Saumain

	Saumain
	Saumain
	Data
location	Southwest German step country Main Franconian plates Schweinfurt Basin; ; Germany Bavaria Lower Franconia Schweinfurt ; ; ;
River system	Rhine
Drain over	Main → Rhine → North Sea
Beginning	southeast of the old town of Schweinfurt ; 50 ° 2 ′ 40 ″ N , 10 ° 14 ′ 35 ″ E
Source height	204.6 m above sea level NHN
Reflux	in the Main northwest of the Schweinfurt harbor east Coordinates: 50 ° 2 ′ 10 ″ N , 10 ° 13 ′ 30 ″ E 50 ° 2 ′ 10 ″ N , 10 ° 13 ′ 30 ″ E;
Mouth height	203.1 m above sea level NHN
Height difference	1.5 m
Bottom slope	0.91 ‰
length	1.7 km

The Saumain (formerly Alter Main ) is a 1.65 km long, left, non- navigable oxbow lake of the Main in Schweinfurt . Almost the entire area belongs to the Saumain nature reserve in the city of Schweinfurt . This article deals with the oxbow lake of the Main and the nature reserve.

location

The Saumain lies south of the main arm of the Main and extends from Main-km 333 to 331.4. It lies between the city center in the north and the east port and weir systems in the south. Between Saumain and the main arm of the Main, the Böckleinsinsel with the Cramermühle is located in the east, followed by the Maininsel Bleichrasen, downstream of the Main (west) .

Backwaters of the Main: Schweinfurt area & suburbs
Name ¹	Type of body of water	place	Main km ²
Forster Bay (L)	Backwater	Sparing	340.2-339.6
Schonunger Bucht (L)	Former Side arm & quarry ponds	Schonungen & Gochsheim	339.5-337.6
Sennfelder Seenkranz (L)	Backwater	Sennfeld	335.1-332.6
Saumain (L)	Old arm	Schweinfurt	333.0-331.5
Lock channel (L)	channel	Schweinfurt	332.5-331.5
Oberndorfer Altmainschleife (R)	Silted up backwater	Schweinfurt	329.3-328.2
Altmainschleife Nord (L)	Backwaters & quarry ponds	Grafenrheinfeld & Bergrheinfeld	328.2-327.4
Altmainschleife Süd (L)	Backwater	Bergrheinfeld	326.8-324.9

Connection to the Main no connection to the main silted up

¹ (L) left Main, (R) right Main

²Kilometers upstream (from the mouth of the Main near Mainz )

geography

overview

The Saumain serves as an emergency drain during floods and is a holdover from the time before the river was expanded for shipping in the middle of the 19th century . At the junction to the Saumain, the Main is dammed up and separated from the Saumain by a dam with a bottom outlet , the so-called elephant hump. As a result, the water level of the Saumain is lower. When the water is high, the elephant hump is flooded. The main arm of the Main is dammed 1 km further downstream through the Schweinfurt barrage, also at the same height as the Elefantenbuckel ( upper water 207.6 m above sea level). Below the barrage, the main arm of the Main has the level of the return flow of the Saumain, which is 500 m further downstream ( underwater 203.1 m above sea level). Shipping overcomes the drop of 4.5 m by means of the Schweinfurt lock , which is located in a lock channel between the main arm of the Main and the Saumain.

course

Green house at the beginning of the Saumain

Despite its brevity, the Saumain's course is diverse. It starts at the elephant hump (see overview ). On the left (south side) is the Green House , an office building of the former paint factory Gademann & Co from 1922 and on the right the Böckleinsinsel with the Cramer mill. Here the Saumain is fed by a small mill canal, which serves as a canoe route and runs through the mill from the main arm of the Main. On the left is the Stadtpark Wehranlagen . On the right-hand side, a small, nameless tributary of the Main flows into the Saumain between Böckleinsinsel and Maininsel Bleichrasen . The bottom outlet in this side arm is the prototype, which is still in operation today, for the world's first roller weir built by MAN (1902) in the main arm a year later . (see Schweinfurt, monuments and fountains ). This weir dams the main arm at the same height as the above-mentioned elephant hump, for shipping on the federal waterway , the European Canal .

Confluence of the main arm of the Main (left), Schleusenkanal (middle) and Saumain (right)

At the beginning of the Maininsel Bleichrasen, the Maxbrücke and immediately afterwards the Marienbrücke crosses the Saumain, which then passes the Conference Center Maininsel (KMI) on the Maininsel Bleichrasen and overcomes most of the height difference of 1.5 m over two rapids .

Shortly thereafter, on the left, the Saumain is fed by a tributary of the Sennfelder Seenkranzes . This is the valley of the Old Main , which flows into the Saumain here and serves as another emergency drain in the event of flooding . Due to the emergency procedures and the wide main valley here, the built-up urban area has so far been almost free from flooding. On the left the Saumain passes the Hutrasen, in the area of which the Maininsel Bleichrasen ends on the right. This is followed by a 360 m long pier , in the area of which the Saumain is no longer a nature reserve (see below). The pier, just like the Main Island Bleichrasen before, continues to separate the Saumain from the lock canal , until the three main arms of the Main, the lock canal and Saumain merge under the Gerolzhöfer bridge .

Nature reserve

Saumain nature reserve

With the exception of the last 360 m before the backflow into the main arm of the Main along the pier, the Saumain belongs to the Saumain nature reserve in the city of Schweinfurt (see: List of nature reserves in the city of Schweinfurt ). It includes the Saumain and its bank vegetation and has an area of 11.58 hectares. The area has been a nature reserve since 1993 and is located in the middle of the city. It is occupied by floating plants , especially pond roses and pondweed and is home to 30 species of insects that have become rare.

Since 2005 the Saumain has also been a recognized bird sanctuary and refuge for endangered bird species. Since the flowing shallow water with natural steps in the river bed rarely freezes over, it is an important habitat for winter birds.

The Maxbrücke and immediately afterwards the Marienbrücke cross the nature reserve and serve as a viewing platform.

Web links

Course of the Saumain on BayernAtlas of the Bavarian State Government ( information )
The beauty of the "Saumain" in Schweinfurt , inFranken.de
Monumental trees in the Saumain nature reserve in Schweinfurt , MonumentalTrees.com

Individual evidence

↑ Brigitte Schwenzer: Geographical land survey: The natural space units on sheet 140 Schweinfurt. Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Bad Godesberg 1968. → Online map (PDF; 4.3 MB)
↑ ^a ^b Measured in the BayernAtlas
^ The "Saumain" nature reserve , Main-Post, April 23, 2012
↑ BayernAtlas: first recording (1808–1864)
↑ Cultural Office of the City of Schweinfurt: River and Diligence , Vier-Türme GmbH, Benedict Press, Münsterschwarzach Abbey
↑ BayernAtlas: aerial photo, section Saumain. Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
↑ ^a ^b infranken.de: The beauty of the Saumain. Retrieved December 17, 2017 .

[1] Brigitte Schwenzer: Geographical land survey: The natural space units on sheet 140 Schweinfurt. Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Bad Godesberg 1968. → Online map (PDF; 4.3 MB)

[GM-2] Measured in the BayernAtlas

[3] The "Saumain" nature reserve , Main-Post, April 23, 2012

[4] BayernAtlas: first recording (1808–1864)

[FF-5] Cultural Office of the City of Schweinfurt: River and Diligence , Vier-Türme GmbH, Benedict Press, Münsterschwarzach Abbey

[6] BayernAtlas: aerial photo, section Saumain. Retrieved January 3, 2018 .

[dS-7] infranken.de: The beauty of the Saumain. Retrieved December 17, 2017 .