Altenau (Oker)
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Altenau Nice |
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 Altenau-ford near Küblingen |
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| Data | ||
| Water code | EN : 4826 | |
| location | Lower Saxony , Germany | |
| River system | Weser | |
| Drain over | Oker → Aller → Weser → North Sea | |
| source | North-east of Eitzum in the Elm 52 ° 10 ′ 8 ″ N , 10 ° 51 ′ 17 ″ E |
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| Source height | 206 m above sea level NHN | |
| muzzle |
Oker near Wolfenbüttel Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ 10 ″ N , 10 ° 33 ′ 24 ″ E 52 ° 8 ′ 10 ″ N , 10 ° 33 ′ 24 ″ E |
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| Mouth height | 77 m above sea level NHN | |
| Height difference | 129 m | |
| Bottom slope | 5.2 ‰ | |
| length | 25 km | |
| Catchment area | 139.95 km² | |
| Discharge at the Wendessen A Eo gauge : 118 km² Location: - above the mouth |
NNQ MNQ 1964/2002 MQ 1964/2002 Mq 1964/2002 MHQ 1964/2002 HHQ |
18 l / s 103 l / s 494 l / s 4.2 l / (s km²) 5.35 m³ / s 14.1 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Neindorfer Bach, Silbeek, Rothebach | |
| Right tributaries | Sauerbach, Breiter Beek, Hachumerbach, Glue Riede | |
| Medium-sized cities | Wolfenbüttel | |
| Small towns | Schöppenstedt | |
 The Altenau near the Wendesser Mühle with a view of the Asse and a tributary from the Falkenheim (2013) |
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The Altenau is a 25 kilometer long river in Lower Saxony , which rises in the Elm northeast of Eitzum and flows into the Oker from the right near Halchter , a district of Wolfenbüttel .
geography
course
The Altenau rises northeast of Schöppenstedt in the mixed and deciduous forest of the Elm and winds largely close to nature to the west to a valley cut, where it bends to the south at the level of the Naturfreundehaus and is fed by other sources. It passes Eitzum on the eastern edge of the village and takes on a stream that crosses the main road from the right, as well as other source drains. South of Eitzum it divides into two arms in the Feldmark, which unite again above the Waldmühle .
Between Waldmühle and the Schöppenstedt district of Küblingen there is a conspicuous ford in which the unpaved field path leads through the stream for about 20 meters. After a short, natural course, the Altenau reaches Küblingen, from where it flows in a stone bed along the houses and a former mill. In Schöppenstedt it splits above the market. The right arm leads mainly open but heavily canalised north through the place, while the southern arm is completely built over. Both arms come to light again below the market square at Stobenstrasse .
Along the cemetery their course leads to the site of the former sugar factory and to the treatment plant, which they called receiving water uses. It bends northwest to the two former clarification ponds west of the Bansleben cuckoo mill . They have been a water bird reserve leased by NABU since 1997 .
Between the Asse and the Heeseberg in the south and the Elm in the north there is an almost forestless field, the approximately 25 kilometers long " Schöppenstedter Mulde". There the Altenau flows in an approximately 500 meter wide meadow valley in an east-west direction. In the southern central part of the basin, the Altenau unites a number of brooks and runs through the basin as a regulated, relatively straight stream.
It flows around the Asse to the north and follows its elevation profile west of the former Dettum sugar factory to the south-west. It is from there to the mouth of the Grenzbach between Wolfenbüttel and the municipality of Asse. In the further course it passes the Wendesser mill and the place Wendessen , where it is crossed by the federal highway 79 . Below Klein Denkte, it bends south-east between the Buschkopf elevation and the Ösel and passes under the historic Donnerburg Bridge . After another bend to the south-west, it enters the Okeraue south of the Linden district , which is used as a glider flight area Große Wiese north of the Altenau , and reaches the Oker.
