Weser breakthrough in 1981
The Weser breakthrough in March 1981 occurred in the north-west German city of Bremen and was a relatively narrow flood event. However, due to its intensity and the extensive urban redesign that it entailed, it continues to play an important role in the city's history. The flood is seen as the culmination and northern end point of a geographically broad flood situation, which at that time dominated the course of the Upper and Middle Weser and some of its source and tributaries. The high-tide peaks of the Weser and its tributary Aller , triggered by rain and melting snow, united near Verden . In Bremen, the flooding of a river bend neuralgic met only limited controllable Weserwehr yet with a significantly reduced outflow cross section and sought instead a new bed. In the course of this, two summer dike breaches occurred immediately above and below the weir. Over 120 allotment gardens were destroyed and massive damage to the landscape caused. Although the parcels were in the intended overfill area and the flood was within this range, hardly anyone had expected that a flood of this magnitude would be expected “from above” - i.e. as inland flooding. Until then, all dyke construction measures had been aimed at protecting the allotment gardeners from storm surges from the sea.
Under the impression of the Weser breakthrough, the responsible authorities designed a new flood control concept for the affected areas, which was implemented successively in the following years. Relocations, extensions and new construction of dykes, roads and bodies of water changed the cityscape permanently.
A flood "from above"
Geographical location
The Weser breakthrough in 1981 essentially affected the southern Bremen district of habenhausen , which is assigned to the Obervieland district . However, there was also damage to the landscape in other districts. Habenhausen - at that time a quarter characterized almost exclusively by residential development - is bordered to the east and north by the Weser. The river describes a narrow bend to the west around the district, in which the Weser weir lies. The old building, which still existed in 1981, was erected between 1906 and 1911 to set an artificial limit for the tides and at the same time to secure a minimum water level by means of a barrage for inland navigation . It separates the Middle from the Lower Weser. Within this sharp bend in the river, a wide area opens up with grassland areas and allotment garden areas, which today takes up about a fifth of the area of habenhausen. The most severe destruction as a result of the flood was recorded in this area. The area is only shielded from the Weser by low summer dikes ; A winter dike only protects the houses immediately before the regular residential development further south.
With the Karl-Carstens-Brücke (colloquially also known as Werderbrücke or Erdbeerbrücke ), habenhausen has had a long connection to the north since 1971 to the Hastedt district, which is part of the Hemelingen district . In 1981, at the southern foot of the bridge, there was a distinctive bend in the winter dike, which was pressed against the flood with full flow intensity. This point was later straightened.
The second significant body of water in habenhausen was the then 2.7 kilometer long Werdersee . It was built between 1953 and 1960 in an east-west orientation according to plans by Wilhelm Hübotter south of Stadtwerder as a flood channel and ended in 1981 about 180 meters west of the bridge. It was planned that the habenhausen lake should protect against storm surges in the event that dikes break on the Weser, which flows almost parallel to the north. In addition, it should absorb floods, which - like the Weser breakthrough - have their starting point to the east in the bend in the Weser, which has been designated as an overfill area. The lake reached in the west as far as the Deichschartweg, which ran on a small dam in a south-west-north-east direction. The Kleine Weser, a small tributary of the Weser, closed on the other side of the dam. There was only a connection between Werdersee and Kleiner Weser through a few small passages.
Harbingers and hydrometeorological situation
On November 13, 1980, a routine flushing of the defense chamber was carried out in the left sector of the Bremen Weser weir, which was put into operation in 1911 . A defect occurred when the sector broke through the upper end position due to advanced corrosion of the locking structure and destroyed the seals. It could be put back immediately after the damage occurred, which prevented the barrage from leaking. Up to December 24th of the same year the damaged seals were partially replaced; however, emergency locking made it impossible to control the sector. As a result, a serious problem arose: the more water flowed down the Weser, the more the functioning right weir area was from then on, while at the same time the runoff was slowed down the more. According to calculations, only 1,500 m³ of water per second could flow off regularly.
In the first days of March of the following year, maritime polar air flowed into Germany and brought light rain or snowfall. At this time, the height of the snowpack in the Harz was slightly above the long-term average. Between March 6 and March 11, several low runners moved north-easterly across Germany, which initially brought warm tropical air and, from March 10, again, maritime polar air. In some cases, long-lasting rains occurred, which were particularly abundant from March 9th to 11th (for example in the Hameln area or with 96 mm on the Kahler Asten and 131 mm in the Sankt Andreasberg district of Oderbrück ) and together with a rapid snow melt in the low mountain ranges - for example in the Weserbergland and in the Rhön - the Weser and Aller tributaries from the low mountain ranges quickly swelled up. Favored by the increased temperatures, the snow in the Harz also thawed almost completely. The flowing from the mountains amounts of water exceeded the preserved flood storage spaces of the Eder and the Diemeltalsperre ; three reservoirs in the western Harz also overflowed. Although the peak wave of the Fulda was clearly ahead of that of the Werra , there was already considerable flooding on the Upper Weser. The peak of the flood passed the Weser gauge in Hannoversch Münden on March 12 and reached the levels in Vlotho and Porta Westfalica on March 14 . The Mittelweser area was also affected by the flood situation, especially downstream of the confluence of the Aller, which is also flooding. The immense inflow caused the outflow of the Weser to swell to limit values, which led to the Bruchwiesen near Thedinghausen being flooded. Initially, this did not provoke any press reports, as these uninhabited areas were often at least partially under water. Between March 12 and 14, low runners moving from west to east brought further rain. It was not until March 15 that there was only little precipitation with the temperatures falling significantly.
In some places above Bremen, however, the winter dykes were soon in danger and on March 12th the Weser-Kurier informed in a small, 18-line message under the heading "Flood wave endangers the allotment gardens" for the first time about an impending flood in the Hanseatic city. As a result, various allotment gardeners in the urban area began to clear their houses in the officially designated overcrowding areas. The summer dike running a few hundred meters upstream of the Weser weir on the left bank was designed for up to 1,300 m³ of water per second. It was therefore expected that it would flood on March 13th, which would have caused the allotment garden areas of Hastedter Bulten and Fresenbulten to be flooded before the water could have been routed back into the river via the Werdersee and Kleine Weser troughs as planned. At first, however, this did not happen, then experts scheduled it for the early morning hours of March 14th, but again did not occur. At the Weser weir, due to the unusually high water level, there was hardly any difference in level between the level of the Middle and Lower Weser.
