Alder forests in Brandenburg
In the Brandenburg region , alder forests are often referred to as Elsbruch . Els is said to be derived from the Low German word for alder ( Low German Else = alder). Bruch means "swampy area". The black alder is predominantly found in Brandenburg's Elsbrüchen , which can withstand the high humidity and, thanks to its adventitious roots, also fluctuating water levels comparatively well.
Near-natural alder quarries can still be found in the Oberspreewald, for example . The Zarth nature reserve near Treuenbrietzen in the Nuthe-Nieplitz nature park , which lies below the northern slope of the Fläming in the Glogau-Baruther glacial valley and is the source of several rivers , also forms a dense quarry forest . The table-level and formerly swampy glacial valley housed many swamp forests before the extensive melioration measures of the 18th century. A remnant is, for example, the formerly extensive Linther Oberbusch near Neuendorf . Two smaller Elsbruch are located south of Berlin , also in the Brandenburg Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park: the Siethener and the Saarmunder Elsbruch. In the north of the city of Havelsee lies the extensive Pritzerber Laake .
At the end of the last ice age , the Vistula Ice Age , the Brandenburg Elsbrüche formed in meltwater channels around 15,000 years ago. So in the lowlands of various rivers, almost impenetrable swampy areas have emerged in places. The regulation of the rivers and the drainage of the lowlands and Elsbruchs for the reclamation of the land for the benefit of agriculture has accompanied the history of the country since the 12th century .
Theodor Fontane , for example, reports on the year 1859 and Karl von Jagow , hereditary master of the Kurmark and at the time owner of the villages of Siethen and Gröben , in his hikes through the Mark Brandenburg : “With meadow cultures and broken drainage, which was soon followed by more worthwhile treatment of the forest districts , was started and farm buildings followed in quick order ”.
literature
- Theodor Fontane: Walks through the Mark Brandenburg. Part 4. Spreenland. Quoted from the 1998 edition, Frankfurt / M., Berlin.
- STEGNER, J. (2000): Erlenbruchwälder - dynamics in space and time. Consequences for process protection in a forest society. In: Nature conservation and landscape planning 32 (9), pp. 261–268.
