Streckelsberg

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View of the Streckelsberg, 1954

The Streckelsberg is an approx. 58 meter high cliff edge dune on Usedom . After the Golm and the Kückelsberg , the Streckelsberg is the third highest point on the island. The Streckelsberg is located in the area of ​​the municipality of Koserow directly on the Baltic Sea shore , where it forms the highest point of the cliff. In a north-westerly direction along the coast and especially to the south towards the town center, the elevation drops off relatively steeply. To the southeast, on the other hand, the cliff continues gradually flattening out to Kölpinsee .

geology

View from Streckelsberg, 1954

The Streckelsberg emerged as a compression moraine during the last Ice Age . At that time, over 16,000 years ago, large parts of central and northern Europe were under the mighty inland ice . During the gradual retreat of the ice, there were occasional small advances by the glaciers that led to the formation of moraines . During such an advance, the Streckelsberg was also created when the glacier pushed loose sedimentary rock in front of it and piled up. As the ice retreated further, meltwater and rising sea levels first created the Baltic ice reservoir , later Yoldia Sea and Ancylus Sea and finally the Baltic Sea in its current form. Originally, the Streckelsberg was significantly larger in size and height than it is today. The Streckelsberg soon shrank due to erosion , especially due to the nearby surf of the Baltic Sea. The Streckelsberg has been eroded by 250 meters in the last 300 years by waves and wind. This process is currently ongoing, even if groynes , two breakwaters and a three-part protective wall were built as a coastal protection measure in 1995 and sand was also artificially washed up. During strong storms it happens from time to time that parts of the cliff come loose and slide down to the beach.

Geological past of the island of Usedom and the Streckelsberg

The landscape of northern Germany was shaped by several cold ages. Huge ice masses penetrated from Scandinavia to Central Germany, moving rocks of various sizes ( debris ) in front of them as far as Germany. The island of Usedom was created as a result of the most recent ice age, the Vistula Ice Age, which peaked around 18,000 years ago. After the huge ice masses ( inland ice block ) melted, the ice ages left behind characteristic landforms. These are the moraine (surfaces that were returned by the advancing ice), the end moraine (the south of the domestic ice block to hills deferred and-compressed soil and rock masses) and Sander (during the melting of the ice from the Endmoräne rinsed sand, which deposited on the south side of the terminal moraine). The Streckelsberg is such a terminal moraine, to which the Sander connects to the backwater to the south . The Baltic Sea bordering on the north side of the Streckelsberg can be seen as a huge ground moraine lake. 7000 to 5000 years ago the island did not exist in its present form. Only the terminal moraines, also called island cores , protruded from the water of the Baltic Sea. With the force of its waves and the prevailing currents, the Baltic Sea carried away material from these island cores that was deposited in their slipstream , causing hooks to form on them. These hooks grew into spits as a result of further material deposits , so that the island cores completely silted up . Such silting zones are the Pudaglasenke and the lowland area between Peenemünde and Zinnowitz and between Zinnowitz and Koserow.

flora

Like any natural habitat in the temperate climatic zone, the area's vegetation is divided into layers . In the field layer, moss and mushrooms ( boletus , hallimasch ) settle , above it the herb layer, which is characterized by certain adapted species depending on the season. In spring, when the soil warms up quickly due to the sun's rays , spring bloomers appear like liverworts , which conjure up blue carpets on the forest floor, followed by anemones . As the temperature rises, the trees drive out their leaves. The light irradiation is increasingly lower and appear species like Spring pea , lily of the valley , Maianthemum bifolium , musk herb , herb Paris and Woodruff outfitted with less light yet optimal development conditions. The more shade-tolerant summer bloomers appear as the leaves become denser. First of all, there are the remaining native orchids from our deciduous forests. On the Streckelsberg: large two-leaf , white forest hyacinth , nest avot and red forest bird . In the splendor of color, the somewhat simpler summer bloomers in the beech forest are small-flowered balsam , gnarled figwort , real carnation , wall lettuce , eared St. Christopher's herb and large witch's herb . Characteristic grasses for the herbaceous layer of the beech forest are forest twinkles , single-flowered pearl grass and giant fescue . The shrub layer overlying consists of shrubs and tree saplings as black elderberry , mountain ash , honeysuckle , German honeysuckle , Frosted blackberry , raspberry , blackthorn , common ivy , alpine currant , hazel , willow , bird cherry , three wild rose species , Rhamnus cathartica and White Snowball . There are also young trees of the Norway maple , sycamore and silver birch species . The tree layer is characterized by the more than 180-year-old red beeches and forest pines that are roughly the same age in the slope area .

