Seerhein
The Seerhein is a four kilometer long river lying in the Lake Constance basin . It is the outflow of the Obersee and the main inflow of the Untersee . The difference between the water levels of the two lakes in the long-term mean of the annual mean is exactly 20 cm, in the long-term mean of the monthly mean between 16 and 27 cm.
The Seerhein is a section of the river Rhine that flows into the Obersee as the Alpine Rhine and leaves the Untersee as the Upper Rhine . The Swiss - German border runs partially through its center, and the largest municipality on its banks is Constance . Its easternmost point also marks the beginning (km 0.0) of the Rhine kilometers .
location
course
The Seerhein extends over a length of 4.3 km from the old Konstanzer Rheinbrücke in the east to the island of Triboldingerbohl in the west. Narrow branches of the tributary run between this island, the island of Mittler or Langbohl and the Wollmatinger Ried . In the city of Constance, the bank is fortified and is partly used as a boat landing stage.
The Seerhein is between 100 and 500 meters wide and between 7 and 25 meters deep. About halfway it shows a small, unspecified lake-like widening and shoal. A few small brooks flow towards the Seerhein, in particular the Saubach (Grenzbach) on the western city limits of Konstanz and the Dorfbach bei Gottlieben from the left .
Border Germany - Switzerland
Most of the river, including the entire north bank and the eastern part of the south bank, lies on German territory. On the western two kilometers, the border between Germany and Switzerland runs in the middle of the river . The municipalities of Tägerwilen and Gottlieben adjoin the Seerhein on the Swiss side and the municipalities of Konstanz and Reichenau on the German side . The western north bank ( Wollmatinger Ried ) and the Swiss bank west of Gottlieben ( Riet ) are boggy, swampy and overgrown with reeds . Due to their size and privacy, these reed areas are of great importance. In the lowland through which the Seerhein flows, lies the Swiss city of Kreuzlingen , which, together with Constance, forms an agglomeration of over 100,000 inhabitants.
South bank
On the south bank are the old town of Constance and the center of the former Constance village of Paradies ; densely built-up settlement areas from the 19th and 20th centuries stretch between the two. This is followed by Tägermoos , which is on Swiss territory (municipality of Tägerwilen) , and Konstanz is part of its administration, and Gottlieben. The bank in Tägermoos is unpaved and has two bathing areas, the Konstanzer Kuhhorn in Tägermoos and the Tägerwiler Bad. A natural promenade leads along the Seerhein from the Ziegelhof in Tägermoos to Gottlieben. It is lined by an avenue of poplar trees between the Ziegelhof and the swimming pool. Architectural historical sights on the south bank are above all the remains of the Konstanz city fortifications (Rheintorturm and Powder Tower) and Gottlieben Castle .
North bank
On the north bank of the Seerhein are the districts of Petershausen-West and the industrial area -Stromeyersdorf. The corridor "Zugwiesen" opposite Gottlieben belongs to the municipality of Reichenau .
The north bank of Constance has seen brisk construction activity in recent years. Industrial areas were demolished and replaced by residential complexes, the banks made accessible and park-like. The inner-city Rheinstrandbad is also on the north bank . Architectural historical sights on the north bank are above all the former Petershausen monastery and the former factories in Stromeyersdorf.
Constance Low / Seetal
The Seerhein flows through a valley-like depression, for which the names Konstanzer Niederung and Seetal exist. This valley is bordered by the Seerücken in the south and by the hilly Bodanrück in the north .
The designation Konstanzer Niederung was used by Benzing as part of his contribution to the natural division of Germany, who threw out the "Konstanzer Niederung" as a natural subunit.
The valley is called the “Seetal” on the Swiss side. The name is reflected in terms such as Schulzentrum Seetal , Pumpwerk Seetal or Seetalstrasse (all Kreuzlingen). In the context of a geographical classification of Switzerland that is not purely natural, Schilter assigned the Seetal to a bank landscape extending to Romanshorn .
traffic
The Seerhein is navigable and is mainly used by the excursion boats of the Swiss Shipping Company Untersee and Rhein , sports boats and rowers.
A total of three bridges lead over the Seerhein, they are all on the upper part of the river. In the far east, in the area of a narrow point at the terminal moraine (see below), there is the (old) Rhine bridge , which represents the border point between Obersee and Seerhein, and whose predecessors probably go back to antiquity. A little to the west of it, the bicycle bridge , a pedestrian and cycle path bridge, has been running over the river since 1991 . On the western edge of Konstanz, the four-lane Schänzlebrücke (also known as the “new Rhine bridge”), planned as a motorway bridge, crosses the Seerhein. It is part of the German federal highway 33 , which merges into the Swiss Autobahn 7 at the state border .
There used to be several passenger ferries, for example from the Powder Tower to the opposite bank (until the bicycle bridge was completed in 1991) and at times between Paradies and Stromeyersdorf.
