Wind power and cultural heritage: East Thuringia relies on clear rules!

Wind power and cultural heritage: East Thuringia relies on clear rules!

On June 4, 2025, the regional planning community of East Thuringia in Kahla met to decide on a decisive step for the future of renewable energies. As part of a participation process, the factual sub -plan "wind energy and securing of the cultural heritage" is set up in order to advance the wind energy expansion in the region and at the same time ensure the protection of important cultural monuments. This wants to counteract wild growth from wind turbines, while nature and historic sites remain protected. This is reported by ABG Netz GmbH, which summarizes the core elements of this project on its website.

The plan provides for about 1.4 percent of the region to mark wind energy by the end of 2027. By 2032, it should even be 2.2 percent of the state area, as prescribed by the Winden energy area requirements (WindbG). Surprisingly, only 0.4 percent of the use of wind energy use in East Thuringia is currently shown - a grievance that is to be tackled with the new plan. The legal requirements were not met with the previous planning that was created in 2020, so that there is now an urgent need for revision.

protection of the cultural heritage and nature

A central concern of the new plan is the protection of 13 East Thuringian cultural heritage sites, including the impressive Dornburg castles and the Leuchtenburg. Here special emphasis is placed on planning restrictions in order to avoid optical impairments. But nature should not fall by the wayside either: criteria for designing the new wind turbines contain distances to residential uses and concerns of water and nature conservation. The Windhlope also plays a leading role in ensuring that the wind turbines can actually work efficiently.

As can be read in the Thuringian environmental database, the risks that are based on wind turbines for birds are rather low compared to other dangers such as agriculture and traffic. Nevertheless, the planning of the wind turbines is a sensitive matter, which must be taken into account, taking environmental impact assessments into account. The Thuringian wind energy decree of 2016 also determines hard and soft taboo zones for nature reserves.

participation of the citizens

The plan draft will be publicly interpreted from July 14 to September 15, 2025. In this phase, citizens, municipalities and associations have the opportunity to give their statements. The participation procedure was launched on June 26, 2025 and offers the opportunity to find out about central information and frequently asked questions. There are also tips on submitting statements. It is promoting that the statements can be submitted preferably via the online participation portal.

Transparent and participatory planning is of great importance, especially when it comes to keeping the balance between progress in wind energy use and the protection of nature and cultural heritage. With the latest developments, the regional planning of Thuringia shows that it has a good knack for the future. Details and further information are provided on the website of the regional planning Thuringia, where the corresponding plan documents are also available for download.

Overall, it remains to be seen how the plan comes into force in the coming year and what specific steps to implement follow. One thing is certain: the discussion about wind energy will continue to be very popular in the future.