Edewechterdamm

Edewechterdamm Friesoythe and Bösel parish Coordinates: 53 ° 5 ′ 0 ″  N , 7 ° 56 ′ 9 ″  E
Height :	8 m
Residents :	900  (2005)
Postal code :	26169 (at least the majority)
Area code :	04405
Location of Edewechterdamm in Lower Saxony

Edewechterdamm , named after the road embankment from Edewecht to Friesoythe through the Vehnemoor , is a village in Lower Saxony. It is located near Oldenburg directly on the coastal canal . A small part of the village belongs to the municipality of Bösel , but the largest part to the city of Friesoythe.

history

Attempts were made early on to establish a connection between the city of Friesoythe and Edewecht. In winter, when the surface of the bog was frozen, one could cross the area on foot or by horse and cart. In 1815 a dam was built through the Vehnemoor , which was called "Edewechter Damm" or the " Altenoyther Moordamm". Around 1830 it had to be expanded because it was no longer sufficient for traffic.

On April 13, 1848, the daily newspaper “ Oldenburgische Advertisements ” said: “The announcement of November 10, 1837, according to which it is forbidden to drive on the Altenoyther Moordamm with three and four-horse freight wagons with 10 thalers fragments is brought to mind. "

From 1895 to 1920 a stagecoach ran from Friesoythe to Bad Zwischenahn . She could take six passengers on each trip.

The Hunte-Ems Canal (today: Coastal Canal ) was tackled around 1855 and was completed in 1893. The original width was 13.50 m water level at 1.50 m depth. There was originally a towpath on the bank, with which the small peat barges could be pulled along the bank with ropes (" trek barges "). In Edewechterdamm a bascule bridge led over to the neighboring municipality of Edewecht .

The construction of the canal made it possible to drain the adjacent moorland and enabled the transport of peat and bulk goods between the Weser and Ems. The first expansion took place around 1900 by lowering the canal bed, which was completed in 1910. This enabled the lock located on the bascule bridge to be expanded, which offered a great time advantage for shipping. An extension to the large shipping lane was required as early as 1925 (width: 26.75 m, depth: 3.50 m), which was completed in 1935.

In the last weeks of the war in 1945, tanks and other vehicles destroyed the road to a dark red "pulp".

Edewechterdamm bridgehead in World War II

In mid-April 1945 the coastal canal became the scene of heavy and heavy fighting between German and advancing Canadian troops . As an obstacle, the canal was included in extensive German defense plans to protect the important North Sea ports and as the “outer defense line of the fortress Wilhelmshaven” and from April onwards it was militarily expanded to become a security line “ sea ​​lion position ”. On the north bank of the Edewechterdammer coastal canal section, a German combat group from parts of the Paratrooper Rgt. 32, the Grenadier-Ersatz-Rgt. 22 and the 364th Marine-Festungs-Btl. their defensive positions since the beginning of April.

As the front approached, the Germans blew up the Edewechterdammer Bridge on April 15 and thus the only passable canal crossing. On April 16, 1945, the 4th Armored Division of the 1st Canadian Army reached the south bank of the coastal channel from Friesoythe via Edewechterdamm. In order to enable the Canadian military vehicles to advance on the destroyed "Edewechter Dam" and to ensure the supply of troops, the rubble of the destroyed city of Friesoythe, which only consisted of six residential buildings, the town hall and the church, was used to fill in lanes and blasting funnels.
In the night hours of April 17, 1945, the Canadian Algonquin Infantry Regiment succeeded in building the "Edewechterdamm bridgehead" on the north bank of the canal about 200 m west of the blown canal bridge, which was immediately subjected to violent German counter-attacks (11 Canadian and 76 German dead). On the morning of April 19, pioneers from the 8th and 9th Field Squadron were able to complete a temporary bridge over the canal, on which tanks , guns and transport vehicles could reach the disputed north bank. From April 19, the Algonquin regiment, supported by tanks , advanced along the main road and the small railroad towards South Edewecht , a little to the west of it a second Canadian association (Argyll and Sutherland-Highlanders of Canada) advanced to the Zwischenahn air base via Osterscheps to conquer. A short time later (April 21) the Canadian South Alberta Regiment then also advanced along the coastal channel east to Husbäke.

For the severity and importance of the fighting on the coastal canal, the multiple mention of violent battles over an enemy bridgehead on the coastal canal in the German Wehrmacht reports from April 21st and 22nd. The German soldiers, who were buried in field graves during the fighting, were reburied in the Edewecht war grave cemetery from August 1945 . The Canadian soldiers who died in the fighting were reburied in the central Canadian war cemetery ("Canadian War Cemetery") in Holten , the Netherlands , and the British dead were transferred to their homeland.

post war period

In 1952 the road to Friesoythe was paved with asphalt. The next expansion took place in 1960 to a fastening width of 4.50 m.

In 1974 the national road 831 was completely renewed from the bridge to about 2.5 km in the direction of Friesoythe. 300,000 cubic meters of bog were exchanged for the same amount of filler sand.

Another housing estate was built in the 1990s, which drastically increased the population.

Edewechterdamm sewage sludge landfill

To the west of the settlement area, a 140-hectare storage facility for municipal sewage sludge was set up in 1970 on the site of a former peat factory . From 1972 to 2005, 3.2 million m³ of digested, liquid clear sludge from the Bremen sewage treatment plants Seehausen and Farge was transported in ships via the coastal canal and washed into the former peat putti (basins). In principle, only unpolluted, agriculturally usable sewage sludge was used.

The landfill site is characterized by a natural seal against the aquifer (underlying raised bog peat). Therefore, regular groundwater investigations to date do not show any negative environmental effects of the landfill. The landfill has been in the decommissioning phase since 2005. In order to guarantee the safety of the site in the long term, management measures are still being carried out (maintenance of the dams, dewatering of the pütten, treatment of drained excess water, access security).

Over the years a valuable, large-scale wetland "second hand" has developed here, which is of national importance as a bird breeding area. In the former mud puddles, the succession of open water or mud flats to a mosaic-like and diverse vegetation (willow-swamp bushes, birch pioneer forest, pipe-grass-birch bog forest and various reeds) can be observed. Since 1999 the landfill site has been a central part of the 322 hectare nature reserve “ Ahrensdorfer Moor ”. The area is accessible to the public after registration on two signposted routes.

swell

• hanseWasser Bremen GmbH (Ed.): Environmental Statement 2012 . Bremen 2013. Self-published.
• Herbergs, Arnold and Sternath, Fritz Otto: Chronicle 100 Years Ort Edewechterdamm 1897 - 1997 . Edewechterdamm 1997. Self-published.
• Warnke, Fritz: The bridgehead Edewechterdamm. The fighting in the Edewecht area, April 1945. Edewecht 2000. Self-published.
• Wegmann, Günter: The end of the war between Weser and Ems 1945 . Oldenburg 2000. Bültmann & Gerriets.