Swing arm (Elbe)

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Swing arm
Schwinge Unterlauf im spring.jpg
Data
Water code EN : 5972
location Lower Saxony , Germany
River system Elbe
Drain over Elbe  → North Sea
River basin district Elbe
source In the high moor near Mulsum
53 ° 30 ′ 53 ″  N , 9 ° 15 ′ 9 ″  E
Source height approx.  m above sea level NHN
muzzle At Stadersand ( Stade ) in the Elbe Coordinates: 53 ° 37 '46 "  N , 9 ° 31' 37"  E 53 ° 37 '46 "  N , 9 ° 31' 37"  E
Mouth height m above sea level NHN
Height difference approx. 9 m
Bottom slope approx. 0.31 ‰
length 28.7 km
Catchment area 213 km²
Left tributaries Grenzgraben, Kattenbeck, Harschenflether Wetter
Right tributaries Kühlhornsbach, Beverbeck, Fredenbecker Mühlenbach , Westernbeck, Steinbeck , Heidbeck , Hollerner Moorwetter
Medium-sized cities Stade
Communities Schwinge (municipality of Fredenbeck )
Navigable 4.6 km

The Schwinge (Sw) is a 28.7 kilometer long, left-hand tributary of the Elbe in Lower Saxony . It rises in the Hohen Moor near Mulsum on the Stader Geest in the bifurcation area with the Oste . From here it flows in a largely natural, more than 20 km long upper course to the Hanseatic city of Stade . The delightful floodplain of the upper reaches and the Stader Schwingewiesen are under landscape protection because of their very natural river landscape and their biodiversity .

The approx. 1000 year old Hanseatic port on the Schwinge is located in Stade . Since 1792 the upper course has been separated from the tidal flow by the sluice at the Salztor lock ; the lower reaches of the Schwinge begins, which flows into the Lower Elbe at Stadersand northeast of Stade at Elbe kilometer 654.8 . The mean tidal range of the lower reaches increased to 3.30 meters due to the deepening of the Elbe , while the level fluctuations in the upper reaches due to the backwater when the gates are closed are only a few decimeters . Despite the dyke , the banks of the lower reaches are lined with narrow strips of extremely rare freshwater tidal flats.

From the Elbe to the Salztorschleuse in Stade, the Schwinge is a 4.6 kilometer long federal waterway , for the first 700 meters to the saline loading point of class IV , from then on class II. The shipping route regulations apply on it, and that is responsible Hamburg Waterways and Shipping Office . All the places on the Schwinge have been better protected against floods from storm surges since the swing barriers near the mouth of the river were completed in 1971. The 16 m wide opening is closed by two mitred gates .

From the late Middle Ages until the 1950s, the swing arm was used by Ewer to transport goods. When the Schwinge and the Hanseatic port were excavated, countless historical finds were recovered, including the famous inscription swords with the name Ulfberht from the 8th to 12th centuries. Today, on the other hand, the leisure and sport boat traffic dominates the shipping on the lower reaches, above Stade the Schwinge is not navigable.

The Stader Schwingewiesen during floods. View from the Horst to the Black Mountain .

literature

  • M. Eckoldt (Ed.), Rivers and Canals, The History of German Waterways, DSV-Verlag 1998

Individual evidence

  1. a b Lengths of the main shipping lanes of the federal inland waterways ( memento of January 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration
  2. Chronicle of the legal status of the Reich waterways / inland waterways of the Federation in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany after October 3, 1990 , directory E, serial no. 54 ( Memento from September 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration