Teufelsmoor

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The Teufelsmoor in a position to its main drainage, the Hamme

The lowland north from Bremen to Bremervörde is called Teufelsmoor . It makes up a large part of the Osterholz district and extends into adjacent parts of the Rotenburg district . The name Teufelsmoor is derived from stupid moor (deaf moor). In terms of nature, it corresponds to the Hamme-Oste lowland and is therefore part of the Stader Geest .

geography

Paula Modersohn-Becker : Moorgraben , 1900 to 1902

The landscape of the Teufelsmoors lies in an Ice Age meltwater valley and extends over an area of ​​around 500 km². The lowland is drained centrally by the Hamme , in whose glacial valley the area arose. The Wümme and its tributary Wörpe drain the southern part of the region. The area is bounded to the west by the Osterholzer Geest (the southern part of the Wesermünder Geest ) and to the east by the Zevener Geest . At the north end at Karlshöfen , the two boundaries of the Geest meet and form a yoke in the Geest landscape. At this point there was an Ice Age glacier gate from which the glacial valley began.

The eponymous Devil's Moor is a ombrogenes bog that near the rivers in fen passes. It was one of the largest contiguous moors in northwest Germany . The oldest places in the area in Grasberg have peat bodies eleven meters deep and more.

In the center of the moor are the Geestinsel Weyerberg and the Worpswede artists' colony, made famous by many landscape painters . The "moor metropolis" Gnarrenburg on the northern edge of the Teufelsmoor is also known.

On the southwestern edge of the Teufelsmoors lies the village of the same name, Teufelsmoor , which is part of the town of Osterholz-Scharmbeck .

history

The Teufelsmoor could only be crossed in a few places in the past. There has long been a connection between Gnarrenburg and Karlshöfen, where the moor is only one kilometer wide. In the Neolithic Age, a prehistoric moor path crossed the lowland between the opposite Geest ridge . In a later period a dam was built on which the state road L 122 runs today . During an excavation in the area in 2018, three to four paths were found, the age of which was provisionally estimated to be around 400–600 years.

Moor Commissioner J.-Chr. Findorff by Heinrich Vogeler

The Teufelsmoor was not settled until the 17th and 18th centuries. Around 1750 the colonization of the entire Teufelsmoorniederung began under the direction of Moorkommissar Jürgen Christian Findorff . The settlers were simple servants and maidservants who competed in the area with the prospect of property and exemption from taxes and military service . The living conditions in the bog colonies were anything but picturesque until well into the 20th century. The Low German saying "Den Eersten sien Dood, Tweeten sien Noot, Drüdden sien Broot" expresses the very poor conditions . Life expectancy in the dark, damp and low Moorkaten was not high and the peaty soil was not suitable for agriculture.

An extensive drainage network was created, with the main drainage ditches also being used as shipping canals. At that time there was massive interference with nature and millions of cubic meters of peat were cut. The peat was shipped to Bremen in peat barges for sale as heating material . The dams placed next to the canals were used for towing and the development of the single-row street villages based on the model of the fen areas . From the dam, the narrow and very long pieces of land (hooves) were worked into the moor . These settlement structures (row villages) can still be seen today in large parts of the communities of Grasberg and Worpswede .

As a result of the breakdown of the peat body and the drainage, the climatic conditions of the entire area ( mesoclimate ) have changed significantly. It was not until the end of the 19th century that dairy farming was expanded. In Bremen, heating with peat was forbidden because on some winter days the air pollution ( smog ) became unbearable. Coal with its higher energy density displaced the peat. To this day, however, irretrievable destruction of the moor ( peat extraction ) is ongoing. Significant amelioration such as drainage , deep plowing and river regulation should increase the yield of agriculture and even make arable farming possible, which is mostly used by intensive agriculture for growing silage maize as fodder.

These measures have been supported by various national and European subsidy programs since the middle of the 20th century. This went so far that the trenches dry out in summer, bog fires develop and artificial irrigation is sometimes used if the drought persists .

During the time of National Socialism (1933-1945) there were barracked units of the Reich Labor Service in the Teufelsmoor (see also: History of Osterholz-Scharmbeck ). From 1934 to the end of 1941 there was a forced camp of the Bremen welfare administration in Teufelsmoor, which was also occupied by other cities.

In the 1990s (the EC had been struggling with the overproduction of agricultural goods since the mid-1970s, see: Common Agricultural Policy ) began to rethink land use. Attempts are made to preserve the landscape with set-aside and rewetting . The moor in its original form no longer exists today. Even intact moors - such as the Günnemoor  - are further impaired by industrial peat extraction. However, there are still remnants (peat backs of unpeated areas) visible in the landscape, but renaturation is difficult because of the altitude. The drought promotes the mineralization of the peat body and enables the growth of woody plants (for example the downy birch is a pioneer plant ). In the meantime, many smaller replacement structures have emerged on these areas.

New development

The Teufelsmoor is now in the suburb of Bremen, and its settlements are growing due to the evictions of building land and the influx of new residents. The story of the Teufelsmoor is therefore a special example of the cultural activity of man and his will to survive, but also of the influence and consequences of this cultural activity. The history of the landscape and its inhabitants was filmed in the TV series Teufelsmoor , produced by Radio Bremen in 1982 . It describes the life of several generations of the fictional Kehding family from the beginnings of land reclamation to the end of the 20th century. The Teufelsmoor is also known for numerous television productions such as a crime scene crime thriller with Maria Furtwängler .

The spacious character landscape painted by the Worpswede artists can now only be seen on small, protected areas after industrial peat extraction and grassland plowing. In the update of the Lower Saxony state spatial planning program in 2010 , the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture planned to approve further areas for peat extraction in the Günnemoor - as on other raised bog areas in the Elbe-Weser region and around Bremen. This was criticized by the CDU member of the state parliament, Axel Miesner , because a new industrial dismantling contradicts the “Devil's Moor” vision of the Osterholz district, according to which a sustainable development of the area is intended. The mining permits expired at the end of 2012. Therefore, the entrepreneur applied for new permits. The district had repeatedly shown its strictly negative attitude. In the summer of 2012, the state government also spoke out against further peat extraction in the Teufelsmoor. The permit applications were then withdrawn. The mining area was rewetted in April 2017 as part of the Teufelsmoor nature reserve .

Original moor near Gnarrenburg ( Huvenhoopsmoor )

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Gerhard Kulp "The nature of the Teufelsmoor", in: "The Findorff settlements in the Teufelsmoor near Worpswede", Edition Temmen, p. 11, second edition (2013).
  2. ↑ Paths through the moor - district archeology invites you to visit the excavation. In: focus.de , August 31, 2018.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Ayaß : "Asocial" in National Socialism . Stuttgart 1995, pp. 68-75.
  4. ↑ The protest against the new peat extraction is growing. Ministry of Agriculture wants to approve a further 9,000 hectares. In: Weser-Kurier , January 24, 2011.
  5. ↑ Vision Teufelsmoor of the district of Osterholz  ( 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. (PDF)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.landkreis-osterholz.de  
  6. ↑ Michael Thurm: District prevails: Turba refrains from peat extraction. In: Weser courier. September 21, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2012 .
  7. ↑ From peat extraction to moor protection. Action moor protection, Biological Station Osterholz e. V., accessed on October 28, 2012 .