The breakthrough
The first serious damage from the floods occurred in Bremen on the morning of March 15, when the riverside path below the so-called "weir castle" on the right bank of the weir began to sag. The fire brigade moved out with twelve emergency vehicles and secured trees that had already slipped with wire ropes - on the one hand, to avoid obstructing navigation, they should get into the river, on the other hand, to use them as a natural protective barrier for the shoreline. Four trees (poplars and beeches) had to be felled and 18 more tied with steel ropes. By noon, however, the water had washed away three meters from the bank. The backwater at the defective weir meant that around the same time the Weser - as had already been expected for two days - washed over the 6.50 to 6.70 meter high summer dike and partially carried it away. After the westward flowing water masses poured over fields , grassland and bird meadows, the planned flood channel Werdersee was also filled, but most of the flood unexpectedly flowed further north and destroyed several allotment garden areas. About 120 meters east of the Karl Carstens Bridge , the water hit the summer dike from the land side (on the left bank of the Weser) and burdened it so much that it gave way and broke at around 3 p.m. After just one hour, this passage had increased many times over. The water flowed back into the Weser more than four kilometers above the point where the Werdersee would have had its regular inlet. Around 100 allotment parcels were torn into the Weser. The water police tried to stop and secure with small tugs, floating huts, cars and loose boats. In some cases this was only possible six kilometers further downstream. The river had bypassed the weir in a short distance and created a new, deep bed within a few hours. A large part of the Weser water flowed around the weir on the left. The name "New Weser" should quickly establish itself for this river - from the flooded summer dike on the Mittelweser through the overcrowding area occupied by parcels to the breakthrough of the winter dike and backflow into the Lower Weser. The water also caused severe damage to the banks of the targeted flood channel. The dike kink of the winter dike at the Karl-Carstens-Brücke was particularly affected, as the water pressed directly on this ledge. At around 6 p.m., an influx of 1850 m³ per second was measured at the weir with an upward trend. The police blocked the roads leading directly into the floodplain, including the entrances and approaches to the Weser weir. In the evening, about 3.3 kilometers as the crow flies from the main flood area, at the western end of the Werdersee, the culvert broke in the road that led from the Buntentors - Deichschart in Bremer Neustadt to the “Kuhhirten” restaurant on Stadtwerder . It separated the Werdersee from the Little Weser with its dam . The breakthrough made it possible for the Werdersee to drain better, which did not contribute significantly to the rapid improvement of the situation, but after the peak of the tide resulted in the lake draining into the Kleine Weser.
The next day, March 16, a new tidal wave of 1900 m³ per second transformed the already wide-open break in the winter dike from the previous day into a mighty stream that carried 50 more plots into the river. The water flowed back into the Weser, but was not absorbed by its current, but pressed a little further downstream on the opposite right bank of the river against the embankment and also caused great damage there. For example, trees secured with steel cables were previously washed away. In some places the bank broke off up to five meters. The weir promenade between the fish ladder - on which the force of the water broke the concrete boxes - and the Jakobsberg sports field, for example, sagged completely. The Hemelingen port facilities on the right bank of the Weser above the weir were also flooded knee-deep despite the high sheet pile walls. Work therefore had to be stopped in the Allerhafen. Water seeped out between the gates that sealed off the streets into the harbor. Sandbag barriers were erected in the area of the feeder to federal motorway 1 . While a Weser runoff of up to 2,650 m³ per second was reported from Verden in the afternoon , despite the efforts of the helpers who had arrived in the meantime, the promenade at the dike kink at the bridge slipped by two thirds by noon. If the winter dike had broken here, large parts of habenhausen's residential areas would have been flooded. Digging a water intake channel immediately west of the bridge was considered, but the work was taking too long. At 5 p.m., 200 helpers from the fire brigade , the technical relief organization and the riot police began to build a relief dam from the damaged dike bend to the base of the bridge. On the morning of the following day, March 17th, this dam was completed around 4 a.m. and the danger of flooding for habenhausen was averted for the time being. On both days, March 15 and 16, the grotesque image of the devastated allotment garden areas attracted thousands of onlookers who gathered on the Werder Bridge. Sometimes they cheered individual huts that were torn into the Weser. Even food stalls have been set up on the slightly elevated footpath and bike path. At times, the police had 120 officers on site and had great difficulty keeping the lane free for car traffic. The behavior of the “catastrophe tourists” was already heavily criticized during the flood and especially in the aftermath. A total of 550 allotment gardeners were affected by the flood, with the Hastedter Bulten e. V. was worse than the neighboring Fresenbulten e. V., in which initially only about 40 houses were under water. At around 6 a.m. on March 17, the pavement of Hannoversche Strasse in Hemelingen partially collapsed , presumably as a result of underwashing from the flooded Allerhafen. By late afternoon, the water level at the Weser weir had dropped by six centimeters and there was no longer any risk of the feared weir breach. Nevertheless, scouring up to twelve meters deep was observed in the "New Weser", which is now 150 meters wide . In this area, in addition to the allotment gardens, eight public utility network stations were also destroyed.
By the afternoon of March 18, the water level at the Weser weir had fallen from 7.04 to 6.95 meters, according to the Bremen Water Management Office . In the residential area immediately behind the softened dike on the southern edge of the floodplain, the fire brigade in habenhauser Dorfstrasse and on Holzdamm Keller had to pump out.
When the climax of the catastrophe seemed already to have passed, another small embankment broke in the night of March 19 at 2 a.m. above the Weser weir on the left bank - the so-called boat harbor dike at the marina of the Oberweser-Segel-Verein e. V. and in the course of the next few days the sheet pile walls there, a small headland and the regatta tower were washed away. Club members erected sandbag and stone barriers, but could only restrict the rinsing process and not stop it. As a result, while the Weser weir was further relieved, the “New Weser” was also fed with several million cubic meters of water. As a result, the breakthrough back into the Weser east of the Werder bridge intensified again in the course of the morning. At around 1 p.m. at another point - about 30 meters east of the bridge - a 15-meter-long and five-meter-deep section was washed out of the soil of the dike. After the backflow into the Weser, the additional water masses again caused great damage on the opposite bank of the Weser, which they hit at almost a right angle. The water management office tried to fill the holes in the embankment, but with little success. The Hastedter allotment garden area Im Suhrfelde had already been evacuated as a precaution at 10 o'clock . Subsequently, both the Osterdeich between Stader Straße and Weserwehr and, due to concerns about the statics, the Werder bridge were closed to all traffic for several days.
