Elisabethenwörth

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Elisabethenwörth
Agricultural land in the northwest of the island
Agricultural land in the northwest of the island
Waters Rhine
Geographical location 49 ° 12 '3 "  N , 8 ° 24' 17"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 12 '3 "  N , 8 ° 24' 17"  E
Elisabethenwörth (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Elisabethenwörth
surface 6 km²
Information board of the nature reserve
Information board of the nature reserve

Elisabethenwörth (also Elisabethenwört , older names: Germersheimer Au and Huttenheimer Insel ) is a river island to the right of the Rhine above the town of Germersheim . It was built between 1826 and 1833 as part of the straightening of the Rhine when the Germersheimer Average was built . The state border between Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate runs across the island .

history

The course of the Rhine in the area of ​​today's Elisabethenwörth island can be traced back to the 14th century. In 1391 the Electoral Palatinate and the Margraviate of Baden agreed on an average that was to be laid out west of the village of Russheim . A bend in the river north of Sondernheim became the Old Rhine through the intersection . Below the average, the Rhine ran north through today's Elisabethenwörth island and then turned west towards Germersheim.

Germersheimer Au , an earlier name of Elisabethenwörth, was initially the name of a river island that was located on the left bank of the Rhine between the villages of Rußheim and Knaudenheim . The name was first used in a map of the Rhine River from around 1595. In the vicinity of the Germersheimer Au and a second, downstream island, the Herrenau , there were changing gravel and sand banks that were used at times for salmon fishing , catching wild ducks and gold washers . Both islands were still present in 1733. Here called Germersheim Au not only the island, but a larger area in the flow loop between Sondernheim and Germersheim. Large parts of the Germersheimer Au were forested and used as pasture .

As a result of continued side erosion on the rebound slope , the loop of the river, stretching to the east, shifted further and further outwards. In the first half of the 18th century, the Rhine reached Knaudenheim, which was abandoned in 1758 after several floods. According to an average that was created to save the villages of Hördt and Sondernheim between 1756 and 1763 near Dettenheim , gravel and sand banks spread downstream. One of them, located on the Gleithang opposite Knaudenheim, was named Elisabethenwörth . Like the name Germersheimer Au before , the name Elisabethenwörth extended to a larger area to the left of the Rhine.

Another island on the Rhine, called Ceylon , was built between Knaudenheim and Germersheim in the 1760s. From 1787 the Electoral Palatinate tried to eliminate the island, which was viewed as a threat to the city of Germersheim, by building dams and creating an average.

In the course of straightening the Rhine under Johann Gottfried Tulla , Bavaria and Baden concluded an agreement in 1825 to establish the Germersheimer average. In 1826 a guide ditch was created; In 1833 the valley path was relocated to the average. According to the contracts between Bavaria and Baden, the valley path formed the state border on average from the point in time when it was used for navigation in both directions at every water level. This occurred with the Germersheim average in 1845. In another state treaty on April 24, 1840, Bavaria and Baden stipulated that the northwestern part of Elisabethenwörth would remain with Bavaria so that a bridgehead for the Germersheim Fortress could be built. The area was exchanged for the Koller Island located downstream . As part of the Germersheim Fortress, the Zandt Vorwerk , named after Leopold Balduin von Zandt , was built in the northwest of the island . The Rußheimer Altrhein, which arose at the average, remained connected to the Rhine. The upper connection was narrowed in order to achieve even silting .

At the time of the average three-quarters of the island was forested; the other areas were mainly used as meadows. About 77% were owned by the city of Germersheim, the rest belonged to Bavaria. The devolved from Bavaria to Baden areas were 1846 district Hutten home allotted had to give the other areas of Bavaria. After the middle of the 19th century, three farms were built in the east of Elisabethenwörth, the Ober-, Mittel- and Unterhof. In 1897 only the middle courtyard was left. In 1887 a path was laid from Russheim to the island; which until then could only be reached by ferry .

In 1897, fields and meadows in the east of the island were protected with summer dams . These areas came into the possession of the municipality of Rußheim at the end of the 19th century. In 1935 a flood dam was built along the average ; Elisabethenwörth lost the character of a floodplain . The approach from Russheim made the island easier to use. For example, earlier middle oak forests were converted into hardwood and hybrid poplar forests , and meadows were drained and plowed into fields. After the Second World War, the meadows between the Rhine and the flood dam were reforested with black walnut and poplar hybrids. In addition, gravel deposits were exploited in quarry ponds; one of the quarry ponds was created in the area of ​​the former Zandt Vorwerk .

