Rhume spring
| Rhume spring | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Main source of the Rhume spring with a blue-green color |
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| location | ||||
| Country or region | between Pöhlde and Rhumspringe ; District of Göttingen , Lower Saxony ( Germany ) | |||
| Coordinates | 51 ° 35 ′ 23 " N , 10 ° 18 ′ 37" E | |||
| height | 160 m above sea level NHN | |||
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| geology | ||||
| Mountains | Rotenberg | |||
| Source type | Karst spring | |||
| Exit type | Source pot | |||
| Hydrology | ||||
| River system | Weser | |||
| Receiving waters | Rhume → Leine → Aller → Weser → North Sea | |||
| Bulk | 2000 l / s | |||
| depth | 8 m | |||
Coordinates: 51 ° 35 ′ 23 " N , 10 ° 18 ′ 37" E
The Rhumequelle is the large karst spring of the Rhume River in the southeastern part of the Rotenberg ridge in the Göttingen district in Lower Saxony . It is located on the north-eastern outskirts of Rhumspringe , but to a large extent in the area of the Herzberg district of Rhumasprung .
The source is located in the Rhumeaue / Ellerniederung / Gillersheimer Bachtal nature reserve . It is designated as a natural monument and was included in the list of 77 awarded national geotopes in 2006 as part of the Zechstein landscape on the southern Harz .
description
The source is easily accessible from a nearby country road with a parking lot. With an average spring discharge of 2000 liters per second, it is the fourth strongest spring in Germany after Aachtopf , Paderquellen and Blautopf . The highest discharge ever measured was almost 6000 liters per second (according to the sign at the source). Theoretically, every resident in Germany could receive over two liters of water from the Rhume spring every day. The Rhume spring is thus also one of the richest karst springs in Central Europe , with almost constant water flow in winter and summer. The water temperature is constantly 8 to 9 ° C all year round, so the spring lake never freezes in winter.
The water emerges from a funnel-shaped main spring pot with an area of around 500 m² as well as from numerous secondary springs and the Johannis spring . In the 7 to 8 m deep spring pot, the water shimmers green-bluish to turquoise. The water flows off in a river 5 m wide at the source. The trout living in the area near the source are an indicator of the good water quality . The headwaters are in the midst of a riparian forest with moisture-loving trees. In 1999 the source area was renovated by laying out paths and a viewing platform. The spring water has been used for drinking water supply since 1978. The Eichsfelder Energie- und Wasserversorgungsgesellschaft (EEW) takes around 1% of the water and supplies around 15,000 residents after treatment.
The Rhumequelle is on the Karst hiking trail and the Solling-Harz-Querweg ends here.
Water origin
Only about 4% of the spring water comes from the surface catchment area. The remainder comes from underground tributaries of the southern Harz gypsum karst area, which extends between the Rotenberg and the upper Harz rim and includes the Pöhlder basin . Part of the water-rich Harz rivers Oder and Sieber seeps into this karst rock with underground cavities . The Rhumequelle is an "overflow valve" of this huge underground water reservoir in the karst rock . In summer it is not uncommon for the rivers and streams between Harz and Rotenberg to run dry; only the Oder is not affected, as it is regulated by two dams. Lakes like the Ochsenpfuhl have no surface drains at all, their entire drainage can be found in the Rhumequelle.
The enormous pouring of water from the spring aroused the assumption early on that the spring water must come from the Harz foreland. Tracer tests were carried out as early as 1913 to research the flow paths of water. Dyes were given to areas of the Oder and Sieber rivers about 6 to 9 km away. About 30 hours later these dyes reappeared in the Rhume spring. This was the proof that the water from these two rivers (and their tributaries) flows underground to the Rhume spring.
Source animal
The Rhumequelle is a place of sacrifice . The first investigation of the source base was carried out in 1966 by a diver; he found an approx. 20 cm high metal Christ figure in crucifixion posture, which was attributed to the period from the late Middle Ages to modern times.
An intensive archaeological investigation of the source base was carried out from December 1998 to March 1999. The occasion was a comprehensive renovation of the source area for visitors with the creation of new paths and viewing platforms. This involved the excavation of around 10 m³ of sediment from the center of the pond. When sieving out the sediment, early Neolithic ceramic remains were found, some with linear ceramic decoration, three flat hooks and a small, high shoe last wedge made of rock, several knives and blades made of flint and slate, a probably Neolithic, polished ax blade made of Nordic flint and the fragment of a bronze Nauheim fibula from the younger pre-Roman Iron Age . The evidence makes it likely that the victims are intentionally divested. An interpretation as settlement or loss finds appears to be excluded. In the northern central Europe thus a source sacrificial cult from the early Linear Pottery is the first time neolithikum detectable whose settlements in the Lössflächen the lower Eichsfeld and southwestern Harz mountains extend. The finds also included numerous pieces from the modern era to the 20th century, such as coins, rifle ammunition and a ship's bell with the stamped name Titanic, which was dated to the first half of the 20th century.
See also
literature
- Ernst Andreas Friedrich : Natural monuments of Lower Saxony . Hanover, 1980. ISBN 3-7842-0227-6
- Ralf Nielbock , Heinz-Gerd Röhling : Geotop-Ensemble Zechsteinkarstlandschaft Südharz: Einhornhöhle and Rhumequelle - geotopes of national importance in: SDGG booklet 42, Hanover, 2006 ISBN 978-3-932537-38-7
- Klaus Grote : Quellopfer im Harzvorland In: Archäologie in Deutschland 3/1999, S. 45/6
- Klaus Grote: Divers and Finds. An expected surprise in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , Volume 2, Oldenburg, Isensee Verlag, 1999, pp. 16-19
Web links
- Rhume spring, largest karst spring in Lower Saxony , description with drawings and map, at the Lower Saxony State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (PDF; 435.9 kB)
- How deep is the Rhume spring then? , private website for the Rhume source
Individual evidence
- ↑ Topographic map with Rhumequelle ( memento from September 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (DTK 25; heights according to the contour line in AK 5 / 2.5), on natur-erleben.niedersachsen.de
- ↑ Ralf Nielbock, Heinz-Gerd Röhling, Firouz Vladi : Paths into the underground - the Zechstein karst landscape on the southern Harz. In: Ernst-Rüdiger Look, Ludger Feldmann (Ed.): Fascination Geology. The important geotopes of Germany , E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-510-65219-3 , p. 14 ff.