The "New Weser" ate its way deeper into the subsoil of the fields, allotment garden areas and marshes, hour by hour, so that the flow speed in the Hastedter Bulten area hardly changed at first. The Weser runoff sank to 960 m³ per second by March 24th, but the water left the floodplains only slowly. Only in April did the water flow again at the weir. Almost two months later, on June 9th, another flood reached the Hanseatic city with a peak flow rate of 1100 m³ per second, but remained largely without consequences.
aid
Cleanup in the first year
Five days after the first breakthrough of the Weser into the congested areas, the security and later the clean-up work began. On the morning of March 20, during one of the regular statics measurements on the Werder Bridge, it was found that a pillar had twisted one and a half centimeters. To him had a seven-meter-deep around Kolk formed. The authorities said there was no danger. To support the pillar, however, the same day began to lower normal stones and a total of over 150 tetrapods and so-called delta stones at the relevant point. In addition, those responsible at the water management office voted for the construction of a pontoon bridge over the water surface of the "New Weser", which should follow the course of the interrupted military road and be built by the Bundeswehr. It was planned that from March 23, lorries would transport stones over the bridge to fill in the breach of the dike above the weir. The dike closure work was to begin on the grounds of the Oberweser sailing club, where the "New Weser" began at a width of 180 meters. Also on March 20, the budget committee provided the finance deputation with 500,000 D-Marks, which were to be advanced for dike repairs. Meanwhile, the SPD local association in Hastedt turned to the Senate and its own parliamentary group to restore the leisure and green areas in the district between Wehr and Jakobsberg as quickly as possible. 150 soldiers of the floating bridge battalion 160 from Minden and the heavy pioneer battalion 11 from Dörverden began on March 22nd to build a 500 meter long steel mat road on a bed of sand from the southern beginning of the weir road in the habenhauser residential area directly towards the Mittelweser over the flooded pastures. A previous investigation had shown that the original plan - construction along the defense road - was not possible. The current in that area would have been too strong for the bridge. In addition, it was feared that the Bundeswehr vehicles could get stuck in the silt after the "New Weser" ran empty. Other flood-damaged areas were also taken into account during the rescue work these days. On March 22nd, the heavily affected weir promenade in Hastedt began to be filled with slag and natural stones. In order to prevent the breakthrough at the Werder Bridge from progressing and widening, a 300-meter-long sheet pile wall was driven across the rest of the Hastedter Bulten from March 23rd . For this purpose, 16 previously undamaged allotment gardens had to be sacrificed.
From March 23, a Bundeswehr pontoon ferry transported machines and filling material to the Oberweser sailing club. First a small dam had to be pushed over a tidal creek to the Werraweg before the actual dyke construction work with the lowering of tetrapods could begin. This was done on both sides of the breakthrough in order to be able to better control the flow. The open spaces were filled with hydraulic stones and cinder blocks and the raised areas were sealed with a mineral mixture. On March 24th, the new dike had grown to a length of 20 meters. In order to relieve the "Neue Weser" in the area of the construction site from the excessive water pressure, the weir was set in its lowest possible position in order to allow additional water to flow off over the "Alte Weser". In addition to the previous filling material, employees of the Water Management Office supplemented the construction site from March 26th from a pontoon maneuvered by rope with initially around 1000 three-meter-long nylon sandbags. These should help to weaken the flow speed of the water, otherwise the filling material of the new dike could be swept away. However, the sacks were partially pushed away by the current, so that the focus was again on stones and tetrapods. On March 28th and 29th there were unexpected delays in closing the dike. The rope of the pontoon broke several times and Hans-Dieter Bücken , head of the Bremen Water Management Office, stated that about 5000 special sandbags would probably be needed for the remaining 40 meters. The current of the "New Weser" was still very high and the water gnawed at the Hastedter Bulten with a slightly different thrust. Individual parcels were still destroyed during these days. In the aftermath of the actual flood disaster, the Weser breakthrough resulted in injuries. A construction worker had to be treated in hospital after his leg got caught between a goods cart and an equipment pole on March 29 . The work at the fracture site suffered a major setback on April 4, when the current tore a 30-meter-wide hole in the almost completed dike at around 6:30 p.m. More than 30,000 tons of natural stone had already been built in, but it gave way at its weakest point, where no stones had yet been sunk for transport reasons. Under the impression of this development, on March 5th, Hans-Dieter Bücken emphatically demanded the construction of the originally planned pontoon bridge, as more material was needed and the ferry was not efficient enough. Due to the changed flow conditions, the conditions for the bridge construction are now much better than two weeks before. The pioneers then started building the bridge on the evening of April 6th, which was completed by noon on April 7th. The bridge consisted of 100 hollow bodies and could carry a weight of 50 tons. After completion, it was used by trucks without interruption. In addition to backfilling the dike breach, cutter excavators flushed sand from the Mittelweser in front of the newly emerging dam as a flanking measure. From April 8th, around 20 tetrapods should be launched into the water every day. In addition, it was expected that a few thousand tons of stones and bulk material would be needed. On the night of April 9th, the dike breach was finally closed. In the following weeks, the area was continuously reinforced and sealed with a mineral mixture. The costs for this spatially limited measure amounted to 3.2 million D-Marks. 36,000 tons of rubble stones, 3,000 tons of mineral mix, 635 tetrapods and over 4,000 sandbags were used.
During the high tide , which affects the Lower Weser up to the Weser Weir, the “Neue Weser” periodically changed into a river, as the rising tide pressed into the erosion channel over the break at the Werder Bridge. Nothing changed over the summer. First of all, the hydraulic engineering experts had to turn to more pressing problems. A provisional path was laid on the dike for the residents in the area of the Werraweg and on April 9th, senior building officer Winfried Reiner from the Waterways and Shipping Office announced that the steep bank on Jakobsberg in Hastedt would be withdrawn. It was driven too far into the Weser after the Second World War . As a matter of priority, engineers should take care of the repair of the still defective defense structure from mid-April.
On April 9, the head of the Hemelingen local authority , Hans Dieter Rissland, demanded that the Hastedter promenade and green corridor below the weir had to be completely restored, as the industrialized district already had little recreational space. In that area, a 40-meter-wide section had been washed away. Rissland accused the federal and state authorities of indifference to the protection of the green spaces. Meanwhile, several dredgers on the Lower and Middle Weser freed the river from numerous sandbanks and shallows that had formed as a result of the flood deposits.
At noon on April 14, ships with a draft of up to 2.20 meters were again cleared for the Mittelweser, albeit for a limited time: Locks for a journey upriver only took place two hours before and after the high tide. From April 14th, 600 tons of earth were moved to replace the broken Deichschartweg at the western end of the Werdersee with a temporary sand dam. The embankment should be ready by Easter (April 19) to allow pedestrians and cyclists a temporary connection. If the water level of the lake rises again, the connection should be maintained via a pontoon bridge. Local politicians from Neustadt demanded that the Werdersee be dammed up again in the short term, on the one hand to revive the local recreational factor and on the other hand to keep the ecological damage within limits. Before that, however, the sole would have to be cleaned of debris. Together with the water management authority, the Bremische Deichverband on the left bank of the Weser began to repair the damage to the habenhauser winter dike over a length of one kilometer. The extremely endangered dike kink at the foot of the Werder bridge was also straightened. The rehabilitated stretch of the dike is one kilometer long. 50,000 cubic meters of clay had to be moved for these measures and 60,000 square meters of embankment and foreland areas had to be re-sown. The Werdersee feeder at the foot of the dike was filled in with 75,000 cubic meters of sand. Dietrich Harborth , spokesman for the building senator, predicted at a meeting of the Neustadt local advisory council on May 6th that Werdersee could probably not be used again by the population as a sports and recreation facility until 1983 at the earliest. As a justification, he explained that the lake was completely silted up and might have to be shoveled empty by hand. If machines were used to remove sand, the insulating clay layer would break.
