Mittelriede

	Mittelriede
	Beginning of the Mittelriede at the Schöppenstedter Tower , drain to the left. The honeycomb flows straight ahead into the renaturation area.
	Data
Water code	DE : 482892
location	Braunschweig
River system	Weser
Drain over	Schunter → Oker → Aller → Weser → North Sea
Branch from the honeycomb	At the Schöppenstedter Tower ; 52 ° 15 ′ 2 ″ N , 10 ° 35 ′ 27 ″ E
Source height	77 m above sea level NHN
muzzle	at Querum in the Schunter coordinates: 52 ° 17 '50 " N , 10 ° 32' 52" O 52 ° 17 '50 " N , 10 ° 32' 52" O;
Mouth height	70 m above sea level NN
Height difference	7 m
Bottom slope	1.2 ‰
length	6 km without renaturation area
Catchment area	5.5 km²
Right tributaries	Fishing pit
Big cities	Braunschweig
Navigable	until about 1806
	Water body with honeycomb 15041

The Mittelriede is an approximately six kilometer long artificial stream branch of the honeycomb in what is now the city of Braunschweig , which mainly flows parallel to the honeycomb and flows into the Schunter at Querum .

course

The brook branches off at the Schöppenstedter Tower near Klein Schöppenstedt as a tributary or flood relief of the honeycomb. It flows through Riddagshausen and finally flows into the Schunter at Querum , 400 m below the honeycomb . In the area of Riddagshausen there are several connections to the honeycomb and to the various fish ponds. Since 2009, an extensive renaturation area has been created in the area between Bundesstraße 1 and the Braunschweig – Magdeburg railway line , in which the honeycomb runs through meanders and flat wetlands. In the section further north to the south of the Riddagshausens monastery and further downstream at the level of Ottenroder Straße, renaturation measures in the form of floodplains and bank redesigns have also been carried out. Incidentally, the Mittelriede runs in a straight line and its structure was classified as “unsatisfactory”. In the course of an extensive package of measures drawn up by the City of Braunschweig in 2006 and 2008, its structure along the Tafelmakerweg between Riddagshausen and Gliesmarode was improved by widening, diversioning and introducing obstacles. At the same time, bulges were created to protect the neighboring garden plots from flooding and the course of the former branch canal to the Nussberg was marked by hollows .

history

Drainage ditch

Due to the parallel course to the honeycomb, it is assumed that the Mittelriede was an artificially created body of water in the early Middle Ages. It was probably created by the monks of the Riddagshausen monastery for irrigation and drainage of the Riddagshausen fish ponds. The 12th to 13th centuries are set as the period of origin.

Landwehr

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the partial reconstruction took place as part of the Braunschweig Landwehr . In a map from 1730, the Mittelriede is also explicitly referred to as the Landwehr and is described next to the honeycomb and two other parallel trenches. The Braunschweig Landwehr was built between 1384 and 1416 and consisted of three to four trenches and planted walls. In the north, the Schunterauen fulfilled this function naturally. In the east, the Landwehr turned south on Butterberg and followed the Mittelriede. The fortifications were not finally removed until the 18th century.

Schunter Canal

The Schunter Canal near Braunschweig in 1761

After the Mittelriede had lost its use as a Landwehr at the end of the Middle Ages, the expansion into the Schunter Canal began around 1750. Braunschweig already had several ports, mostly on the Oker , and was thus connected to the North Sea via the Aller and Weser . Due to the rapidly increasing population, however, there was also a great need for wood and stones from the surrounding area. While firewood was brought into the city from the immediate vicinity, timber and limestone were procured from the Elm . For transport, the Schunter was expanded to become a bulk goods transport route. One problem, however, arose from the fact that the previous ports were all on the Oker. The transport should have taken place over the shallow Schunter estuary near Walle and then several kilometers upstream over the Oker.

In order to avoid this, it was decided to expand the old Landwehrgraben Mittelriede. The old Mittelriede was expanded to the level of the Gliesmaroder Tower . From here a connecting canal to the Oker was built, which ran in a westerly direction between the current streets of Gliesmaroder Straße and Karlstraße and reached the Oker at Fallersleber Tor on the site of today's Botanical Garden . The canal of Mittelriede and Wabe, which is about 1.80 m deep and 9 to 15 m wide, received its water. For this purpose, the water of the Mittelriede between Gliesmaroder Turm and Schunter was dammed by means of an 18 m long and 6 m wide lock. The construction period lasted from 1747 to 1750. As early as 1788, operations were largely stopped and the canal silted up.

Origin of name

The name contains the ending -riede for brook or watercourse, which is widespread in the Braunschweig area . In the Braunschweig urban area there is, in addition to the Mittelriede, a small Mittelriede near the Raffteich . The beginning of the name Mittel- can be interpreted from the location between two parcels or as a border stream. The course of the Landwehr indicates this.

Flora and fauna

Green hippopotamus

Renatured course of the Mittelriede on Tafelmakerweg 2019

In accordance with its current function as a flood relief for the honeycomb, the Mittelriede has been expanded and fortified. The stream flows mainly through arable land and meadows, which, however, are strongly limited by the urban development of the city. The Mittelriede is only shaded by trees in a few sections, so that the stream becomes heavily weed in summer.

The bottom of the water consists mainly of fine sand and a very small proportion of gravel, and in places with little current also of digested sludge. The water quality report of the state of Lower Saxony from 2000 classifies the entire course of the Mittelriede as moderately polluted ( quality class II). This evaluation was confirmed in 2011, with the quality remaining largely the same in the individual sections.

Due to the straightened course of the Mittelriede, the flow speed is relatively high, so that 2/3 of the organisms to be found are typical river dwellers. In spite of the few calm zones, a number of still water organisms could also settle. There are a total of 6 animal species that are on the Red List of Lower Saxony:

2 types of mayflies
two types of narrowwater beetles
the banded demoiselle
the green mermaid

Web links

Commons : Mittelriede - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c State Office for Geoinformation and Land Surveying Lower Saxony: Top 50 - Topographic Map 1: 50,000 Lower Saxony / Bremen , status 2000.

↑ Nds. State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Protection and Nature Conservation (NLWKN): Water quality report Oker 2002. (PDF; 8.68 MB) (No longer available online.) October 2002, archived from the original on October 5, 2013 ; Retrieved December 24, 2013 . 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. @1@ 2

↑ NLWKN : Water body data sheet 15041 Wabe / Mittelriede , status 2012, NLWKN website on the EU Water Framework Directive, accessed on May 24, 2013.

↑ Wabe / Mittelriede: Water development concept. (PDF) City of Braunschweig, accessed on April 28, 2019 .

↑ Blume, Herbert: Oker, Schunter, Wabe , in: Braunschweigisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, vol. 86, Braunschweig 2005, p. 34 ff.

^ Institute for Geoecology of the TU Braunschweig (on behalf of the city of Braunschweig): Water structure and water quality class investigations in flowing waters in the area of the city of Braunschweig , Braunschweig 2011.

[lgn-1] State Office for Geoinformation and Land Surveying Lower Saxony: Top 50 - Topographic Map 1: 50,000 Lower Saxony / Bremen , status 2000.