Big moss break
The Great Moosbruch ( Russian Большое Моховое болото Bolschoje Mochowoje boloto ) is a large bog on the southeast bank of the Curonian Lagoon and east of the Deime ( Deima ) river, about 20 kilometers northeast of the district town of Polessk ( Labiau ). Administratively, the moorland belongs to the Polessk Rajon of the Kaliningrad Oblast , Russia , and until 1945 to the Labiau district in East Prussia . In the north the area merges into the elk lowlands .
construction
In its central part it consists of an extensive raised bog , which is surrounded by a ring of transition bog and low bog . While the central raised bog is about 6 m above sea level, the low bog regions are only 0.5–2 m above sea level. The moor grew up on mostly fine-grain sediments ( silt , fine sand ) of the Memel Delta . Its formation is linked to the rise in the Baltic Sea level at the time of the so-called Littorina Transgression . In more recent studies (see literature) a maximum of more than 10 m of peat was found.
The central part of the raised bog is almost forest-free and is mainly overgrown by peat moss of the genus Sphagnum . The subsequent transition moor is mainly forested with pine and birch . Today an alder forest grows on the fen sites .
history
The settlement of the moss quarry did not begin until the middle of the 18th century, at the instigation of the Prussian King Friedrich II. Little by little, colonist villages were founded along the edge of the moor. Above all, the fen areas and partly the transitional moor were cultivated. The central high moor remained almost untouched. The Großer Moosbruch is crossed by several canals, including the Polesski Canal ( Großer Friedrichsgraben ), which were created on the one hand as inland waterways and on the other hand for drainage. Until the end of the Second World War it was in the territory of East Prussia . After the end of the Second World War, the German residents were expelled. Despite the Russian settlement after the war, almost all the villages remained desolate. Only the village of Lauknen (today Gromowo) still exists. The end of agricultural use led to rewetting and reforestation in the formerly cultivated areas.
Large Moosbruch District (1938–1945)
On August 25, 1938, a separate “district of Großes Moosbruch” was formed, which existed until 1945. It was created by renaming the Lauknen district and belonged to the Labiau district in the Königsberg district of the Prussian province of East Prussia . The district of Großes Moosbruch comprised four communities:
| Surname | Name until 1938 | Russian name |
|---|---|---|
| Friedrichsrode (East Pr.) | Old sweet milk | Tarasovka |
| Hohenbruch (East Pr.) | Lukewarm | Gromowo |
| Timber | Rybatskoye | |
| Welmdeich | Petricken | Fontanka |
The head of the district of Großes Moosbruch was most recently chief officer Grigull from Hohenbruch. In August 1939 the Hohenbruch concentration camp was established near Hohenbruch .
Current status
The area is a retreat for many endangered animal and plant species. Among other things, moose occur here . But numerous endangered plant species also have extensive retreats here. 148 km² of moorland have been under nature protection since 1994.
literature
H. Lehrkamp; J. Haller; H. Schulze: Research on bog in the Great Moss Quarry (Bolschoje Mochowoje Boloto) in the Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian Federation. In: Telma 36, pp. 53-70; Hanover 2006 ( [1] )
Footnotes
- ^ Rolf Jehke, Lauknen / Großes Moosbruch district
- ↑ Except for Gromowo, the places no longer exist
Coordinates: 54 ° 58 ' N , 21 ° 23' E