Efforts to put the island under nature protection go back to the 1930s. In 1982 (Baden-Württemberg) and 1984 (Rhineland-Palatinate) large parts of Elisabethenwörth and the Rußheimer Altrhein were designated as nature reserves .

present

The current course of the state border between Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate corresponds to the Bavarian-Baden definition of 1840. The Rhineland-Palatinate part belongs to the district of Germersheim, the Baden-Württemberg part to Philippsburg and Dettenheim since the regional reform .

Large parts of the island are used for agriculture; at the same time there are numerous habitats with rare and endangered animals. Carpets of water plants swim in the Old Rhine and in other still waters ; the banks of the still waters are lined with reed beds . In the forests, white willows dominate at lower locations , and ash and pedunculate oaks at higher locations . A part of the forest is a forest reserve no longer cultivated; a further part is transferred to the earlier use as a middle forest. In 1988, extensification contracts were concluded which resulted in the abandonment of arable farming in parts of the nature reserve. According to data from 2000, 84 species of birds breed in the nature reserve; 70 other bird species use the area as migrants or during winter.

In the northwest of the island traces of the work to remove the Rhine island Ceylon can be seen. The dam built at that time stands out as a clear elevation in the largely flat terrain. A memorial on the dam and the field name Kurfürstenbau commemorate the visit of Elector Karl Theodor in 1788. The old water barrier water was created by the dam construction.

In the present day the Rußheimer Altrhein connects parts of the Rhine Lower Canal and serves to drain inland waters like the Pfinz which flows out at Rußheim . The increasing digested sludge in the Old Rhine, for which the pollution of the inland waters is held responsible, is seen as problematic .

As part of the Integrated Rhine Program , the construction of a retention area with a retention volume of at least 11.9 million cubic meters is planned in Elisabethenwörth . The retention area should be between Rhine kilometers 380.8 and 383.4 and cover an area of ​​at least 400 hectares. In 1992 preliminary investigations and preliminary planning were carried out. Possible variants were relocating the dam or building a polder , whereby the Rußheimer Altrhein should not be included, only partially or completely. In 2015 planning was resumed. At the beginning of 2018, the decision was made in favor of relocating the dam without including the Rußheimer Altrhein. The decision was welcomed by environmental associations, but met with considerable criticism from a citizens' initiative, local politicians and members of parliament from the region.

literature

Web links

Commons : Rußheimer Altrhein-Elisabethenwört nature reserve  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz Musall: For historical and geographical development of the Rhine valley in Rußheim. In: State Institute for Environmental Protection Baden-Württemberg , Institute for Ecology and Nature Conservation Karlsruhe (Hrsg.): Der Rußheimer Altrhein. P. 15–47, here P. 24.
    Franz Josef Mone : About river engineering on the Upper Rhine. From 1391 to 1660. In: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 1 (1850), pp. 303-308. ( online ).
  2. ↑ Musall, development , pp 24-28.
    See also: Large map of the Rhine river in the     Electoral Palatinate at the Baden-Württemberg State Archives : Part 3, Section 7 (Germersheimer Au) and Part 3, Section 8 (Herrenau).
  3. ↑ Musall, Entwicklung , pp. 32, 39.
  4. ↑ Musall, Entwicklung , pp. 30, 39.
  5. ↑ a b Musall, Entwicklung , pp. 33–39.
  6. ↑ Musall, Entwicklung , p. 41ff.
  7. ^ Adam Ignaz Valentin Heunisch: The Grand Duchy of Baden, described historically-geographically-statistically-topographically. Heidelberg 1857, p. 69.
  8. ↑ Georg Ball: Germersheim, the razed fortress. History and leader. Jaeger, Speyer 1930, pp. 43, 96.
  9. ↑ Musall, Development , p. 41.
  10. ↑ Musall, Entwicklung , pp. 41, 44.
  11. ^ Andreas Wolf: Rußheimer Altrhein – Elisabethenwört. In: District Office for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management Karlsruhe (Ed.): The nature reserves in the administrative district of Karlsruhe. Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-7995-5172-7 , pp. 349-354, here pp. 349f.
  12. ↑ Wolf, Rußheimer Altrhein – Elisabethenwört , pp. 349, 351, 353.
  13. ↑ Wolf, Rußheimer Altrhein – Elisabethenwört , pp. 351, 353.
  14. ↑ Wolf, Rußheimer Altrhein – Elisabethenwört , p. 354.
  15. ^ Karlsruhe regional council: retention area Elisabethenwört (accessed on October 5, 2014);
    Karlsruhe Regional Council: Lectures at an information event on July 23, 2014 (PDF, 3.6 MB, accessed on October 5, 2014).
  16. ↑ Ekart Kinkel, Jörg-Uwe Meller: Damm is being relocated back to Russheim. In: Baden's latest news. March 1, 2018, accessed October 13, 2018 .