Örtze
Encyclopedia
The Örtze is a river
in the North German state of Lower Saxony
, which rises north of Munster in the Große Heide (in the Raubkammer federal forest) and, after 62 kilometres (38.5 mi), joins the Aller
southeast of Winsen
.
. The upper Örtze has incised its own, much smaller valley into the sandur
beds and the roughly 4 kilometre wide, flat glacial valley floor.
The source region of the Örtze and its several source bogs lie on the terrain of the Munster North Training Area
. In order to remove suspended solids
and sediment
s which are washed away during heavy rains from the tank training areas with their sparse covering of vegetation, four successive lakes - the so-called Munoseen - have been created on the Örtze, and, on the Ilster, the main headstream of the river, there is a further dam pond. The Örtze is the largest river on the Southern Heath or Südheide and drains its central area, between the rather longer Böhme to the west and the Ise
to the east. It has a relatively steep incline. In the middle of the river in its lower course the stream flow is about 0.71 metres per second and the water depth varies from 0.5 m to 2 m. It is classed as a so-called summer-cold heath stream (sommerkalter Heidebach).
The Örtze passes the towns and villages of Munster (most important military base
in North Germany), Kreutzen, Poitzen, Müden
, Hermannsburg
(renowned because of the Hermannsburg Mission), Oldendorf
, Eversen
and Wolthausen
.
The tributaries of the Örtze are the:
Ilster, Kleine Örtze, Wietze, Schmarbeck and Sothrieth (which discharge together as the Landwehrbach into the Örtze), Brunau, Weesener Bach
, Brandenbach, Hasselbach, Angelbach and Mühlenbach.
The main headstream of the Örtze is the Ilster. It name recalls the largest village, which the Munster-North Training Area has to circumvent. Its largest tributary is the Wietze
, which rises between Soltau
and Munster and which, together with its tributary the Aue, is longer than the Örtze by a good 5 kilometres. It joins the Örtze near Müden and gave the heath village its name.
The Kleine Örtze rises north of Oerrel and discharges into the Örtze near Kreutzen (parish of Faßberg
). Before it was renaturalised its upper course acted as a drainage ditch for the former raised bog, now afforrested, in the narrow valley (nature reserve).
On the headstreams of the Landwehrbach lie the Faßberg military airfield (north of Schmarbeck) and numerous old kieselgur pits (either side of the Sothrieth).
is classed throughout as Class II: moderately polluted (saprobic system). Alders, pine
s and spruce
along the river bank provide shade, keeping the water cool even in summer and the oxygen content high. The Örtze is relatively low in nutrients. Its course is meander
ing and structurally-varied (strukturreich) in places and offers many places for fish to hide and spawn with its steep banks, hollows, gravel and sand banks.
The fish and animal species found in the river include:
freshwater eels
(Anguilla anguilla) and burbot
s (Lota lota), grayling
(Thymallus thymallus), brown trout
(Salmo trutta forma fario), bream
(Abramis brama), minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), perch
(Perca fluviatilis),
(Gobio gobio), pike
(Esox lucius), bullhead
(Cottus gobio), roach (Leuciscus rutilus), rudd (Scardinius erytrophthalmus) and brook lamprey (Lampreta planeri). Even the endangered otter
and kingfisher live here.
Salmon fishing in the Örtze had been recorded since 1766, but the last salmon
was caught in 1935. Since 1982 attempts have been made to re-introduce salmon by stocking the river. The weir at Wolthausen
is, however, an obstacle to fish swimming upstream. From the 16th century until 1960 the Örtze drove the water wheel
of a corn mill here, today by contrast it powers a turbine
next to the water wheel to generate electricity (generator). A fish pass (a fish ladder (with eight steps and suitable for invertebrate
s) is being planned.
s or canoe
s). The Örtze may be used downstream of the mill in Müden. There are launching places in Müden, Baven, Hermannsburg, Oldendorf, Eversen, Wolthausen and Winsen
devoted a chapter to the Örtze with several pages. He wrote inter alia:
To irrigate the Baven meadows (Rieselwiesen) a canal was laid between 1831 and 1850 and opened in 1854. It began near Müden with a weir at the start of the diversion. Other weirs distributed the water from the canal into the meadows. Today the canal acts as a floodway.
on the Örtze probably began in the 17th century. On 28 February 1677 the prince's master rafter (Floßmeister), Johann Bastian Erhardt, looked into the possibility of using the river to float timber downstream from forest in the areas of Hassel, Lüß and Kalbsloh. He gave the following report to the senior forester of Wahrenholz:
This expert opinion led to timber rafting being established on the Örtze.
In the 19th century, timber rafting on the Örtze assumed great importance for the region. The number of rafts increased from around 600 per year in 1868 to 1,946 in 1874, which reflected the economic boom of the so-called Gründerzeit
years. Demand was generated by the construction of buildings and ships at Bremen
, Bremerhaven
and in the district of Wesermarsch. Its supply, by contrast, was from private landowners and local communities (Realgemeinden) to whom large areas of old forest had been transferred following the division of common land
in the mid-19th century. From 1877 the number of rafts on the Örtze fell rapidly, especially when its lower reaches silted up and became too shallow. From 1912 timber rafting came to a standstill. Competition came from the Celle-Soltau light railway, Celle-Munster light railway built in 1910 and the metalled roads and new sawmill
s in the immediate vicinity.
Number of rafts from 1869 to 1910
(from the files of the district committee for rafting on the Oertze)
The rafts were 23 metres long and 3 metres wide. One feature were the rounded willow hoops at the front, the so-called hand rails (Handregels), which the rafter could grab in an emergency. The rafter carried a pole (Schufstaken or Schufboom) for manoeuvering the raft which he pressed against the left shoulder with a T handle. It was fitted with a iron spike and hook at the end.