Catchment area
Together with the Schunter, the Altenau drains the Elm area and the Schöppenstedter Mulde to the Oker, which belongs to the catchment area of the Weser. The source of the Altenau lies immediately north and west of the watershed between the Weser and the Elbe . The Rothenbach , which flows from the left near Eitzum , still belongs to the Weser region, while the Bremsenbach / Manebeek, which runs further east, near Groß Dahlum and the other streams flowing southeast of Schöppenstedt and the Heeseberg strive towards the Großer Graben or the Schöninger Aue , which reach the Elbe via Bode and Saale flow away.
Schöppenstedter Mulde
The surface shape of the hollow is characterized by the Keup layers descending from the Elm Mountains . The entire hollow core is covered by a 0.50 to 2.0 meter thick layer of loess - predominantly loess clay. There are pure black earth soils here , the best arable soils with high fertility. People recognized this in prehistoric times and settled here. Their traces can be traced back to the Stone Age in many fields . Archaeological finds and documented records show that there used to be more villages in this area than there are now. 18 devastations can be proven.
An old, well-developed trade route from Hildesheim to the west of Wolfenbüttel had existed since around 1400 and was to be continued eastward in two directions from then on. The southern one ran over the northern bank heights of the Altenau past Wendessen , Ahlum , Dettum , Eilum and Bansleben . The medieval castles of Weferlingen and Bansleben were probably built in connection with this street . When the railway from Wolfenbüttel to Oschersleben (53 kilometers long) was planned in 1842 , it was decided to use the Altenau valley for the route. The track followed the trough depths between Elm and Asse.
Water quality
Although the upper reaches of the Altenau is largely natural, in its course through the Lößbörde it is structured completely remote from nature . The banks are shadowless for kilometers, which hinders the diversity of the vegetation. In addition, there are still numerous floor falls that will be removed in sections. The catchment area of the arable land with its loess soil leads to a permanent entry of fertilizers into the water. The biological quality of the water in the upper reaches is rated as “very good” due to its biodiversity , but in the following overall as “good” to “satisfactory”. The water quality is monitored at Wendessen.
Economic use
Shipping in the 16th century
The regulation of the course of the brook did not come about as usual after the land consolidation in the 19th century, but as early as the 16th century. Duke Julius brought in the Dutch hydraulic engineer Wilhelm de Raet and obliged him to expand the Oker, to regulate the Altenau and the Wabe so that rafts could be used on them. A tradition from 1577 says that the implementation was very difficult - there was a lack of money - skilled workers would have to be brought in from the Netherlands. Only a few things have been created so far, for example, "the Altenau has been straightened over a length of 12 km, its river bed widened to 30 m, in which rafts with wood and lime could reach the Oker from the Elme". A built-in weir at Dettum ensures the required water depth. This work was to be continued in 1590 under Duke Heinrich Julius , a son of Duke Julius. In 1601, however, only an "improvement of the shipping canal" was made. But this Schöppenstedter Mulde was not only interesting for river navigation.
Watermills
In the area with a high proportion of wheat production, mills quickly developed, which have been documented as water mills since the 12th century. There were up to four watermills in Eitzum . The names Waldmühle near Küblingen, Kuckucksmühle near Bansleben and the Wendesser Mühle still exist today. There is currently no active use of hydropower.
Sugar factories
Since the 19th century the sugar beet has become an attractive field crop, especially on the fertile loess soils of the Schöppenstedter Mulde. According arose sugar factories in Schöppenstedt and Dettum, formerly unclear since the mid-20th century their wastewater purified introduced into the Altenau what a high load represented. In addition to the sewage disposal, the connection to the railway line was a clear locational advantage. The clarification ponds of the sugar factory in Schöppenstedt will be used as a bird reserve after the closure.
Web links
- Map of Altenau at Openstreetmap.org
- Altenautal
- trips
- NLWKN water body data sheet with recommendations for action
- Classification of Altenau as a risk water body by the NLWKN , press release from January 20, 2020
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Land surveying and geographic base information Lower Saxony: Top. Map 1: 50,000 Lower Saxony / Bremen , status 2001
- ↑ a b c Inventory of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, surface waters, Oker processing area; Tab. 2
- ↑ NABU website Schöppenstedter Teiche (March 13, 2014)
- ↑ NLWKN : Water quality report Oker 2002. Braunschweig October 2002, p. 57 ff.