Mehßower landscape
The Mehßower landscape is a region in Niederlausitz in the north-western district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz and in the south-eastern district of Dahme-Spreewald . It is located on the northern roof, in a depression in the shadow of the Lausitz border wall (Mehßower basin) and extends in a west / east direction from the foothills of the Lausitz border wall (Mehßower plateau) in the west over the streams of Rietzka, Schrake and Schuche (Mehßower Niederung) to the district boundary of Schadewitz in the east, another branch of the Lausitz border wall. In the north, the Mehßow landscape begins at the boundaries of Gliechow and Mallenchen and in the south reaches the Lausitz border wall again, which as a whole surrounds the Mehßow landscape in a U-shape.
The highest mountains in this peripheral location on the Lausitz border wall are the Finkenberg and the Babbener Berge in the west with 143 m above sea level each (both already in the Babben district ), in the south the Kleine- and Große Großmannsberg ( Radensdorf district ) with 131 and 135 m above sea level and in the east the Klein-Mehßower Weinberg, as well as other heights of 116 - 134 m above sea level. In the lowlands of the Mehßow Basin, the undulating terrain drops in a north-easterly, but mainly in a northerly direction, reaching heights of only 76 - 71 m above sea level ( Klein-Mehßow and Tugam ). Several remaining hills formed in the Ice Age (Weinberg, Schloßberg, Groschkenberg, etc.) interrupt the lowlands of the Mehßow Basin.
In terms of area, the Mehßow landscape covers around 26 km². The 6 villages Groß-Mehßow , Klein Mehßow , Craupe , Radensdorf , Schrackau and Tugam are embedded in a kind of settlement chamber . Politically and administratively, the first five villages mentioned belong to the town of Calau (districts) and the district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz , while Tugam and Fürstlich-Drehna zu Luckau (district) are classified in the district of Dahme-Spreewald . The foundations for this community of 6 Mehßow villages were laid during the eastern colonization of the 13th century in the form of the Mehßow manor with the parish (Groß-) Mehßow.
From a supraregional perspective, the Mehßower landscape lies in the Luckau-Calau basin and is referred to as the Mehßower plateau (without the regional distinction between the Mehßower plateau and the Mehßower lowland). In the wet lowlands of this Calau basin one finds many fish ponds (Groß-Mehßow, Tugam and in other places), which are the formations of the human development of the late Middle Ages and also of the modern times. The favorable soil conditions allow (t) the creation of partly quite large ponds. So there is impermeable clay (or clay marl) in the shallow depths of the earth. The water seeping into the bottom of the nearby Lusatian border wall can only penetrate as far as this layer of clay, follows the slope of the landscape to the east and north and collects in hollows (village pond Groß-Mehßow) or presses as a source to the surface (springs in the pond landscape and in the village of Groß-Mehßow). The result is green soils with a variety of plants.
Creation of the Mehßow landscape
The immediate surface shape of the Mehßower landscape (Mehßower basin) and the Lausitz border wall is essentially the result of the middle ice age (here in the Saale III glaciation or Lausitz ice age 230,000 - 128,000 years ago). The glacier masses with a height of almost 1000 m came to a standstill due to the accumulation of earth in the area of Wüstermarke , Walddrehna , Weißack , Gahro , Crinitz , Groß-Mehßow, Werchow , Drebkau to Sorau and left behind the terminal moraine , the Lusatian border wall, as a former ice edge with altitudes between 100 m and 227 m above sea level. These include the mountains, Wachtberg in the Rochauer Heide 158 m, the Brautberg near Gollmitz 158 m, the Kesselberg near Cabel 160 m and the highest mountain at Sorau with 227 m.
Two terminal moraine courses testify to the two penetrations of the inland ice: The last ice layer (red line in the map) no longer reached the area of the former ice edge position (blue line). The first and older season runs from Bronkow south to Babben and north-east past Kleinbahren in the direction of Weißack-Gehren-Walddrehna.
The second, younger season comes from around Settinchen and runs via Gollmitz-Schrackau-Babben to the central terminal moraine area of Crinitz / Gahro. Both squadrons then meet at Weißack. In the Bronkow area and between Babben-Gahro, the terminal moraine domes of the first season were partially covered by the sander of the second season.
Climatic conditions of the Mehßow landscape
The climatic conditions in the Mehßow landscape correspond to those of the Niederlausitz and can be seen as a transition from the sea climate with high rainfall with balanced temperatures to the dry land climate rich in extremes. According to the GDR climate atlas (Meteorological and Hydrological Service of the GDR 1953), our area belongs to the climate district of the east German inland climate. This is a slightly continental westerly wind climate. In addition to prevailing westerly winds (40%), there is a high proportion of south and east winds (22% and 27%).