Forestation of the Streckelsberg by senior forester Schrödter

Chief forester Schrödter forested the Streckelsberg in its current form with beeches from 1818 to 1819 in order to achieve better protection for the mountain and the village of Koserow behind it against the rough sea winds and against sand drifts. Chief forester Schrödter was born in Klein Behnitz ( Mark Brandenburg ) in 1753 . After several years of training he became a royal court and district hunter. From 1810 Schrödter was the district forester in Zinnowitz. After the reforestation of the Streckelsberg he was appointed head forester in the Neupudagla Forestry Office in 1819. Chief forester Schrödter died in 1828.

The Wolgaster Anzeiger No. 61 of May 21, 1900 reports as follows: “Schrödter has made great contributions to forestry and dune management. In a masterly way he knew how to fortify and cultivate the bare, barren sandy deserts on the seashore of Coserow, with which the wind played its game. He has made a special contribution to the forestation of the Streckelsberg around the seaside resort Coserow, which is now protected by the forest against the rough sea breezes and unpleasant sand drifts. The Schrödterstein, an uncut granite , bears the words in gold letters on a polished ground: 'Oberforster Schrödter wooded the Streckelsberg in 1818 a. 1819. '"

fauna

The extent of the fauna is adapted to the stratification of the vegetation. The fence and forest lizards , the mole , the wood shrew , the Nordic vole and the red fox live on and in the ground . Beech martens and squirrels can be seen in the tree layer . Many songbird species are native to the herbaceous and shrub layer . On Streckelsberg these are mainly robins , wren , great tit , blue tit , willow warbler , miniature flycatcher , green warbler , blackcap and rattle warbler . The somewhat larger blackbird and the song thrush also live on the Streckelsberg. Golden oriole , chaffinch , stock dove and tawny owl can be found in the tree layer . Other species of the tree layer are wood pigeon , hooded crow and hawk . Even bats have in tree hollows and columns their summer quarters. According to the biodiversity in the flora, many insect species live on the Streckelsberg. In addition to various butterfly species, there are a number of beetle species , including the beetle buck , sawhorse and billy buck , whose larvae live on dead wood .

Waterfowl

From the trail to the top of the cliff edge Streckelsberg are various species of aquatic birds can be observed: mallard , black-headed gull , common gull , herring gull , gull , grebes , coots , cormorants and mute swan . As winter guests from their breeding areas north of Usedom, the tufted duck , mountain duck , golden bell , eider duck , long-tailed duck , medium-sized and goosander can be observed in the shallow water area.

natural reserve

On December 12, 1957, the Streckelsberg was designated as a nature reserve, which is now part of the Usedom Island Nature Park . The condition of the areas is classified as satisfactory, since parts of the area are used for forestry purposes.

Observation tower Koserow

"The Apparition on the Streckelberg" - Illustration by Philip Burne-Jones for the English edition from 1895

On the Streckelsberg, the highest point on the outer coast of the island of Usedom, there was a Wehrmacht observation tower from the late 1930s . It fulfilled two functions: on the one hand, it served to observe the air situation in the run-up to the important port cities of Swinoujscie and Stettin , and on the other hand, it served as a measuring station for observing the missile tests of the Peenemünde research institutes . The tower was demolished in 1997. In the northern part of the island of Usedom, the Peenemünde research institutes were established from 1936 on an area of ​​around 25 km². It was there that the Wehrmacht developed the so-called “ miracle weapons ” or “ retaliatory weapons ” , on which the hope of a German victory was directed towards the end of the war . The Pomeranian Bay was the test area for the flight tests of various guided weapons . The A4-V2 rockets flew past the Streckelsberg , parallel to the coast for around 300 km, from Peenemünde in an easterly direction to the Bay of Danzig . Along the coast there was a network of measuring stations that tracked, measured and recorded the trajectory of the missile. On the observation platform of the Koserower Tower, a so-called cinema theodolite was used to optically track the rockets and other remote-controlled weapons, such as the Fieseler Fi 103 (V1) flying bomb .

The "Amber Witch"

The Streckelsberg is an important location in the story of Maria Schweidler, the amber witch by Wilhelm Meinhold .

literature

  • Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Ministry of the Environment (Ed.): Streckelsberg 260 . In: The nature reserves in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . Demmler-Verlag, Schwerin 2003, p. 166 f.

Web links

Coordinates: 54 ° 3 '  N , 14 ° 1'  E