from which moorland landscapes are made. Strictly speaking, moor baths are actually peat baths.

A fen is fed by mineral-rich groundwater or spring water, is nutrient-rich, usually flat, and covered with sedges, grasses, reeds, and mosses.

A raised bog develops from a fen when the peat layer grows so high that it no longer has contact with the groundwater. It is then fed only by nutrient-poor precipitation.

It is also known as mountain pine. The health benefits of this pine species are better known under this name. Its deposits are particularly rich in humic acids, a key element in the effects of peat.

The term peloid is frequently used in connection with peat baths. Peloid is the generic term for all "healing muds".

Peat extraction and remediation

Use and extraction of the moor at that time

For a long time, people didn't know what to do with the moor. From an agricultural perspective, this wet and acidic soil was considered worthless. However, the peat did eventually find a useful purpose: large quantities of peat blocks were cut with special knives, and these were often used for heating in winter instead of wood due to their good calorific value.

Use and extraction of the moor today

Around 150 years ago, the practice of administering peat baths for health reasons began in what is now the nature park. As a result, peat was soon needed in larger quantities, and gradually several cable excavators were acquired to facilitate peat extraction. Then, as now, each peat bath establishment had its own designated peat extraction area.

Restoration of the moor

Peatlands are valuable ecosystems, both as habitats and as carbon sinks. Therefore, responsible management of this resource is all the more important. For this reason, the extracted peat is returned to the peat cutting. There it can regenerate for approximately 10 years before being used again in peat baths. This allows us to use the peat in a very resource-efficient way for the health of our guests.

The moor nature trails

The origins and significance of the highly sensitive ecosystem are explained on the moor nature trails in Bad Kohlgrub and Bad Bayersoien. Visitors learn how a moor is created, dismantled, prepared and renatured.