With a rainfall of less than 600 mm per year, the area is one of the regions in Germany with little rainfall. 2018 was a very dry year with 391 mm (Doberlug-Kirchhain) precipitation and 1930 with 756 mm (Luckau) a very wet year. Evaporation is 448 mm per year.
Due to the valley location (Mehßower basin) of the Mehßower landscape, there are temporary deviations in the local climate (microclimate) in certain weather conditions. The soil with its various properties and the soil cover play an essential role here. The pond landscape and the fir bush in Groß-Mehßow show a damp and cool local climate. The abundance of water and the extensive wet soils, which have a temperature-reducing effect, lead to increased fog formation and late frosts in spring are not uncommon.
The closed tree population of the Mehßower plateau creates a typical forest climate. The canopy of the trees slows down the solar radiation for the ground by up to 95% (depending on the tree species), which influences the vertical air exchange and leads to a storey structure in different microclimates. If the daytime temperature profile on the surface of the soil is low, it is pronounced in the treetops. In the forest there is a steady, low wind speed, as the air flow in the treetops is largely slowed down. In forest clearings, the temperature may drop more sharply at night than in the trees themselves.
In the landscape of the Mehßower lowlands, which is open to the east, the microclimate depends on the vegetation. Sand fields without vegetation can become very hot during the day from the sun's rays. Due to the low thermal conductivity of soils with a high pore volume, the temperature only penetrates up to about 0.5 m into the soil. Tilling the soil further reduces the thermal conductivity of the soil. Increased nighttime cooling therefore leads to large differences in daytime temperature.
If the soil bears vegetation, the picture changes again: Now only part of the air and solar heat reaches the soil, so that the soil is heated to a much lesser extent. The same applies to the radiation at night, since the soil surface is first in exchange with the plants. As a result, the daytime temperature difference is smaller compared to bare ground.
Ponds
The Tertiary (brown coal age) left extensive layers of clay in the ground in the Mehßow landscape, which were an almost ideal prerequisite for creating ponds. This was also widely used, especially in Groß-Mehßow and Tugam, because in the last 200 years there were no fewer than 27 ponds with around 15 hectares of water on the Groß-Mehßower Feldmark and in Tugam 5 ponds with around 23 hectares. Of the 27 ponds in Groß-Mehßow, 10 are still left today. Some of the ponds certainly owe their creation to the alum mining that was carried out centuries ago , which left deep sinks.
Tugam
Tugam has by far the largest water surface with 52.4 hectares of ponds and a lake in the Mehßow landscape. While the Sandteich (formerly Großer Teich) and the Brasenteich (formerly Scheerteich) are centuries-old ponds, more recently (from the middle of the 20th century) came the Kleiner Brasenteiche, the Tugamer Neuteich, the Drehnaer See (part of a lignite open pit mine Schlabendorf-Süd ) and the peat pond. The Tugamer Neuteich only had a short lifespan of around 3 decades and had to be abandoned due to the lowering of the groundwater level in the Schlabendorf-Süd open-cast lignite mine. The Tugamer ponds at a glance:
- The Brazil Ponds: Large Brazil Pond 102,200 m² = 10.2 ha, (previously 119,000 m² = 11.9 ha). 1. Small Brazil Pond 2.5 ha, 2. Small Brazil Pond 1 ha.
- Tugamer Neuteich: 13 150 m² = 1.3 ha (no longer available).
- Sand pond: 46,600 m² = 4.66 ha (previously 76,800 m² = 7.68 ha).
- Peat pond: 12,200 m² = 1.2 ha.
- Drehnaer See: 327 700 m² = 32.7 ha (Tugamer share).
Groß-Mehßow
As a legacy of the copper waterworks in western Groß-Mehßow of the 16./17. In the mid-19th century, sinks were created that were used by flooding to create ponds for fish farming. Finally, in the 18th century, a large night willow was flooded - the large pond was created. Fish farming seemed to have been very profitable for the manor back then . In the Groß-Mehßower pond landscape, the large pond has the most extensive area with an area of over 8 hectares, which is what gave it its name. The other ponds are smaller, such as the Langteich, Mühlteich, Wurzelteich, Grünzelteich, Drehnaer-Teich, Hellerteich, Dorfteich, the fish-holding ponds and recently created small organic ponds.
So today, apart from the small fish-holding ponds and the newly created ponds , there are the following ponds in Groß-Mehßow with a total water surface of 14.16 hectares:
- Large pond (86,000 m²)
- Langteich (18,300 m²)
- Mill pond (6 600 m²)
- Root pond (5 100 m²)
- Green tent pond (4 600 m²)
- Drehnaer pond (8,000 m²)
- Hällerteich (12,000 m²)
- Village pond (870 m²)
(All area data of the ponds refer to the pure water surface. Adjoining reed and swamp areas, which of course also belong to it, were not taken into account. Therefore the information given here does not have to correspond to other publications.)
