Helbe
The Helbe is a 79.8 km long, western and orographically left tributary of the Unstrut in the Unstrut-Hainich district , Kyffhäuserkreis and Sömmerda district in Thuringia ( Germany ).
course
Spring arms
Two spring arms bring the water of the Helbe from the Dün and the western Hainleite together. Both only carry water episodically and sometimes only in parts. The reason for this is the karstification of the shell limestone in the subsoil , which causes the strong fluctuations in the karst water level in the Helbetal area (up to 30 m height difference). The confluence of the two arms lies in a remote valley near the Helbehaus ( ⊙ ).
The right source arm, which is much longer than the left, is the one coming from the direction of Beberstedt and rises ( ⊙ ) at about 472 m above sea level. NHN . It carries the water from the area around Beberstedt, Hüpstedt , Keula and Holzthaleben , flowing mostly underground . Here the Helbe initially runs as a stone trench in one of the longest dry valleys in Germany in an easterly direction over the Muschelkalk plateau on the northwestern edge of the Thuringian Basin .
The left arm of the spring, which is much shorter than the right, is the one coming from Friedrichsrode , a little above its spring, and rises ( ⊙ ) at a height of about 381 m . It flows through the fire ground into the Helbetal. Moist spring swamps can often be seen in it. But even these dry up for the longest part of the year.
Upper course / Upper Helbetal
In the upper reaches, the Helbe runs through the Obere Helbetal , a landscape that was created by washing out shell limestone. There are valley cuts of around 100 m deep. The part of the Helbe from the confluence of the two spring arms to the stone mill near Dietenborn usually only carries water from late winter to late spring. While the Helbe often leaves its bed here in March and sometimes floods the entire width of the valley, in May the creek often dries up within a few days. The desolation of the village of Helbe and the Rabenmühle suggest that this part of the Helbe carried significantly more water in earlier times. Some legends of the Helbetal even talk about a navigable river. Today the Obere Helbetal is a popular hiking area with some sights and remarkable flora.
Middle course
In the middle course, the Helbe carries water from the Steinmühle to the so-called Helbesystem near Wasserthaleben for most of the year. There are a number of farms with the name ending -mühle ; operated water mills are no longer available. At Wiedermuth the Helbe leaves the Helbetal. From there it runs south along the Hainleite south-east via Ebeleben to Wasserthaleben.
Underflow / mouth arms
Between the Wasserthaleben and Clingen , the Helbe was divided into three estuary arms ( viewed downstream along the Unstrut estuary ); the three mouths are a total of 1.5 km apart (as the crow flies ; distance from the south to the north arm):
The Saxon Helbe forms the southern (right) arm of the Helbe - it was created in the 14th century for the water supply of Weissensee and flows ( ⊙ ) near Waltersdorf into the Saale tributary Unstrut, which comes from there from about the southeast .
The middle arm of the Steingraben, the original course of the river, runs between the south and north arms . Most of the water is provided to him at the Helbewehr. It is connected several times to the Schwarzburger Helbe by ditches for water regulation. From Nausiß is called Steingraben then pool . The former main Elbe passes Waltersdorf north and flows into the Unstrut ( ⊙ ) opposite Griefstedt at a height of 130.9 m .
The northern (left) arm is known as the Schwarzburger , Schwarzburgsche or Schwarzburgische Helbe and represents the oldest, artificial branch of the Helbe. The ditch was created by the Teutonic Order in the middle of the 13th century . It flows ( ⊙ ) at the Thomas-Müntzer-Siedlung at 130.6 m into the Unstrut; Riethgen is located on the opposite bank a little further downstream . Around 1530, the Kupferhelbe was derived from the Schwarzburgschen Helbe . It flowed between West Greussia and Clingen in a south to south-east direction. Today, the Kupferhelbe would flow through Greussen city center in an arc extending to the north , partly parallel to the B4 . There are currently hardly any remains of the moat visible.
Tributaries / side valleys
In the upper Helbetal several dry valleys open a (l = left side; r = right side) :
- Urtal - between Keula and Holzthaleben (l)
- Zitztal - northwest of Holzthaleben (l)
- Gloomy reason - northeast of Holzthaleben (l)
- Feuergrund - southeast of Friedrichsrode (l)
- Martinsgrund - northwest of Kleinberndten (l)
- Schinderloch - northwest of Großbrüchter (r)
- Ingelstedter Grund - northwest of Großbrüchter (r)
- Dietenborn - south of the village of Dietenborn (l)
- Schinkleigraben - west of Himmelsberg (l)
- Loosbach - near Wiedermuth (r)
- Urtal - near Ebeleben (r)
- Neunbörner - near Bliederstedt (l)
- Stettenborn - east of Thüringenhausen (l)
- Sumpfbach - east of Bliederstedt (l)
- Mühlbach coming from the Mühltal - east of Großenehrich (r)
- Grollbach - east of Greußen; in the stone ditch (r)
References and comments
- ↑ a b c d e Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
- ↑ a b River lengths in Thuringia - State Institute for Environment and Geology
- ^ Thuringian State Institute for the Environment (ed.): Area and waterway key figures (directory and map). Jena 1998. 26 pp.
- ↑ In addition to the catchment area, depending on the interpretation, 40.9 km² for the Saxon Helbe flowing above and 41.7 km² for the Schwarzburger Helbe flowing below .
- ↑ Level: Wasserthaleben / Helbe , on hnz.tlug-jena.de
- ↑ Helbesystem and Wehr at www.greussen.info
Web links
- Representation of the Upper Helbetal , on erlebnisbauernhof-online.de