Ecker
| Ecker | ||
 The Ecker near Stapelburg above Eckertal (Bad Harzburg) |
||
| Data | ||
| Water code | EN : 4822 | |
| location | Harz and Harz foreland; Districts of Goslar and Harz ; Lower Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt ; Germany | |
| River system | Weser | |
| Drain over | Oker → Aller → Weser → North Sea | |
| source | near the Brocken in the Harz Mountains, 51 ° 47 ′ 18 ″ N , 10 ° 35 ′ 10 ″ E |
|
| Source height | 893 m above sea level NHN | |
| muzzle | at Wiedelah in the Oker coordinates: 51 ° 58 ′ 1 ″ N , 10 ° 34 ′ 52 ″ E 51 ° 58 ′ 1 ″ N , 10 ° 34 ′ 52 ″ E |
|
| Mouth height | 123 m above sea level NHN | |
| Height difference | 770 m | |
| Bottom slope | 30 ‰ | |
| length | 25.6 km | |
| Catchment area | 76.13 km² | |
| Discharge at the lattice head gauge (Harzwasserwerke) |
MNQ 1939/2002 MQ 1939/2002 MHQ 1939/2002 |
65 l / s 377 l / s 9.921 m³ / s |
| Left tributaries | Abbe, Fuhlelohnsbach, Blaubach, Schamlah | |
| Right tributaries | Königsbach , Morgenbrodsbach, Großer Giersbach | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Eckertalsperre | |
| Medium-sized cities | Bad Harzburg , Goslar | |
| Communities | North Harz | |
The Ecker in the Lower Saxony district of Goslar and in the Saxony-Anhalt district of Harz is a 25.6 km long, orographically right-hand and southeastern tributary of the Oker . It flows mainly in the Harz , in the lower reaches also in the northern Harz foreland.
geography
course
The Ecker rises on the border of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in the Harz National Park on the eastern edge of the Brockenfeld at about 893 m above sea level. NHN . Its source , the Eckersprung , is 850 m west of the 1033.5 m high summit of the Königsberg , a side knoll of the Brocken , and about 1 km south-southeast of the Quitschenberg in Lower Saxony , which is 881.5 m high.
In the upper reaches, the Ecker, flowing on the border between Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, forms the western border of the Harz / Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park in its rather steep and rocky bed . Takes them out of the mires of chunks of territory numerous streams as coming from the left and Abbe from the Kahler cliff coming Morgendbrodsbach and reached the west of the sharp stone lying Ecker reservoir . Below the dam and hydroelectric power station, the Ecker runs through the deeply cut Eckertal in a north-easterly direction, passing the Muxklippe to the west and the Zillierwald forest opposite . Other prominent elevations are the Rabenklippe on the left and the Taubenklippe opposite, as well as the Ahlsburg ruins on the east side .
Then the Ecker runs in the middle Eckertal, where a cardboard factory has been located since the 19th century. This area, including the access from the north, has been excluded from the national park as a narrow strip. The Ecker is still the nature park boundary and flows further to the north-northeast. After leaving the national park, it separates the Harz Nature Park in Saxony-Anhalt in the east from the Harz Nature Park of the same name in Lower Saxony in the west. It leaves the Harz and runs directly east past Eckertal , a district of Bad Harzburg in Lower Saxony. She has arrived there at a height of around 230 m . On the other side of the river, which still runs along the state border, east-northeast of Eckertal lies the village of Stapelburg , part of the northern Harz community of Saxony-Anhalt .
The lower reaches of the Ecker in the northern Harz foreland begins between Eckertal and Stapelburg. There the river turns to the northwest towards Abbenrode , which also belongs to the municipality of North Harz. In this place, it runs a short distance exclusively in Saxony-Anhalt and in the Harz nature park there and below it another few hundred meters on the border between the two countries and nature parks.
Then the Ecker finally reaches Lower Saxony, leaves the nature park and crosses under the A 36 . Shortly thereafter, the Stapelburg-Vienenburg railway line crosses the river, as does the Braunschweig – Bad Harzburg railway line , whose loop-like route crosses the water twice.
After the Eckergraben branches off, the Ecker still flows through the village of Wiedelah , which belongs to Goslar, and flows into the Aller tributary Oker at its northern edge at an altitude of about 123 m .
Border river
From the Eckersprung to just before Abbenrode and below it again for a short stretch is the Ecker border river between the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt and the Goslar district in Lower Saxony. Up until German reunification , the inner German border between the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany ran here .
Elbe-Weser watershed
The Eckersprung lies on the Elbe-Weser watershed . While the Ecker, which flows mainly in a northerly direction, drains through the Aller into the Weser , the water of the Kalten Bode , which rises about 350 m south-southwest on the southeast edge of the Brockenfeld , runs over the Bode and the Saale to the Elbe . To the east, the immediately adjoining catchment area of the Ilse , which also rises on the Brocken, belongs to that of the Aller and thus the Weser, while the flowing waters, which arise further east, strive towards the Saale.
Catchment area and tributaries
The catchment area of the Ecker is about 76.13 km², of which 24.3 km² are in Saxony-Anhalt. The catchment area of the dam is about 19 km². The tributaries of the Ecker include the Abbe, Fuhlelohnsbach, Blaubach and Schamlah on the left and Morgenbrodsbach and Großer Giersbach on the right.
