In Bavaria, traditional carp pond farming is not just a way of producing fish. It is a living cultural landscape, recognised as intangible cultural heritage in Germany since 2021. The Karpfenland Aischgrund e.V. project helped bring it into the spotlight, with support from Bavarian Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs), pond farmers and some EU funding.
The project installed information boards in historic pond areas of Franconia and the Upper Palatinate, along walking and cycling routes. These boards explain the craft, the value of the ponds for nature and their role in regional identity. They help tourists and locals appreciate the ponds and renew their respect for a centuries-old profession.
A landscape shaped by patience
Carp ponds are living archives of rural Germany. From the Middle Ages onwards, monasteries, estates, towns and farming communities-built ponds, dams, sluices and channels to produce fish, store water and shape the countryside.
In the Aischgrund and Tirschenreuth ‘land of a thousand ponds’, this heritage is maintained through seasonal work based on local knowledge and water management. Extensive pond farming produces regional food while creating wetlands for amphibians, dragonflies, water birds and rare plants.
Local tradition, European roots
Bavaria’s carp ponds belong to a wider European story that stretches from Bohemia in Czechia to Austria’s Waldviertel, Poland, Hungary and other Central European regions. In these places, carp farming connects livelihoods, cuisine and biodiversity.
Bavarian carp is both local and European: a low-impact aquaculture that keeps historic landscapes, skills and identities alive.
Making heritage visible
The campaign brought together Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) from Aischgrund and Tirschenreuth, fisheries organisations, municipalities and pond farmers.
Durable boards were placed at ponds, trails and visitor points, while QR codes guide people towards events, regional products and the story of Bavarian carp. For walkers, cyclists and school groups, they show that a pond is a cultivated biotope, workplace and piece of history.
“You do not manage a pond for [the] next year[s], but for the next generations. When hikers stand by our ponds today, look at the new information boards and read what our craft is about, it builds a bridge of appreciation. The cultural heritage award becomes tangible for everyone.”
Hans Klupp, long-standing chair of ARGE Fisch in Tirschenreuth and a fifth-generation fish farmer in Schönficht
EU support made the difference
EU funding was key to the project’s success.
It allowed partners to coordinate across pond regions and cover the design, production and installation of information material.
It strengthened cooperation between fisheries, tourism, municipalities and communities.
It supported the recognition of this heritage, giving visitors the opportunity to understand why carp ponds deserve care and continuity.
A quiet craft, newly understood
An endeavour that may allow some to find their calling, encouraging younger generations to see pond farming as a future profession.
“When you walk over the pond dams in the morning mist and see the rising sun reflected in the water, you know why you love this profession. The information boards help us share this feeling and the knowledge of our homeland with people.”
– A pond farmer
In Bavaria’s carp country, an old landscape has become easier to read, and a quiet craft easier to value and pass on.
More information
Startseite – Karpfenteichwirtschaft in Bayern (in German)
Traditionelle Karpfenteichwirtschaft in Bayern – Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission (in German)