Klein-Mehßow
Of the former 8 ponds in Klein-Mehßow there is only the northern mill pond (1,030 m²) and a small village pond.
Watercourses
While the Mehßow landscape is rich in ponds (total water area: 66.66 ha), it has only small streams on watercourses. The important ones are the Schrake , the Rietzka and the Schuche . At the Rietzka the village Mehßow was (now Greater Mehßow) that Schrake served Schrackau and Tugam as a settlement site, which at the Schuche was based manor Mehßow (Gutsweiler, small Mehßow) and finally emerged at Raden Dorfer ditch and on Crauper digging once the today's villages of Radensdorf and Craupe.
Schrake
The Schrake (from Slavic, cancer river, river with crabs) was the economically most important brook in the Mehßower landscape and beyond. The Schrake rises in the small village of Babben , formerly part of the Drehna class and now part of the municipality of Massen-Niederlausitz . A small brook, which on its way through the Mehßow landscape over tributaries from drainage arms finally carried so much water that several water wheels started moving through its power and drove 5 mills to grind grain, to press vegetable oil from oilseeds and finally sawing the beams and boards necessary for building.
The headwaters of the Schrake are in Babben. Several springs ensure that a small stream is created here. Probably that was the reason why the first settlers settled here. The Schrake meanders through the Ursulagrund , a charming little piece of earth with meadows and varied forest cover , to the first village in the Mehßow landscape - Schrackau . In any case, the terrain conditions in Schrackau were already favorable enough to be able to operate a small mill.
From Schrackau it goes over meadows and fields to Radensdorf. The Schrake does not touch the place itself, it swings more and more towards the north, receives additional water from the Radensdorfer Graben and finally reached Groß-Mehßow. Here on the Groß-Mehßower Feldmark the next mill was built and called Radensdorfer Mühle . One must assume that this mill was responsible for Radensdorf and the surrounding area from the start. In modern times there were border straightening and the Radensdorfer Mühle was closed in Radensdorf.
From the Radensdorfer Mühle the Schrake made its way over 1.2 km further north, supplied the old Groß-Mehßower Vorwerk with water, received further inflow from the Rietzka from the ponds and finally reached the former Klein-Mühle. It was the mill responsible for Groß-Mehßow. It then continues over about a kilometer of the stream bed to the Groß-Mühle. Here the Schrake leaves Groß-Mehßow in the direction of Tugam and also feeds the Tugam Brazilian pond with water. After Schrackau, Tugam is the only place through which the Schrake flows directly.
Already behind Tugam, the barrier was relocated in a north-easterly direction as a result of the Schlabendorf-Süd open-cast lignite mine. While the Schrake covers a distance of 7.3 km in the Mehßower landscape, its total length today is 11.3 km. Between Mallenchen and Groß Jehser it flows into the Dobra. Before 1980 it ran from Mallenchen to Gliechow, Zinnitz , Tornow and Lichtenau , where it also flowed into the Dobra.
Schuche
The Schuche, another former Mühl brook in the Mehßower landscape, has its source near Gollmitz . To the east of Radensdorf it flows almost in a straight line towards the north to Klein-Mehßow and then on towards Mallenchen. Here it flows into the barrier. The small stream is 7.7 km long in total.
Rietzka
The Rietzka (from Slavonic, river) rises in the western Groß-Mehßow pond landscape, in the fir bush. The first 600 m of its course are no longer visible today because it has been inundated with ponds for 300 years. Only the Rietzka north arm still exists, which merges with the main arm (large pond drain) at the discharge of the large pond. The further course then goes through the village of Groß-Mehßow. Here the Rietzka receives further inflow from the castle moat. It served the former manor house as a moat (small moated castle) that surrounded it on all sides. Through meadows, which used to become gradually more swampy, it finally flows into the Schrake.
The Rietzka first served a late Slavic small settlement (around 11th century) on the Groß-Mehßower Groschkenberg as a source of life. The Slavs also gave the brook its name. Today's village of Groß-Mehßow was built on the less swampy north bank of the Rietzka in the 13th century.
Tannenbusch nature reserve and Groß-Mehßow pond landscape
A specialty in the Mehßower landscape is the nature reserve Tannenbusch and pond landscape Groß-Mehßow . It is a forest area and an adjacent pond ensemble in the Mehßow plateau.
