Mindel
The Mindel is a 78 km long right tributary of the Danube in the districts of East Allgäu, Unterallgäu , Günzburg and Dillingen . The river name is of Celtic origin and means clear / (pure), old Irish mend / min. In the oldest written sources, the name "Mindil" appears. The Mindel was first mentioned in a document in March (849-) 853 when King Ludwig the Germans determined the boundaries of the Kempten monastery: “The demarcation goes ... from the fountain near Böhen via the Mindel spring (“ Mindilunursprinc ”) to Wertach. .. ". "Adelgoz de Mindilowa" (Mindelau) is a witness in a document from King Heinrich IV. From October 1075 for the Hirsau Monastery.
course
The Mindel rises at the foot of the Mindelberg north of the hamlet Mindelberg (Markt Obergünzburg ), east of Ronsberg . Near the source, from a brook widening in the forest, the water flows into the small power station of the former Mindelmühle, which was mentioned as a fiefdom of the Kempten monastery as early as 1448. In a northerly direction, the Mindel flows from the Ostallgäu through the districts of Unterallgäu and Günzburg . At Gundremmingen (district of Günzburg) the Mindel flows into the Danube . In the last 1080 meters before the mouth, below the Danube hydroelectric power station Gundelfingen , the Mindel still flows through the district of Dillingen . The most important tributaries are the Kammel and the Flossach . Below Rammingen the 35 km long Wörthbach (also called Friesenrieder Bach in the upper reaches) flows into the Flossach. For the other direct and indirect tributaries and streams of the Mindel → List of waters in the Mindel river system
The river has a catchment area of 953 km², a mean water discharge of 12 m³ / s and a mean flood discharge of a good 68 m³ / s. In 2002 125 m³ / s were measured. In the Günzburg district alone, energy is generated in 30 hydropower plants.
The Mindel is in the 31.1 kilometer long section between the mouth of the Mühlkanal approx. 500 meters below Salzstraßmühle (Gem. Unteregg ) and the mouth of the Flossach north of Hasberg a body of water of the second order. On the 38.9 kilometers of the river from the mouth of the Flossach to the mouth of the Danube , the Mindel is a body of water of the first order.
After merging with the Flossach valley, the Mindeltal has expanded considerably from Pfaffenhausen / Salgen to the Danube. This is due to a geological feature of the Ice Age, the so-called Wertach fork near Türkheim. Here the Wertachtalboden merges with the Flossachtal to the west without any significant difference in altitude. In its furthest advance in the Riss Cold Age, the Wertach Glacier divided here on the southern wedge-shaped foothills of the perennials (Türkheimer spur). One arm of the glacier ran into the Wertach valley, the other reached into today's Flossach valley and drained through the Mindeltal into the Danube. The ice did not advance that far to the last (Würm) glacial, but the Wertach split into two arms at the Wertach fork for a longer time. The Flossachtal, which is wide for the size of the water, and the subsequent Mindeltal widening from Pfaffenhausen / Salgen were formed by the Ice Age Wertach. Proof of this is that you can find alpine sediments and stones from the Wertach catchment area in the Mindeltal.
The source of the entire Mindel water intake system furthest from the confluence with the Danube is not the Mindel spring itself, but the source of the Wörthbach (approx. 820 m above sea level) in the Hollenwald east of Wenglingen ( Aitrang municipality ). The Wörthbach, also called Friesenrieder Bach in the upper reaches, flows into the Mindeln tributary Flossach near Rammingen. It is 90.5 km from its source via the Flossach and its confluence with the Mindel to the Danube.
Economic use
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the Mindel spread out with many meanders, accompanied by oxbow lakes and tributaries in its valley (see map photos from 1820 by Hans Müller). Then there was increasing regulation and drainage to gain agricultural land and expand villages. The loss of retention areas led to an increase in flooding, especially in the lower Mindeltal.
Hydropower has been used intensively in the Mindeltal since the Middle Ages. The Spöcker mill near Kirchheim is mentioned in a papal deed for the Elchingen monastery in August 1225, the Riedmühle near Burgau in a sales deed from 1361. Alone in the area of the main river and the lower Flossach are from the source (Mindelmühle) to the confluence with the Danube still today over 50 earlier mills are known, partly combined with sawmills and hammer mills. At most of these former mill locations, hydropower is now used to generate electricity.
After the last ice age, extensive fens appeared in parts of the Mindel valley. These formed the basis for the peat deposits that were mined up to the middle of the last century, especially in the Salgen, Jettingen, Scheppach, Röfingen and Burgau areas. In the Flossach Valley, peat extraction near Tussenhausen was of economic importance. With the completion of the Burgau - Augsburg rail link in 1854, commercial peat mining began alongside personal use. In 1901, 19583 tons of peat were shipped from Burgau station, although this business was unable to cope with the increasing competition from hard coal. In the time of need after World War II, many farmers reactivated their peat cuttings again until this era ended around 1960/65. The Jettingen peat educational trail clearly documents the earlier peat extraction. A relic of this time is the Jettinger Torfwirtschaft Hamp, which developed from a peat cutter canteen operated as early as 1864 in the "Herrschaftsmoos" of Count Stauffenberg. The historical gem from the Mindeltal is now carefully renovated with the sloping floors (lowering in the moor) and built true to nature in the Swabian farm museum in Illerbeuren.
