Site of the former shooting range in Jena-Zwätzen is secured

Area of the former shooting range in Jena-Zwätzen to be secured

The area of the former shooting range in Jena-Zwätzen must be secured by erecting a fence.

The shooting range is an area that was formerly used for military purposes from around 1930 to 1953. After that, the area continued to be used by the Soviet army, among others. The area has been unused since the early 1990s at the latest and has been left to natural succession, resulting in a small forest today.

Unfortunately, the area has not been cleared since it was abandoned. The military remains are increasingly decaying and pose an acute danger. The baffle walls at the end of the firing lanes were made of bricks. Moisture and the effects of frost have caused individual bricks and even entire sections of the structures to become detached and fall off. Unfortunately, the area is very attractive to children, who are unable to assess the danger properly.

Furthermore, as part of the risk assessment, the city administration of Jena has also commissioned an investigation into possible soil contamination with regard to the former military use. This revealed that the test values for heavy metals in accordance with the Federal Soil Protection Ordinance were exceeded in individual areas of the site.

In order to rule out any risk to people, the first step is to secure the area. The municipal company KSJ will secure the area by fencing it off. When fencing the area, care is taken to ensure that the fence remains permeable to native wildlife by installing suitable wildlife passages.

At the same time, further investigations are being carried out in consultation with the responsible authority, the Thuringian State Office for the Environment, Mining and Nature Conservation (TLUBN), as a result of which a decision will also be made on the possible remediation of the site. The mayor of the district was informed about the necessary safety measures.

Any use of the site following remediation will depend on the achievement of the remediation objective and must be carefully considered in the course of land use planning.