When the news of another impending flood reached Bremen, the recently completed dike above the weir was hastily raised from five to six meters for 80,000 D-Marks and with the help of several thousand cubic meters of clay from June 4th. The flood had no consequences, so that one could concentrate on work on the western end of the disaster area. From June 11th, the plans from mid-April were implemented and began to dredge and clean the Werdersee - despite the sensitive clay soil with heavy machinery. With the silt that was taken up in the process, the aborted edges at the Hastedter Bulten were at least partially filled. On July 2nd, Hans-Dieter Bücken informed the Obervieland local advisory board about the progress of the planning. The work on the habenhauser winter dike, which began in May, was nearing completion, with the slope being flattened and the Kronenweg widened. The repairs should be finished by the end of August. Bücken pointed out that the filling of the Werdersee feeder had been necessary because it ran too close to the foot of the dike and could soften it during flooding. The summer dikes should also be closed again and supplemented. In addition, a bran wall is also being considered to better protect the bank edge. In this context, the SPD local politician Egon Hartwig expressed the view that the landscape changed by the "New Weser" could later also be used as a leisure area. On August 10, the awarding committee of the building deputation decided on five building and planning measures in the flood-damaged floodplain. Among other things, the military road was to be rebuilt for 670,000 D-Marks, true to its former course, but this time increased. The dam received three water passages. The decision to close the reverse current breakthrough in Hastedter Bulten was far more important. It was feared that otherwise the winter storm surges would lead to renewed flooding of the meadows and the remaining allotments. The gaping hole was to be sealed with a new dyke six meters high, on which a two-meter-wide paved footpath and cycle path were to be laid. The cost of this was estimated at 2.5 million Deutschmarks. The cost of restoring the revetment on the south bank of the lake over a length of one and a half kilometers was put at one million German marks. This construction site was set up on the Werder Bridge on September 1st. First, 25,000 tons of sand from the “New Weser” were piled up to form a dam; the same amount was produced by an excavation below the Stephani bridge . The sand core, the top layer of clay and the top of the dike were secured with a 60 cm thick layer of stones. The angle of the dike incline enabled water to overflow in an emergency. To strengthen and secure the new dike, a steel sheet pile wall was built parallel to the Weser, which was connected to the one from the spring. It later disappeared into the revetment and could no longer be seen. In order to continue to ensure a connection between the “New Weser” and the river and thus ensure water exchange, the construction workers laid a pipeline with a contactor through the dam. A flap at the end of the river Weser closed itself when the tide came up due to the water pressure, thus preventing the water from rising in the "New Weser". On September 17, the breakthrough point was bulldozed at 11:05 a.m. - 186 days after it occurred. The "New Weser", now diked on both sides, had become a lake. By the end of the day, the dyke had been raised to a height of three meters. A total of 35,000 cubic meters of sand, 10,000 tons of debris were required for this dike closure and an additional 10,000 cubic meters of clay soil was required for fastening. The repair and overhaul work on the Weser weir was also completed at the end of October.
The cost of restoring the flood protection burdened Bremen in 1981 with nine million and the federal government with 13 million Deutschmarks.
Financial support for those affected
Allotment gardeners and farmers
As early as March 16, just one day after the dike breached, Bremen's mayor Hans Koschnick reminded that the affected allotment garden areas were known to have been held as overcrowding areas and that the city could therefore not legally be called upon to pay compensation. However, he promised a benevolent examination of financial aid by the Senate , since the deficit of allotment gardens should not be increased. Also the city from providing certainty demands for compensation payments, realized senator Bernd Meyer on the same day critical to:
- "It has meanwhile been shown that the requirements for planting and fencing in the flooded parcel area have not been fully complied with."
Johann Dreyer, chairman of the state association of gardening friends in Bremen, then stated that those affected by no means “want or can bear the water damage alone”. Despite the state's financial plight, the Senate must help the allotment gardeners - especially since the flood area also serves tens of thousands of Bremen residents as a local recreation area . He emphasized that the damage was not insured, but also admitted that every allotment gardener was aware of the risk of owning a hut in the designated overcrowding area. On March 18, his association called for a fundraising campaign, as neither he nor those affected could even come close to compensating for the damage.
The chairman of the opposition FDP - parliamentary group , Horst-Jürgen Lahmann , dismissed the following day also suggests that the allotment gardeners knew the risk of their location and therefore could expect no compensation from the budget of the country or the city. As an alternative, he proposed a tax deferral. Finance Senator Moritz Thape came up with this idea on March 20, when, with the approval of Federal Finance Minister Hans Matthöfer, he decided on a regulation on tax aid for flood-damaged citizens. For example, tax debts could be deferred upon application , advance payments for income , corporation and trade tax could be adjusted and enforcement could be suspended.
Also on March 19, the allotment gardeners' aid efforts intensified themselves. For example, the Federal Association of German Gardening Friends called on its ten regional associations to fundraising and independently of this, the State Association of Gardening Friends in Hamburg promised its support and help. In addition, the SPD local association in Hastedt announced that it wanted to collect donations from the population and business people. On March 22nd, the Bremen allotment gardener association Werder decided at a general meeting that each member should donate 15 D-Marks. The board wanted to increase the total amount from the club's treasury to 7,500 D-Marks. The association also reserved five newly created properties for the flood victims. At the same time, the SPD citizenship group made its own picture of the situation on site in the flood area. Group leader Klaus Wedemeier pointed out that the Weser is a federal waterway . The regulation of the damage could therefore "not essentially be a Bremen matter." On March 23, Building Senator Meyer offered those affected quick and unbureaucratic help from the state government. With immediate effect, 100 new parcels could be created at Park Wolfskuhle in the Kattenturm district , for which the Senate is providing 1.2 million D-Marks. At this point in time, the allotment gardeners' donation account had already received around 10,000 D-Marks. A large automobile factory had sent a check for 1,000 D-Marks and also offered “quick and unconventional help”. Another company gave allotment gardeners free fertilizers and peat products for a fresh start. Following urgent motions, the board of the Bremen Regional Association of Gardening Friends received approval from the 276 delegates at a general meeting in the Niederdeutscher Theater on March 28th to provide 100,000 D-Marks from the association's assets. In addition, a solidarity levy of ten D-Marks per member was decided for the Hastedter Bulten association . By this time, 307,000 D-Marks had been raised in donations. The next day, March 29, the beneficiary allotment gardeners of Hastedter Bulten held an extraordinary meeting with 500 members and relatives in the community hall on Drakenburger Strasse. They asked the Senate not only to provide them with the compensation areas at Wolfskuhle, but also to help them financially. In addition, as soon as the water has drained, the authorities have to “fully restore” the allotment area.