Eckergraben
The Eckergraben is an artificially created branch of the Ecker, which branches off as a predominantly north-northwest running moat south of Wiedelah and then passes the village to the east. It later runs through Wülperode and Gödbelnrode (both in the Harz district; Saxony-Anhalt) and through Isingerode (in the Wolfenbüttel district ; Lower Saxony). Below Isingerode it is diverted to the east around the gravel pond . It flows into the Oker behind the Steinfelder Mühle approximately at the level of the Kaiserpfalz Werla . Overall, it is about 8 km long, its catchment area 17.2 km², of which 6.6 km² are in Saxony-Anhalt. Its water body number is 48238. The water quality is assigned to class II by the NLWKN.
Water quality
According to the water quality report of the NLWKN from 2002, the upper course in the Harz is rated as near-natural, but only as "partially near-natural" due to some bank reinforcements and changes in the entire Harz, which corresponds to structural quality class 2. The dam is a serious obstacle to the exchange and migration of organisms. At the lower reaches there are bottom slopes and other structural changes, so that here the structural quality is only given as 3 to 4. Grade 4 is based on the changes in the discharge resulting from the discount in the Eckergraben; the bed of the Ecker falls partially dry and the weirs impair the continuity of the water.
The overall chemical composition is rated as good. In particular, there is no significant heavy metal pollution due to mining as in some other Harz rivers. The biological quality is good throughout. Stonefly larvae, caddis flies and mayflies have been detected. According to the quality report, brook lampreys and bullheads were seen in the lower reaches. Overall, the water quality is assigned to Class I in the upper reaches and otherwise to Class I-II, ie “unpolluted” to “very slightly polluted”.
history
Origin and meaning of the name
The name of the river is handed down in 1222 with Ekere and 1420 with Eckere , i.e. double consonants. The origin of the name is interpreted by Herbert Blume from the root word Agira , which can also be found in other river names such as Eger or Aire and stands for the "pushing forward" of the water. The Oker is interpreted as opposed to Ecker as "upper forward-striving", so as the main river.
rafting
The wood from the wooded area of the Harz was in great demand as painting wood and as construction wood in the cities of Braunschweig and Wolfenbüttel. During the reign of Duke Julius , the Harz rivers Radau and Ecker were actively expanded for rafting. On July 13, 1580, a commission of ducal officials reported the investigation into the Eckerlauf. Accordingly, the Ecker was in a natural state, so built with all sorts of rubble and fallen trees. In the upper course, which with its steep slope was well suited for rafting, these obstacles could be removed quickly. In the lower reaches of the river, natural ramifications had to be cordoned off and the banks reinforced with wattle.
The first firewood rafts were launched in 1580 and in 1585 the Ecker was also cleared in the upper reaches. The labor required for this was hired from the surrounding offices, the costs were covered by special charges for monasteries and offices. The rafting was profitable, which is documented by numerous accounts. The documents also show that vines were rafted for Hesse Castle and Schladen Castle.
Rafting continued until the Braunschweig – Bad Harzburg line went into operation in 1838 .
hike
Until the opening of the inner-German border, the Goetheweg coming from Torfhaus ended near the Eckersprung . Today there is a rest area there , including the Eckersprung refuge and the Goetheweg continues as in earlier times to the Brocken. The Eckersprung is included as no. 136 in the system of stamping points of the Harz hiking pin.
Web links
- Map of the Ecker course , on openstreetmap.org
- NLWKN : Water body data sheet 15011 Ecker (December 2016) with recommendations for action, on Umweltkarten-niedersachsen.de (PDF; 13.57 MB)
References and comments
- ↑ a b c d Land surveying and geographic base information Lower Saxony: Top. Map 1: 50,000 Lower Saxony / Bremen , status 2001
- ↑ a b c NLWKN : Inventory of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, surface waters, processing area Oker , Braunschweig 2005, Appendix Tables 1 and 2, as of June 10, 2013, on wasserblick.net
- ↑ a b NLWKN : Area directory for the Lower Saxony Hydrographic Map , as of 2010, p. 53, accessed on August 19, 2013, from Umwelt.niedersachsen.de (PDF; 599.8 kB)
- ↑ a b The spelling in the area directory of the NLWKN and in the WebAtlasDE of the BKG is Fuhlelohnsbach , in the TK 1: 25,000 the name is Fuhlerlohnsbach and in the map service of the BfN Fuhler Lohnbach .
- ↑ a b NLWKN : Water quality report Oker 2002 , Braunschweig 2002, Internet presence of the State of Lower Saxony as of June 2013
- ↑ NLWKN : Water body data sheet 15011 Ecker (November 2012), on the EU Water Framework Directive, accessed on May 24, 2013, from nlwkn.niedersachsen.de (PDF; 92.06 kB)
- ↑ Blume, Herbert: Oker, Schunter, Wabe , in: Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, Vol. 86, Braunschweig 2005, pp. 14 ff
- ↑ a b Theodor Müller: Shipping and rafting in the river area of the Oker , Braunschweig 1968, p. 61 ff
- ↑ Harzer Wanderadel: stamp point 136 / Eckersprung , on harzer-wandernadel.de