Binsen means rushes, and the Binsenteich is named for the plants that line its edges. It is one of the smaller ponds in the system that the monks of Maulbronn created, about one and a third kilometres from the abbey, and it is one of the best for watching wildlife. Reeds and rushes, with their pale green stems, create a thick fringe, and behind them the water is full of life, with ducks, coots and moorhens in the open, and in summer dragonflies of several kinds.
The monks managed these ponds for fish and water, and the fringing plants are part of how such a pond looks and works. The Cistercian order came to this valley in the twelfth century and turned a boggy forest into a working landscape, and their water engineering is one of the reasons the abbey is a World Heritage Site. What strikes you on a quiet morning is how natural it all looks, though everything here was planned.
The ride to the pond leads through wooded hills, with a gently winding road, little traffic, and a good surface. This corner of Baden-Württemberg is soft country, with the Stromberg ridge close by, vineyards on the sunny slopes and small villages with half-timbered houses. Bends are easy and there are few steep gradients, so it suits a relaxed pace, and in late summer the hedgerows are full of blackberries.
Maulbronn offers the usual services: a petrol station, bakeries, a few cafés and restaurants, and a small supermarket. Try the local pastries and the dark Swabian bread, and a cup of coffee on the monastery square is a pleasure. The old town is a good place to wander, with half-timbered houses, a fountain and the great abbey walls around it, and a visit to the monastery itself is a must on any day in the area.
For birds, early morning or evening is best. Bring binoculars if you have them, and keep to the paths, since the shores are soft and the plants are fragile. The ride links the pond with the Old Jewish Cemetery at Worms, a place of a very different kind of memory.