In a letter to Johann Dreyer on May 5, Meyer announced that a joint approach had been found that should also be perceived as fair by the flood-damaged allotment gardeners: “The clarification of the legal situation revealed that for those on the sheet pile wall route appropriate compensation is to be paid for the parcels used by Bremen. ”Although there is no legal basis for private victims, the Senate has agreed to provide the affected allotment gardeners - those who want to continue - financially and through services to help the offices. No distinction should be made between building a new garden and taking over a free, already existing garden. "In addition, I will work to ensure that a decision is made in the short term that in these cases arbor loans up to an amount of 7,000 marks can be granted," continued Meyer. On the same day, addressee Dreyer put the damage at 1.2 million Deutschmarks. He stated that the allotment gardeners wanted to raise 300,000 themselves from solidarity donations, 30,000 D-Marks had so far been donated by outsiders. The next day, on May 6, he increased his damage balance to 1.5 million D-Marks and declared that no politician had yet promised concrete help - which, however, is a contradiction in terms of the city's offers of help. However, on the same day, Ludwig Meyer, chairman of the hardest-hit allotment garden association Hastedter Bulten , commented accordingly. He said it was outrageous that, almost two months after the flood, the Bremen politicians had not made any proposals to remedy the distress. However, the allotment gardeners were pleased with the spontaneous willingness to help that was shown to them from the population and from associations throughout Germany. 65,000 Deutschmarks in donations had already been collected by the end of the first week of May. In addition, various gardening associations from the Hanseatic city made more than 17,000 D-Marks available, with the state association of gardening friends in Bremen adding 300,000. Its chairman Dreyer emphasized that the members felt abandoned. He did not accept the argument that the allotment gardeners knew from the beginning how endangered their settlement area was:
- "The lease contracts, some of which have already existed since 1920, indicate that the Hastedter Bulten is a floodplain, but the responsibility for its total destruction lies with the authorities responsible for the waterways."
After a visit by the CDU parliamentary group in Obervieland, its chairman, opposition leader and CDU state chairman Bernd Neumann , on May 7th, asked for unbureaucratic help for all allotment gardeners who had lost their parcels in Hastedter Bulten . They found out about the flood damage, which now has to be estimated at between 40 and 50 million D-Marks, Neumann continues. Almost at the same word, the SPD construction deputy and members of the board of the Landesverband der Gartenfreunde Bremen, after a joint discussion on the same day , affirmed their will to help the injured party quickly and unbureaucratically. At the same time, the Social Democratic deputies appealed to the allotment gardeners to make greater use of the alternative garden offer at the Wolfskuhle. After all, leaf loans of up to 7,000 D-Marks would be granted regardless of income.
The operating company of the town hall organized a benefit concert on May 13th - officially known as the "Colorful Evening" - for the benefit of those affected. All artists and restoration companies waived their fees or sales. It was expected that there would be 5,000 spectators in the town hall and corresponding proceeds of around 100,000 D-Marks. The almost four-hour event under the motto "Bremen help Bremen" was moderated by Jo Hannes Müller and Manfred Ebel. Besides Heinz Eckner , Rudi Carrell , the pop band Ebony , the Friedel-Roper's choirs, the dance band "Bremer key", the singer Rolf Simson and three Sihoclas also joined the A-Team in Modern Latin - formation dance of TSG Bremerhaven on which was the reigning world champion at the time. The chamber singer Georg Koch and the soprano Helga Hildebrand from the Bremen theater as well as Erika Rumpsfeld and Hans Rolf Radula from the Low German stage also performed . The musical organization of the evening was incumbent on the Bremen entertainment orchestra under the direction of Herbert Plumecke, the Army Music Corps 11 from Grohn under the direction of Captain Wintering and the music corps of the Bremen Police under the direction of Max Milde. Born in Bremen, James Last was unable to attend the evening because he was in the USA , but donated 100 long-playing records that were sold on site. Federal President Karl Carstens , also from Bremen to arise, took over the patronage of the event and made by the citizenry President Dieter Klink Greetings transmit. However, despite numerous media announcements and the presence of well-known artists, the “Colorful Evening” met with extremely little interest. Only a good 1000 people from Bremen wanted to experience it - almost 300 Bundeswehr soldiers were ordered into the largely empty hall as “fillers”. In the end, the proceeds only amounted to 15,000 D-Marks.
Construction consultant Götz Neuber quoted on June 11 at a public meeting of the Obervieland local advisory council with regard to claims settlement, a report that had already been presented to the citizens , according to which no culpable behavior on the part of public authorities could be identified. Therefore, the state cannot pay for direct flood damage and loss. The Senate could only pay compensation to those whose property was affected by the flood control (farmers whose land the emergency access routes were led over / allotment gardeners whose parcels were used to pile the sheet pile wall in front of the bridge's pillar foundation). In this “framework of what is legally permissible”, the senatorial authorities endeavor to help the allotment gardeners and to compensate for any damage caused. Senator for Economic Affairs Karl Willms said in talks with the Chamber of Agriculture to examine the extent to which farmers can be compensated for lost earnings. As a result, on June 23, there was a controversial debate among the citizens about a major request from the CDU parliamentary group. Building Senator Bernd Meyer emphasized that only areas were flooded, which "according to their natural function and according to the applicable law have to serve as flood drainage." This was also taken into account in the approval for allotment arbors on the Hastedter Bulten. Bremen can therefore hardly provide financial aid for those privately affected. However, he reaffirmed the plan to offer substitute allotment gardens in the Wolfskuhle area, to grant the parcelists arbor loans, to enable tax relief and to provide non-bureaucratic individual assistance. Peter Willers from the Bremen Green List criticized the confusion of competencies regarding the responsibilities between the federal government and the states of Bremen and Lower Saxony. He attributed the flood largely to the encroachment on nature - such as the canalization of the Weser - so the allotment gardeners would have a legal right to compensation.
The allotment gardeners received several large donations in the summer. On June 26th, Horst Reich, as the first chairman of the leisure community, presented Arsten Johann Dreyer with a check for 3500 D-Marks, collected by the 116 members, on the occasion of the ten-year existence of the association. The donations received up to this day totaled 220,000 D-Marks. Wolfgang Schreck , head of the Daimler-Benz plant in Sebaldsbrück , handed Dreyer a check for 26,000 D-Marks on July 22nd. Around a year after the Weser breakthrough, 570,000 D-Marks had been collected, donated by the people of Bremen for the allotment gardeners. On August 20, several soldiers from the 11th Heavy Pioneer Battalion from Dörverden visited the Weserwehr allotment garden association . Its plots on the so-called “weir island” were completely enclosed by the water during the flood, but were not flooded because of the elevated location. Nevertheless, the club members were particularly dependent on the pontoon bridge and wanted to thank them for the help they had provided with this meeting. The local advisory board and the local office of Obervieland supported this initiative "because the deployment of the Bundeswehr soldiers is not taken for granted, but a committed thank you should be said."
