Fils in Wiesensteig

During the creation of the watercourse development plan for the town of Wiesensteig, many deficits became apparent along the Fils in the urban area: almost continuously intensively secured banks with mostly vertical bank walls and a lack of watercourse structures, private properties extending right up to the top of the walls, the excessively narrow watercourse, the densely overgrown drainage profile, the sintered riverbed, hardly any opportunities for watercourse maintenance and no access options for the population. A flood event in 2013 painfully exposed the resulting deficits in flood protection for many residents due to flooded basements.



A sustainable redesign in terms of water ecology, flood protection and river experience was to be implemented, but the space required for development was lacking in the first place. In close coordination with the Göppingen district office, the town of Wiesensteig decided to approach the owners adjacent to the watercourse with regard to land acquisition and easements for ecological watercourse development in order to achieve these goals. Together with the planning office, a great deal of persuasion was required in numerous discussions and on-site meetings over several years, but in the end almost all of the residents were convinced of the benefits of the project. After successfully applying for funding for the redesign from the state of Baden-Württemberg in accordance with the water management funding guidelines, construction could finally begin in 2021.

The Fils could be widened in some areas, hard bank constructions could be replaced by living engineering structures and rich water structures could be installed. By removing sintering in the stream bed and through many small construction measures in the surrounding urban area and on the Wolfsklinge, which flows into the Fils, the surface and flood runoff situation was also significantly improved. In cooperation with KukuK, the 'Schwedengraben' playground directly adjacent to the Fils was also completely redesigned. A two-part play and recreation area was created with a fenced-in toddler play area and a multifunctional recreation area now open to the Fils with bicycle parking, benches, a meadow and access to the Fils. This playground redesign was made financially possible thanks to co-financing from the Stuttgart Region Association as part of the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park project.

Thanks to the willingness of local residents to give the Fils the necessary space, the perseverance of the city and the financial support of the state and region, the ecological redesign and integration of the Fils into the cityscape was a success.