As a legacy of the copper waterworks in western Groß-Mehßow of the 16./17. In the mid-19th century, sinks were created that were used by flooding to create ponds for fish farming. Finally, in the 18th century, a large nocturnal willow was flooded - the large pond (large pond) was created. Fish farming seemed to have been very profitable for the manor back then, and the favorable terrain conditions with a huge layer of clay in the soil that holds the water and does not allow it to seep also fit. Numerous sources did the rest.
Until the liquidation of the manor in 1945, the ponds were not only managed but also looked after. Things looked different with the new owners in the GDR . One lived from the substance, practiced intensive fish farming and the environment was ruined. Nature was happy about the latter. It was able to develop undisturbed - today's typical Groß-Mehßow pond landscape with 13.26 hectares of water was created. The following ponds are located in the nature reserve:
- Large pond (86,000 m²),
- Langteich (18,300 m²),
- Hellerteich (12,000 m²),
- Mühlteich (6 600 m²),
- Root pond (5 100 m²),
- Grünzelteich (4 600 m²).
But there is something else, the fir bush. However, you will not find any fir trees, it is just a popular name for the indigenous Lusatian lowland spruce. It occurs naturally here and in a few other places in the Niederlausitzer Landrücke Nature Park , so it was not planted. There are also characteristic bird species for spruce forests: crossbill, bullfinch, siskin and two golden-cocked species. The Lusatian lowland spruce finds favorable site conditions here in the Mehßow landscape, and in order to protect it and ensure its reproduction, the GDR authorities put a 50-hectare area under nature protection in 1961.
In 1996 the nature reserve was expanded to 203 hectares. This achieved comprehensive protection of the area, which now includes the entire pond landscape, meadows and damp, boggy locations in addition to the pipe grass, spruce and pine forest vegetation. The nature reserve Tannenbusch and Teichlandschaft Groß-Mehßow is part of the European ecological network Natura 2000 and enjoys a European protection status.
The nature reserve is located in the terminal moraine of the Niederlausitzer Landrückens (Lausitzer Grenzwall) and is part of the nature park of the same name. The diverse and calm landscape offers the disturbance-sensitive and threatened animal species ideal living and development spaces. These include cranes, otters, white-tailed eagles, forest lizards, smooth and grass snakes, mountain and crested newts, tree frogs, fire-bellied toad, dragonflies, as well as plant species such as round-leaved sundew, royal and rib fern, swamp porst, bell heather, various peat mosses, etc.
With the exception of the root pond, extensive fishing is carried out in all ponds. Eight small bodies of water, ponds with 300 - 400 square meters each, were also created in which a biodiversity has developed. There is also a special feature in the delightful pond landscape. Numerous large mussels can be found at the bottom of the water. They are the basis for the occurrence of bitterling. This fish leaves its fry to the protection of the mussels and in turn ensures the spread of the shellfish.
The ponds form a varied habitat mosaic with small bog areas, swamp forests , springs and unspoilt stream sections, in which water birds, amphibians and, with a little luck, the otters can be observed.
Agriculture
From an agricultural point of view, the Mehßow landscape, located in the former terminal moraine of the Ice Age, is notable for its soil conditions that are not particularly favorable and, in the past, has to be regarded as repeatedly repellent to settlement. The average number of fields is 35, on a scale from 1 (very bad) to 100 (very good). It is partly loamy (clayey) sandy soils with shares of sandy and partially loamy sandy soils.
The lowlands were rich in springs, damp and swampy and could not be used for agriculture in wet years. In particular, the Mehßower lowland, that is the bed of the Schrake and Schuche stream, which runs as a narrow belt from south to north through the Mehßower landscape, was partly a moor and swamp area in the early centuries. Even today there are still some very wet spots.
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The high altitudes, on the other hand, have mostly dry, poor sandy soil (rabbit sand) and are not very fertile, and therefore very dry in times of low rainfall.
There are only a few places where there is somewhat clay / loam, arable-friendly soil. The topsoil layer is sometimes only a few centimeters. Sand islands protrude as elevations from the arable land, on which mostly only pine trees grow.
Web links
- Mehßow landscape on the side of Groß Mehßow
- Mehßower landscape
literature
- Rainer Kamenz: The Groß-Mehßower parish - the Groß- and Klein-Mehßower village chronicle . Self-published, Plessa 2016.
- Rainer Kamenz: Mehßower historical encyclopedia. E-book, self-published, Plessa 2018.
- Guide to the geology of Berlin and Brandenburg. No .: 3 Lübbenau-Calau. Geoscientists in Berlin and Brandenburg e. V. Berlin 1995.
- Maintenance and development plan for the NSG "Tannenbusch und Teichlandschaft Groß Mehßow", 1994. Planning office for landscape and animal ecology Wolf Lederer.