Sailors
Around the largely devastated harbor of the Oberweser-Segelverein e. V. to make it usable again directly in the bend in the Weser, the club's chairman Helmut Steinmetz estimated on March 20 a sum of one million D-Marks. Only the boathouse and the winter storage halls remained undamaged. In an emergency, the comradeship of the athletes intervened and they were accepted as guest boaters by neighboring clubs.
The sailing club Weser e. V., which is located directly west of the Weser Stadium. With 15 berths for larger dinghies , a quarter of the capacity was silted up at the end of April and became unusable after silt from the flooded area upstream had deposited behind the club's sheet pile wall. However, the association is prohibited from dredging its own harbor bed and dumping the sand into the Weser, said chairman Helmut Barenborg at the end of April. Therefore, the water and shipping authority must deal with the problem by means of dredgers and barges . However, this request was refused after a few days. In a letter, the authority refused to take the sand with reference to the small amount. At the same time it was pointed out that the association's application to flush the silt into the Weser at its own expense would be approved. Threatened in its financial existence, the sailing club Weser e. V. thereupon seeking help from Sport Senator Henning Scherf .
At the public meeting of the Obervieland local advisory board on June 11th, Scherf agreed to organize help for the Oberweser sailing club and Hans-Dieter Bücken actually informed the advisory board on July 2nd that the bank revetments at the club would be restored in the course of the dike renewals should be produced. The point of contention on its site was the construction of the port boundary. Before the flood, a sheet pile wall was used as a shield from the Weser. After the dike was closed in early April, there were plans to delimit the newly created port with a stone slope. However, this would have made the harbor basin significantly narrower. Nobody was willing to pay the additional costs of 350,000 Deutschmarks for the construction of a new sheet pile wall. After lengthy negotiations, the Senate ultimately decided to partially finance the solution favored by the association. Although the Oberweser sailing club had to take on 100,000 D-Marks in debt and pay for the construction of the 95-meter-long pier opposite the sheet pile wall itself, it was saved. This was made possible not least thanks to donations of 50,000 D-Marks - among others from SC Niedersachsen Werder and WV Woltmershausen. On May 9, 1982, the new port was inaugurated in the presence of numerous local politicians.
consequences
Right away
The Weser breakthrough in 1981, during which the Weser was looking for a new bed, went down in the city annals as one of the worst floods in Bremen, even if “only” plots were affected. Although it has changed the landscape significantly, it only reflects part of the threat at that time, as in those days a storm surge over the Lower Weser reached the Hanseatic city at the same time as the floods of the Upper and Middle Weser. An area of 70 hectares was flooded in the course of the Weser breakthrough and 44 hectares of agricultural land were destroyed, between 127 and 150 small parcel houses on eastern Stadtwerder were destroyed, damage amounting to around 56 million D-Marks and more than 1.5 million cubic meters were caused Soil and sediments were washed into the Weser. Large parts of the affected area then lay under a layer of silt , mud and sand, some up to one meter thick , which was contaminated with heavy metal deposits. Most of the allotments that were torn away have not been rebuilt. Their location - the breakthrough of the "New Weser" back into the river - is dominated today by wild growth. Especially from a bird's eye view, the course of the flood can be clearly understood. The Hastedter Bulten parcel area is thus divided into two parts.
The water flow at the threshold from the Middle to the Lower Weser increased massively as a result of the Weser breakthrough and the additional drainage possibility that was forcibly created. For example, on March 20, only about 300 m³ per second drained over the weir itself, while 1000 m³ per second was looking for the route of the "New Weser". As a result, the level of the Mittelweser fell dramatically upstream to Langwedel in places. In the short term, it was feared that it could drop to 60 to 80 centimeters. In combination with the sandbanks created by the flood, this was one of the main reasons for the closure of the corresponding section of the Weser to inland navigation for just under a month.
Long term
In 1981, the Senate commissioned the Franzius Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Coastal Engineering at the University of Hanover to carry out hydraulic model tests on future flood discharge options in the area of the Weser breakthrough. The large-scale model test began at the end of October and cost around 500,000 D-Marks, of which the federal government took over 40 percent and the state of Bremen took over 60 percent. Scientists from the University of Hanover and the Technical University of Braunschweig have also been working on this topic since mid-June. A commission of inquiry was set up, which only came to the conclusion that the dike breaches resulted from a chain of unfortunate circumstances. On the one hand, the weir should have been repaired much earlier and, on the other hand, the precautions taken in the 1950s against flooding "from above" - namely the construction of the flood channel - had failed.
On April 21, 1983 - apart from the previous repair and securing work - work began on at least partially backfilling the deeply buried bed of the "New Weser" east of the Werder Bridge. Over the next few months, trucks transported around 125,000 cubic meters of earth to the area. It was about excavation from the Krimpelsee, which lies on the boundaries of the Obervielander districts habenhausen and Kattenturm . This made it possible to fill about two thirds of the erosion channel. The future of the "New Weser" was initially unclear for several years. For example, while the Bremen Water Management Office initially wanted to wait for the result of the Franzius Institute's report at the end of May 1983, nature conservation experts assumed that the habitat of interest for flora and fauna could be preserved regardless of the flood protection strategy. The farmers damaged by the breakthrough of the Weser, in turn, advocated flushing the “New Weser” again in order to regain the lost acreage. Hermann Cordes , Professor of Vegetation Science and Nature Conservation at the University of Bremen , explained that remarkable plant species appeared relatively quickly on the edge of the water. Above all, it is a question of species that used to be part of the common flora of large glacial valleys . The shallow water zones on the Hastedter Bulten were also interesting from an ornithological point of view, as they attracted a large number of food guests - for example herons and sandpipers . Cordes explained that the area does not necessarily have to be designated as a nature reserve . It is also conceivable to preserve it as a remarkable landscape formation and local recreation area without special protection status. Hans-Dieter Bücken, head of the water management office, also said it was highly unlikely that the "New Weser" would have to give way for reasons of flood protection. With Holger Schmidt, however, the spokesman for the Obervielander local advisory council pointed out that the "Neue Weser" had affected private property. Therefore, the farmers' wish to restore the original condition is all too understandable. Furthermore, the preservation of the "New Weser" and the construction of a nature conservation-friendly feeder system are difficult to achieve together.