At the old Rhine bridge in Constance, the Rhine kilometer measurement, introduced in the 19th century as part of the emerging industrial shipping, begins with Rhine kilometer zero.
history
Paleogeographic evolution
The entire landscape of the Seerhein and its surroundings lies in the area of the Molasse Basin , which was formed up to the Upper Miocene for about 30 million years. In the following 7 million years until today - in contrast to the time of the molasse deposit - the sedimentation is exceeded by the erosion . During this time, today's landscape was created. The Pliocene and Pleistocene erosion occurred first through the Aare-Danube , later mainly through the Upper Rhine. Rivers and glaciers created furrows and basins.
The paleogeographical development of the Seerhein is closely related to that of the lowland through which it flows. This is shaped by the former High Rhine and the Rhine Glacier and filled with various lake deposits. The entire Lake Constance basin is characterized by the alternation of wide basins, narrow transverse valleys and mountain landscapes. The lowlands surrounding the Seerhein are mostly silting plains and one of the basin landscapes, the neighbors Bodanrück and Seerücken are ( glacial formed ) Molasse mountainous lands. A decisive pre-shaping of today's Seerhein and Bodensee landscape took place with the diversion of the Alpine Rhine from the Danube to the Aare before the Günz glacial period . On the line Bodensee-Seerhein-Hochrhein there was increased deep erosion, while the advance of the Rhine glacier was preparing today's Lake Constance basin.
The retreat of the last Rhine glacier ( Würm glacier ) took place in various melting and standstill phases, which are divided into nine stages. The last stage 9 (Konstanz stage) begins with the standstill of the ice edge near Konstanz. The ice edge of the glacier to the east stretched from the Überlinger See over the eastern tip of the Bodanrück through Constance and Kreuzlingen to the northern edge of the Seerücken. In the area of today's Seerhein basin and to the west of it, an ice reservoir had formed with the beginning of the Constance stage , in which extensive silty-chalky, glazilimnic deposits took place ("basin clays"). Today these reach to the surface in some places on the edge of the lowland. Along the edge of the ice, presumably after the ice reservoir disappeared, a terminal moraine emerged , which gained some importance for the later course of the settlement (see below). The meltwater first flowed from the Überlinger See basin through the distant Stahringer Valley, and only later through the Allmannsdorf meltwater channel into the area of today's Seerheinniederung. The Konstanz funnel and Obersee became ice-free with the subsequent melting.
After the end of the Würm glacial period (around 9650 BC), the Lake Constance level was around 405 m, around 10 meters above its current level; afterwards, the deep erosion of the high Rhine caused the lake to sink to today's level (about 395 m). The Obersee and Untersee were not yet separated at the beginning of the Holocene , and the Seerhein was not yet formed. As a result of the subsidence, the part of the lake between Obersee and Untersee fell dry, and the Seerhein was created as a connection between the two lakes. The course of the Seerhein may correspond to the current of the Alpine Rhine through the silted up part of the lake. The former lake level is indicated by the area of lake deposits (lake chalk, snail sands, Elm, oncolithic crumbly limestone), this area roughly corresponds to the current valley floor of the lake valley. The lake sediments are usually 0.2 to 2 meters thick, up to 13 meters on the Seerhein. In the western part of today's lowland, the surf of the lake created numerous beach walls across the main wind direction (southwest) , which are still well preserved, especially in the Wollmatinger Ried. In addition to the main elements described (Würm terminal moraine, ice reservoir sediments, Lake Constance deposits including the beach walls), Pleistocene slope debris and Holocene alluvial clay cones can be found in the Seerhein basin (both only on the sea ridge ).
The Seerhein was formed after the end of the last glacial period ( Würmkaltzeit , ended around 9650 BC), after the lake level had sunk by around ten meters and the lake fell dry in the area of the lowland that the Seerhein flows through today. It still has a sea-like character in places today.
The terminal moraine pieces located in the Constance lowlands formed along the ice edge of the Constance stadium (see above). In the area of the old town of Konstanz there is a moraine surrounded by deposits of Lake Constance. The piece in Kreuzlingen, on the other hand, is mainly surrounded by Pleistocene rubble. The terminal moraine lines of the Konstanz stadium, which are further northeast and southeast, as seen from these moraine pieces, are already in the area of Bodanrück and Seerücken. The missing terminal moraine pieces were probably victims of erosion caused by meltwater and seawater movements, or they never existed due to the water movements.
In contrast to the rest of the basin, which was originally rather wet to swampy, the moraines in the lowlands were better suited for settlement.
colonization
In addition to numerous prehistoric and early historical settlements, the Konstanz terminal moraine is also the site of the Roman predecessor settlement of Konstanz. Large parts of today's Constance old town are also located on the terminal moraine; the north-south extension of the old town is due to the course of the moraine. The southernmost part of the old town of Constance, Stadelhofen, is on the other hand, on what used to be a lake. The Kreuzlinger part extends roughly from the state border along Kreuzlinger Hauptstrasse , roughly to the junction with Remisbergstrasse . The old and new locations of the Kreuzlingen monastery are in the area of the Kreuzlingen terminal moraine.
