Old Elster (Zwenkau)
The Alte Elster near Zwenkau was a natural arm that branched off on the left from the Weißen Elster near Döhlen and flowed into the underwater of the ruin now known as the Altes Elsterwehr west of the city center. The arm and main stream enclosed the Mückenhaynwiese to the south and the Fischerwinkel, which can still be found today in the same form. The river section probably became an oxbow lake at the beginning of the 17th century after the construction of a straightened river bed for the main stream for the purpose of the Elster rafting to Leipzig was completed. At the old Elster weir , the wood was rafted into the Batschke branching off from the upper water .
The relocation of the White Elster between 1972 and 1977 caused by the Zwenkau opencast mine changed this part of the river again. The main stream was interrupted south of the Fischerwinkel but north of the Mückenhaynwiese and, beginning with today's Kleindalzig bedload trap, led to the west. The construction of this piece, known today as concrete or asphalt elster, cut the old arm into a southern and a northern part, and a water cross was not built. The southern part from Döhlen fell dry, the northern part has since been supplied by a pumping station, which takes the water necessary to maintain the northern floodplain at the bed load trap.