During the Weser breakthrough in 1981, the Werdersee had proven to be almost ineffective in its intended protective function: although it protected Neustadt from storm surges, it was not able to protect habenhausen from inland floods of the Central Weser. This circumstance, the already partially remodeling of the dykes and the "New Weser", which is still viewed as a foreign body, and the question of how to deal with the latter were ultimately decisive for a large-scale redesign of the area. The holistic and natural concept was intended to prevent another catastrophe of this kind and aimed at a more controlled flow of any floods. As the most obvious measure, the still dry Werdersee was extended by 1.07 kilometers beyond the Werder Bridge to the east, in order to protect the structure from uncontrolled undercutting and to offer a possibility of catching the incoming inland floods more quickly. A deepening of the lake in the area of the bridge should also keep flowing water away from the foundations. The eastern basin of the overfill area was raised over a large area in order to slow down the flow velocity of the overflowing Weser water. The Wehrstraße was relaunched in its old course and now passes the Werdersee directly at its eastern end. This is also where the new feeder flows into the lake, which branches off above the Oberweser sailing club on the left bank of the Weser and guarantees the lake is supplied with fresh water and circulation for over 738 meters. The slightly sinuous channel has artificial rapids, was - unlike its predecessor - far created each winter dike is at two summer dike passages Protect provided and as a compensatory measure for construction work in the port area designed very natural. A decisive intervention in the course of the redesign was also the removal of the land bridge at the western end of the Werdersee, which separated it from the Kleiner Weser. Since then, the Deichschartweg has been running over a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, which was required as early as 1981 (see section Criticism ), under which the two bodies of water were completely connected. From the Wehrstraße to the confluence with the Weser in the city center at the Bürgermeister-Smidt-Brücke, they form a 5.7 kilometer long, continuous left-hand watercourse. As a result, potentially overflowing floods from the Mittelweser can flow unhindered into the Unterweser. Finally, in 1987, the Werdersee was flooded again. Since then it has been functioning as one of the largest contiguous and most heavily frequented local recreation areas in the city.
The water masses of the flood in March 1981 eroded marshland and layers of sand, relocated them and created a patchwork of different types of soil, which offers diverse niches for plants with different requirements. As predicted by Hermann Cordes in 1983, conservationists had the opportunity to preserve a small area of lively river dynamics in the middle of the city. The lake that remained in the flood bed was ecologically redesigned. Individual bank areas were flattened and a buffer zone was set up around the reservoir to prevent excessive eutrophication from the surrounding agricultural areas. Finally, on December 28, 1988, the lake and surrounding green areas were designated as a 34.8 hectare nature reserve "Neue Weser" . The area is left to natural vegetation development, unaffected by humans and grazing cattle, which is scientifically monitored. Nowadays it is home to a varied natural landscape with numerous habitats such as reed beds , grassland, tall herbaceous meadows , floodplains , still waters , near-natural floodplain bushes and trees and is designated as a European bird area. As such, it is of great importance for both migratory and breeding birds . For example, numerous species of ducks and gray herons live there, and common terns nest on an artificial pontoon . The water body is fed by bank filtrate from the Weser and drained through drainage pipes into the Lower Weser. There is no stable temperature stratification in summer .
As early as June 11, 1981, head building officer Winfried Reiner from the Waterways and Shipping Office had admitted at a public meeting of the Obervieland local advisory board that the Weser weir no longer complied with the then current DIN standards . According to the safety standards valid in 1981, new buildings would have to have three independently controllable flow openings so that if one weir was damaged, most of the flood could still flow away through the other two. One of the most practical solutions in the context of the new regulation of the flood discharge in habenhausen was therefore a modernization or a new construction - but in any case an increase in the capacity of the weir. 180 meters downstream from the old location, a new Weser weir was built in 1989, the cost of which - together with the new lock system - amounted to around 287.5 million. It was put into operation on June 10, 1993. The new guiding concept for inland floods is designed for a Weser discharge of up to 4200 cubic meters per second - this value corresponds to the flood event in February and March 1881 and has an occurrence frequency of 600 years. 3400 m³ of this is to flow off via the weir and the remaining 800 m³ via the so-called "flood drainage channel", which is made up of the Werdersee feeder, Werdersee and Kleiner Weser.
criticism
The critical remarks in the aftermath of the Weser breakthrough in 1981 were essentially aimed at the flood control concept that existed at the time - and which many commentators retrospectively classified as inadequate - and the behavior of political decision-makers.
Already on March 16, Johann Dreyer, chairman of the regional association of gardening friends in Bremen, spoke up. He criticized the fact that the Deichschartweg had been laid over a dam at the western end of the Werdersee. Dreyer preferred a bridge with a small weir instead of just the existing narrow passage. However, the functionary admitted that he could only assess this technical problem as a layperson. Wilhelm Mahrtens was head of the Waterways and Shipping Directorate Northwest and as such was responsible for the Jade-Weser region. On March 21, he attributed the "delayed" break of the boat harbor dike not to the water pressure from the direction of the Mittelweser, but rather to the backward-moving erosion in the floodplain. This was mainly possible because in the area of the undermined military road, loose arable land had been converted into comparatively solid pastures, which, according to him, should never have happened. The plowed ground gave the water much better opportunities to dig deep. In addition, the flood is by no means a consequence of the inoperability of one of the weir bodies. Rather, Mahrtens considered the overflow troughs between Werraweg and Bullenwerder to be a serious mistake in planning. Without it, the first tidal wave would have taken its preprogrammed route through the flood channel to Werdersee. The former electricity construction director Ludwig Plate had already criticized the construction of the allotment garden areas in the flood-prone area, according to Mahrtens. Archival documents show that those responsible had already requested in 1928 that no parcels be built in the water drainage area. Building Senator Bernd Meyer responded on March 23 with the words: "There are now far more important things than debating questions of guilt."
At the extraordinary general meeting of the allotment garden association Hastedter Bulten on March 29th, several participants in the discussion were disappointed and angry about the absence of the dike captain at the beginning of the events. The club's chairman, Ludwig Meyer, criticized the “human inability” and the inability to put the defective defense body back into operation in good time. As early as January, as a compensatory measure, the authorities had to ensure that the Oberweser river ran through the Werdersee channel. "Hanseatic merchant avarice" also prevented the Deichschartweg from being designed as a bridge. In doing so, savings were made in the wrong place, because the summer dike at the Werder Bridge could only have broken and caused the violent backflow into the Weser, because the water that had actually already flowed further in the intended flood channel had been backed up by the fortified Deichschart dam. Meyer summed up: "Werdersee has not passed its first endurance test." Anyone who reproaches the allotment gardeners must also hold those who have issued building permits for the Hastedter Bulten to account. Presumably strengthened in his opinion by Meyer, Johann Dreyer brought the subject up again on May 6 at a meeting of the Neustadt local advisory board.