In the context of Obersee (Lake Constance) and Untersee, the Seerhein is a place that is easy to cross and thus appears to be a well-suited place for a ferry or bridge connection, a seaport and the founding of a city. The most favorable place for overcoming the Seerhein was the bottleneck at the beginning of the Seerhein, possibly due to the terminal moraine. Celtic , Roman and Alemannic settlers, the Diocese of Constance and the Free Imperial City of Constance tried to take advantage of this strategic position.
In ancient times, the Seerhein marked the northern border area of the Roman Empire for a long time. In the early Middle Ages it represented the border between the legal and dominant areas of Thurgau and Hegau as well as the northern border of the city of Konstanz. The suburb of Petershausen, founded as a monastery in 983 and later incorporated as a settlement to Konstanz, was on the north bank. The northern bank of the Seerhein was chosen as the founding site of the Petershausen Monastery, analogous to the location of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on the outskirts of the river: the Seerhein served as the equivalent of the Tiber .
In the Middle Ages, the city bank was fortified by a city wall with several towers that was partly in the water and connected to the north bank by a bridge partly built in stone. On the bridge was an urban grain mill powered by the Seerhein . Petershauser Ufer, which was unpaved for a long time, was used for industrial settlements in the 19th century.
Natural events
.JPG)
Floods and sea frosts occur as natural events on the Seerhein . The water miracle of Constance was a special event.
Water miracle from Constance
On February 23, 1549, the "water miracle of Constance" is said to have occurred: The Seerhein rose and fell over several hours at intervals of about a quarter of an hour by a cubit , i.e. more than half a meter. In the Untersee, fishermen said they observed that the water of the Rhine flowed backwards. The Konstanz chronicler Christoph Schulthaiß reported on this event:
- Miraculous opening of the water
- Uff this day ... early in the morning, the lake is on and drained, if someone is high, the figure, if the lake is open, he is in the bet [probably a flat bank area in Tägermoos used as a horse drink] almost as far as the hospital Egk went here, when he was drained, he was almost wounded by the stegen at the Vischprugk, and when he got so pale, he soon got a rush, as if the gwoll was being driven by the wind (which wasn’t anything), against left out. And so it happened four or five times in about an hour (as I've seen myself). So that counted until after noon, but the later it got, the less it got on and off. Glicher gstalt also happened down in the Rheyn.
Today this event can be explained scientifically: Certain wind conditions stimulated the natural oscillation of the upper and lower lake. A seiche , d. H. standing wave was created, in which the entire lake acted as a resonance body . This effect was particularly visible on the Seerhein, a cross-section through the middle of the lake, so to speak.
literature
- Alfred Benzing: The natural spatial units on sheet 186 Konstanz. Bad Godesberg 1964 (natural division of Germany, geographic land survey 1: 200,000)
- René Ch. Schilter: Attempt to structure and typology of the landscape in Switzerland , Zurich 1977.
- Albert Schreiner: Explanations on Blatt Hegau and western Lake Constance. third edition. Freiburg / Stuttgart 1992. (Geological map 1: 50,000 of Baden-Württemberg)
Web links
Individual evidence
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↑ http://www.hydrodaten.admin.ch/de/messzüge_status.html
- Romanshorn gauge → annual table 2012 (PDF): 1930–2012 mean annual mean 395.59 m above sea level. M.
- Berlingen gauge → annual table 2012 (PDF): 1930–2012 mean annual mean 395.39 m above sea level. M.
- ↑ Nikolaj Schutzbach: More than 100 poplars should fall. In: Südkurier from December 15, 2014.
- ↑ Benzing, p. 11 and map attachment. The Constance lowlands received the signature 030 / 031.22. As the next higher units he determined the "Middle-Hegau-Untersee-Senke" (030 / 031.2) and the "Northern Lake Constance and Hegau Basin" (030/031). Benzing defined the Obersee (030 / 031.0 - Konstanzer Trichter ) in the east, the Untersee (030 / 031.20) and the island of Reichenau (030 / 031.21) in the west, the Bodanrückhügelland (030 / 031.23) in the north and in the south as neighboring natural units the Seerücken (Switzerland, therefore no signature). (The natural spatial units of Baden-Württemberg were revised in 1998 on behalf of the State Agency for Environmental Protection, Benzing's main unit 030/031 was replaced by “Hegau and West Lake Constance Basin” (030), see www.xfaweb.baden-wuerttemberg.de ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
- ↑ Schilter, Card 5, Unit 213/10/2/5.
- ↑ Untersee and Rhine in the IVS : TG 42
- ↑ Lake Constance in the IVS : TG 40
- ↑ Schreiner, p. 164.
- ↑ See Schreiner, p. 3.
- ↑ Schreiner, pp. 168–169.
- ↑ See Schreiner, pp. 126–130, 134–137, map.
- ↑ See Schreiner, pp. 138–140, 170, map.
- ↑ Carpenter, map.
- ↑ Keller, Adolf: Das "Wasserwunder von Konstanz" 1549. In: Writings of the Verein für Geschichte des Bodensee Vol. 72 (1953/54) P. 173-180 digitized ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
Coordinates: 47 ° 40 ′ 12 " N , 9 ° 10 ′ 12" E ; CH1903: 730 028 / 281,364