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Along with a large connective biotope system and a sanctuary for animals rescued from the butcher, the International Gabriele Foundation  cares for a beautiful, spacious forested area, which is idyllically situated on the Main River and really lives up to its name »Nature Symphony«:

Huge trees, winding paths, hills and valleys, several springs and small brooks, which flow toward the Main – you can walk all day long in this expansive forest and keep discovering new things. People seeking rest and relaxation and nature friends are awed again and again by the beauty and grandeur of these mighty natural monuments: majestic trees reaching into heaven like pillars.

Enormous ferns with broad leaves edge the paths. In addition, there are the structural gems: Viaducts with rugged sandstone arches support the bridges over brooks and valleys and remind us of the former château park that was once part of a fortified castle.

Particularly splendid old trees grow in this section of the forest: beech and oak, but also maple, tamarack, spruce, linden, alder, acacia, chestnut and cherry. Above all, the ash trees thrive splen- didly in the whole wooded area on the soil that is good and moist all year round. While normally they are only about 40 meters high, here their crowns soar to 50-60 meters above the ground.

Plants also grow and flourish on the ground as can hardly still be found in any forest: Whole carpets of herbs draw through the woods, also yellow archangel nettles, lilly of the valley, key flowers (primula veris), buttercups, hellebores, including Christ roses, and jack in the pulpit can be discovered on a walk. Ivy and old man's beard climb the trees and give the woods its primal, almost fairytale-like character. Of course, in such untouched nature, the species diversity of birds and insects is impressive. Beetles, butterflies, caterpillars and many ant hills populate the nature park. It twitters, hums and creeps everywhere and naturalists may find many a rare specimen.

A very special jewel within the Nature Symphony is the ra- vine, at the beginning of which a small spring-fed waterfall pours down and envelops the steep walls, which are covered with ferns and moss, with a glittering curtain. When the water freezes in winter, the hikers are sur- rounded by small and large icicles, as  if  guests in the castle of the ice princess...

Although the »Nature Symphony« is no longer being logged commercially, this does not mean the forest is left com- pletely to itself. Woods helpers clear out some of the dead trees or those uprooted by storms and free the ground from large branches. In this way air and light reach the woods floor and the young plants can grow well.

The Original Christians have hung up hundreds of nesting boxes in the whole wooded area and set up several large feeding stations, so that our feathered friends also find suf- ficient food during the austere seasons. The twittering guests romp about these places and are a joy to see. Of course squirrels and dormice are also frequent visitors to these feeding stations; the animal keepers of the International Gabriele Foundation see to it that there is enough for all. The animals sense that the people here are well-disposed toward them and with a bit of luck, one can also greet a badger, a weasel, a fox or even a deer in the »Nature Symphony.«

To provide habitats for even more animals, several months ago three additional wet- land biotopes were created near the river; they are already pop- ulated with dragonflies, frogs, butterflies and ducks. So this large wooded area is a small paradise and is con- sidered one of the nicest rest and relax- ation areas in Germany. And it is an important building block in the building up of the Land of Peace, which Original Christians are setting up for the animals and nature, but also for their fellow humans – a building block for the developing Kingdom of Peace of Jesus Christ.

The International Gabriele Foundation is a work of making amends. In the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus of Nazareth "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or the other way round, "Do not do to someone else what you do not want to have done to you," the Gabriele Foundation is giving the animals back their dignity and habitats. In just a few years, much has already been developed with the help of many friends of animals and nature – a Land of Peace is emerging

• For the purchase of fields and woods,
  the home for wild animals
• For new hedges and field groves
• For wetland and stone biotopes
• For nesting boxes and drinking basins

More information about the campaign "Even $1.00 Helps!"