At the public meeting of the Obervieland local advisory board on June 11th, Meyer also renewed his criticism: The Deichschartweg dam, which dammed the flood, and the winter dike bend at the Werder bridge were the results of "catastrophic planning errors". It is possible that a mere makeshift flood discharge has been designed out of economy. During the meeting, members of the allotment garden association Fresenbulten expressed their fear of being affected by future floods. The security of their gardens is already at risk with the next summer storm surge. As the barrages at Lesum , Hunte and Ochtum went into operation less than two years ago , the Weser water could accumulate significantly higher than before and reach the arbors unhindered via the damaged area on the Werder Bridge (not yet closed at the time of the meeting). However, chief building officer Winfried Reiner from the Waterways and Shipping Office gave them little hope of a quick remedy. The restoration of a dike that is overflow-proof both in the case of floods in the Middle Weser and storm surges from the opposite direction would cost four million D-Marks. This output can only be justified if the model tests have produced the corresponding results. In addition, Reiner countered criticism of an allegedly too late repair of the Weser weir. The repair work would have started immediately after the defect in November 1980, but could only work until Christmas because then winter and the high water level would have prevented any further work on the weir for safety reasons. He further expressed the assumption that the Bulten with the allotment areas would probably have been flooded during the March floods, even if the weir was completely intact.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b “No new damage to the Weser weir”. In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 65, March 18, 1981, page 11.
- ↑ a b c "The flood of the Weser in March 1981" ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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. . Accessed on undine.bafg.de (information platform Undine [DATA SIZE and were to e in order and evaluation of hydrological E xtreme] of the Federal Institute of Hydrology ) on March 27, 2015.
- ↑ Tonn, Rainer: "The March floods 1981 in the West Harz". In: Wasser & Boden , 33rd volume, № 12, 1981, pages 574-581
- ^ German Weather Service (ed.): "Monthly weather report". In: Official Journal of the German Weather Service , 29th year, № 3, 1981, Offenbach am Main .
- ↑ "Tidal wave endangers the allotment gardens". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 60, March 12, 1981, page 15.
- ↑ "Flood expected". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 61, March 13, 1981, page 9.
- ↑ a b c d e "Dike breach: floods tore parcel houses with". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 63, March 16, 1981, page 13.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j “Does the winter dike stop in front of habenhausen?”. In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 64, March 17, 1981, pages 13-14.
- ↑ "Despite 120 police officers, there was no stopping it." In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 70, March 24, 1981, page 13.
- ↑ "Flood dug itself twelve meters deep". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 65, March 18, 1981, page 11.
- ↑ a b “Flood falls only slowly”. In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 66, March 19, 1981, page 10.
- ↑ a b c d e "Bad news: 'Strawberry Bridge' endangered?". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 67, March 20, 1981, page 9.
- ↑ a b c “Skippers demand a new lock”. In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 71, March 25, 1981, page 14.
- ↑ “'Land under'. Floods developed into a flood disaster ”. In: Die Weser , 55th year, № 2, 1981, pages 20–21.
- ↑ Federal Institute for Hydrology (Ed.): "Water Management Report of the Federal Institute for Hydrology for the 1st Quarter 1981". In: Deutsche Gewässerkundliche Mitteilungen , 25th year, № 2, 1981, Koblenz , pages 61–62.
- ↑ a b c "'New Weser' now also with a bridge". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 68, 21./22. March 1981, pages 13-14.
- ↑ a b c d e f “Pioneers laid steel road by hand”. In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 69, March 23, 1981, pages 13-14.
- ↑ a b c d e "Day and night trucks with stones roll". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 70, March 24, 1981, page 14.
- ↑ "Dyke construction causes difficulties". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 75, March 30, 1981, page 15.
- ↑ "Leg trapped during dike work". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 75, March 30, 1981, page 17.
- ↑ a b "Current tore away the new dike". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 81, April 6, 1981, page 15.
- ↑ a b "Dike gap was closed yesterday". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 85, April 10, 1981, page 9.
- ↑ "Hastedter sports ground endangered?" In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 85, April 10, 1981, page 10.
- ↑ Meiners, Wulf: The great flood of 1981 in Lower Saxony . Husum , 1981.
- ↑ a b "Provisional dam ready for Easter". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 89, April 15, 1981, page 9.
- ↑ "Is Werdersee shoveled clear by hand?" In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 106, May 8, 1981, page 12.
- ↑ "Better safe than sorry - the dike is raised". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 129, June 5, 1981, page 9.
- ↑ a b "Securing the dikes as a priority". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 152, 4th / 5th. Jul 1981, page 15.
- ↑ a b c "Dike breach will be closed". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 184, August 11, 1981, page 12.
- ↑ a b c "The 'Neue Weser' will soon be dry again". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 217, September 18, 1981, page 9.
- ↑ a b "'Damage probably quite large'". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 64, March 17, 1981, page 13.
- ↑ a b “Substitute Gardens at the Wolfskuhle”. In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 70, March 24, 1981, pages 13-14.
- ↑ a b c "Club friends showed solidarity". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 75, March 30, 1981, page 18.
- ↑ a b c d "Allotment gardeners threaten with lawsuit". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 75, March 30, 1981, page 18.
- ↑ a b c d "Senator Meyer assures help". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 106, May 8, 1981, page 13.
- ↑ a b c d "Dreyer: Also clarify the question of guilt". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 105, May 7, 1981, page 10.
- ↑ a b "CDU: Help allotment gardeners quickly". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 107, 9./10. May 1981, page 14.
- ↑ a b "SPD confirms unbureaucratic aid". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 107, 9./10. May 1981, page 14.
- ↑ a b c “Only 1000 people from Bremen during a colorful evening”. In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 112, May 15, 1981, page 11.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i "The Weser weir would receive three culverts today". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 135, 13./14. June 1981, page 16.
- ↑ a b c "Flood damage: 56 million". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 143, June 24, 1981, page 11.
- ↑ a b "Check for allotment gardeners damaged by the flood". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 146, 27./28. June 1981, page 17.
- ↑ "Generous donation". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 168, July 23, 1981, page 13.
- ↑ a b "Sailors became 'mud slippers'". In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 93, April 22, 1981, page 15.
- ↑ "Do sailors sit on the sand?" In: Weser Kurier , 37th year, № 101, 1./2./3. May 1981, page 14.
- ↑ a b "Oberweser sailors are afloat again". In: Weser Kurier , 38th year, № 112, May 14, 1982, pages 11-12.
- ^ A b c Annekathrin Gut: "Parcel houses drove down the Weser". In: Kurier am Sonntag , Volume 24, № 11, March 19, 2006, page 3.
- ↑ a b "'New Weser' is being filled with earth". In: Weser Kurier , 39th year, № 93, April 22, 1983, page 20.
- ↑ a b c "Even mullein grows on the banks of the New Weser". In: Weser Kurier , 39th year, № 121, May 28, 1983, page 16.
- ↑ The Senator for Building and Environment (Ed.): Flood protection in the state of Bremen . Bremen, 2003, page 14.
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