Traces of the water correction

Dotzigen in the Bueren district is the starting point of the hike. After about 500 meters on Scheurenstrasse, you reach the Old Aare. You cross the water via a footbridge and continue to the right towards Meienried. Slow flowing water, small lakes, dense reeds, and marshes shape the landscape. Along a gravel pit lake, you reach Meienried. In the small municipality is the birthplace of Johann Rudolf Schneider, the initiator of the first Jura water correction. After Meienried, at the Old Zihl, you feel transported back to the times of floods of yesteryear. On the Safnerebrügg, the Nidau-Büren Canal is crossed. You follow it downstream. After 500 meters, the route turns left towards Safnern and shortly after swings right onto the riverside path that continues following the course of the Old Aare. Here, the Häftli nature reserve shows its most beautiful side. The residual old water arm left after the Jura water correction leads in a wide loop past Meinisberg to Büren. The path follows the quiet, surprisingly wide water and crosses the center of Büren on the Aare via the wooden bridge newly built in 1991.

Background: The Häftli nature reserve is an old water arm of the Aare between Biel and Büren on the Aare. It is a floodplain of national importance and a significant wetland that provides a habitat for a variety of animal and plant species, including rare breeding birds, amphibians, and insects. Over 200 bird species have been recorded here, including little grebes, kingfishers, and black kites. Johann Rudolf Schneider, born in 1804 in Meienried, was the main initiator of the first Jura water correction, which protected the Seeland from floods. Schneider was also a member of the Bernese government council and the National Council and advocated for social and infrastructural improvements. His commitment earned him the title «Savior of Seeland».