Arms of the river
This section describes the arms of the Mindel from the mouth to the source:
- South of Mindelzell (municipality of Ursberg ) the Mindel divides into the Große Mindel (first-order body of water) and the Kleine Mindel (water body code: 116592; length of water: 16.84 km; second-order body of water). South of Eberstall (municipality of Markt Jettingen-Scheppach ) the Kleine Mindel reunites with the main river.
- To the north of Lohhof (district of the city of Mindelheim ), the Eastern Mindel (water code number: 11632; water length: 10.65 km; second order water ) splits off from the Mindel . South of Hasberg ( Kirchheim municipality in Swabia ) the partial waters flow together again.
Places on the Mindel or in the Mindeltal
from south to north:
- Obergünzburg market : Mindelmühle
- Markt Ronsberg : in the part of the municipality that lies in the Mindeltal, there is no town
- Eggenthal : Binkenhofen
- Unteregg : Schlottermühle, Salzstraßmühle
- Dirlewang Market : Dirlewang
- Apple trach : apple trach
- City of Mindelheim : Mindelau and Heimenegg (both: on the eastern edge of the Mindeltal), Mindelheim, Nassenbeuren (not directly on the Mindel), Lohhof
- Pfaffenhausen market : Heinzenhof , Pfaffenhausen, Schöneberg
- Salgen : Hausen , Salgen, Bronnen , Bronnerlehe (all on the Eastern Mindel)
- Breitenbrunn : there is no town in the part of the municipality that lies in the Mindeltal valley
- Kirchheim market in Swabia : Hasberg; Kirchheim, Derndorf and Tiefenried: on the eastern edge of the Mindeltal
in the district of Günzburg :
- Aletshausen : only the Winzer district belonging to Aletshausen lies at the upper edge of the Mindeltal valley
- Ursberg : Mindelzell , Bayersried , Ursberg, Oberrohr (all on the Kleine Mindel)
- Balzhausen : Balzhausen (not directly on the Mindel)
- Thannhausen : Thannhausen, Nettershausen (not directly on the Mindel); Castle (on the eastern edge of the Mindeltal)
- Markt Neuburg an der Kammel : in the part of the municipality that lies in the Mindeltal, there is no town
- Münsterhausen market : Münsterhausen; Hagenried and Oberhagenried on the Kleine Mindel
- Market Burtenbach : Burtenbach
- Jettingen-Scheppach market : Jettingen, Scheppach
- Burgau : Burgau
- Mindelaltheim (municipality of Dürrlauingen )
- Rettenbach : Lüßhof
- Offingen market : Offingen
- Gundremmingen : (Gundremmingen is not directly on the Mindel)
Others
- The following places derive their names from the river: Mindelaltheim , Mindelheim (and the district of Mindelau ), Mindelstetten , Mindelzell , Mindelberg near Pfaffenhausen and Mindelberg near Obergünzburg , near which the water rises.
- In April 2003 the Mindeltal cycle path was inaugurated.
- One of the ice ages , namely the Mindelkaltzeit , is named after this river.
- The local and folk costume association Offingen is called "d´ Mindelspitzer".
Web links
See also
Literature / sources
- Joseph Schnetz: River names of the Bavarian Swabia, Augsburg 1950, Mindel.
- Reinhard Bauer: The oldest border descriptions in Bavaria and their statement for naming and history, Munich 1988, Kemptener Mark, pp. 189–201, Regenunto (Regensburg), (849-) 853 March 11.
- Württembergisches Urkundenbuch, Volume I., No. 233, pp. 276 - 280, Worms, 1075 October 9.
- Lorenz Scheuenpflug: On the Würm and post-glacial valley history of the Wertach outside of the youth moraines in: Reports of the natural science association for Swabia eV, 93/1, Augsburg 1989, pp. 14-27.
- Württ. Urkundenbuch Vol. 5, No. N29, Reate, 1225 August 16, ("... in Speche molendinum unum.").
- Bayer. Main state archive, Pfalz-Neuburg documents, Alte Landgerichte 33, 1361 December 3, (Sophie the Halderin sold the Konzenberg Castle, the Muckenberg, the Weiher and the Riedmühle to Heinrich von Waldkirch).
- Hans Müller: The Mindel from the source to the mouth, Mindelheim 2010, (with photos of all places on the Mindel and the former mills still standing, historical map of the valley from around 1820).
- Otto Kettemann: The "Torfwirtschaft Otto Hamp", in: Mensch und Moor, Peter Fassl, Otto Kettemann (eds.), Kronburg-Illerbeuren 2014, pp. 15–24.
- Gabriel Kitzinger: The peat economy and its development in Bavaria, Heidelberg 1903, table p. 79.
- Philipp Jedelhauser: Die Mindel, in: City newspaper "Burgau aktuell", May 2018 edition, p. 22/23, available on the Internet via city newspaper "Burgau aktuell".
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Water indicators, water length and further information about water bodies in Bavaria at the Bavarian State Office for the Environment ( Memento of the original from April 9, 2005 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b German Hydrological Yearbook Danube Region 2006 Bavarian State Office for the Environment, p. 112, accessed on October 4, 2017, at: bestellen.bayern.de (PDF, German, 24.2 MB).
- ↑ a b c List of waters of the second order in Swabia
- ↑ Bavarian Water Act (BayWG) - Annex I - List of waters of the first order
- ↑ P. Zenetti: The geological structure of the Bavarian North Swabia a. of the adjacent areas. Published by Theodor Lampert, Augsburg 1904, p. 126.
- ↑ BayernViewer of the Bavarian Surveying Administration