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in the North German state of Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, which rises north of Munster in the Große Heide (in the Raubkammer federal forest) and, after 62 kilometres (38.5 mi), joins the Aller
Aller
The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...
southeast of Winsen
Winsen (Aller)
Winsen an der Aller or Winsen is a town in the district of Celle in the German state of Lower Saxony.-Geography:Winsen has around 12,900 inhabitants and lies on the southern perimeter of the Lüneburg Heath, on the banks of the Aller, somewhat to the west of its tributary, the Örtze and about...
.
Source and course
The Örtze valley is an old glacial valley. It was formed during the Saale glaciation about 230,000 to 130,000 years ago by the drainage of meltwater from the ice sheet which cut 20 to 50 metres deep into the plateaus of the southern Lüneburg HeathLüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
. The upper Örtze has incised its own, much smaller valley into the sandur
Sandur
A sandur is a glacial outwash plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier.- Formation :Sandar are found in glaciated areas, such as Svalbard, Kerguelen Islands, and Iceland...
beds and the roughly 4 kilometre wide, flat glacial valley floor.
The source region of the Örtze and its several source bogs lie on the terrain of the Munster North Training Area
Munster Training Area
Munster Training Area is a military training area in Germany on the Lüneburg Heath. It comprises two separate areas with different purposes: Munster North and Munster South . The two areas are separated geographically by the town of Munster and several barracks...
. In order to remove suspended solids
Suspended solids
Suspended solids refers to small solid particles which remain in suspension in water as a colloid or due to the motion of the water. It is used as one indicator of water quality....
and sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
s which are washed away during heavy rains from the tank training areas with their sparse covering of vegetation, four successive lakes - the so-called Munoseen - have been created on the Örtze, and, on the Ilster, the main headstream of the river, there is a further dam pond. The Örtze is the largest river on the Southern Heath or Südheide and drains its central area, between the rather longer Böhme to the west and the Ise
Ise
In geography, Ise may refer to:*Ise, Mie, a city in Japan**Ise Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie*Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria*Ise, Norway, a village in Norway*Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan...
to the east. It has a relatively steep incline. In the middle of the river in its lower course the stream flow is about 0.71 metres per second and the water depth varies from 0.5 m to 2 m. It is classed as a so-called summer-cold heath stream (sommerkalter Heidebach).
The Örtze passes the towns and villages of Munster (most important military base
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
in North Germany), Kreutzen, Poitzen, Müden
Müden (Örtze)
Müden is a village in the municipality of Faßberg in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath in the German state of Lower Saxony.The village, which is situated in the county of Celle has around 2220 inhabitants and is a very popular tourist centre, whose catchment area includes Hamburg, Bremen and...
, Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg is a municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the River Örtze, approx. 15 kilometers east of Bergen and 30 kilometers north of Celle.-Division of the municipality:...
(renowned because of the Hermannsburg Mission), Oldendorf
Oldendorf
Oldendorf can refer to several places in Germany:*in Lower Saxony:**Oldendorf , a village in the district of Celle, part of the municipality Hermannsburg**Oldendorf, Stade, a municipality and a Samtgemeinde in the district of Stade...
, Eversen
Eversen (Bergen)
Eversen is a village in the town of Bergen in the northern part of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath in the north German state of Lower Saxony....
and Wolthausen
Winsen
Winsen can refer to:*Winsen , capital of the district Harburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.*Winsen , a municipality in the district of Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany....
.
The tributaries of the Örtze are the:
Ilster, Kleine Örtze, Wietze, Schmarbeck and Sothrieth (which discharge together as the Landwehrbach into the Örtze), Brunau, Weesener Bach
Weesener Bach
The Weesener Bach, also called the Lutterbach, is a tributary of the river Örtze in northern Germany. It rises in the Südheide Nature Park, south of the village of Lutterloh near Unterlüß, then flows through the Hermannsburg village of Weesen and enters the Örtze north of Hermannsburg after about...
, Brandenbach, Hasselbach, Angelbach and Mühlenbach.
The main headstream of the Örtze is the Ilster. It name recalls the largest village, which the Munster-North Training Area has to circumvent. Its largest tributary is the Wietze
Wietze (Örtze)
The Wietze is a river, 29 kilometres long, in the South Lüneburg Heath, in Lower Saxony, Germany.The river rises east of the Soltau suburb of Moide and flows from there in a southerly direction to Wietzendorf. Here it is joined by the only tributary of any size, the Aue...
, which rises between Soltau
Soltau
- Middle Ages :The region of the Lüneburg Heath had already been settled by the start of the New Stone Age about 4,000 years ago. The Soltau area was initially occupied by a few individual farms. The parish of Soltau was probably founded around 830 and the first wooden church Sante Johannis...
and Munster and which, together with its tributary the Aue, is longer than the Örtze by a good 5 kilometres. It joins the Örtze near Müden and gave the heath village its name.
The Kleine Örtze rises north of Oerrel and discharges into the Örtze near Kreutzen (parish of Faßberg
Faßberg
Faßberg is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 35 km north of Celle, and 30 km west of Uelzen.-Places of interest:* Historic village centre of Müden * Berlin Airlift memorial* St...
). Before it was renaturalised its upper course acted as a drainage ditch for the former raised bog, now afforrested, in the narrow valley (nature reserve).
On the headstreams of the Landwehrbach lie the Faßberg military airfield (north of Schmarbeck) and numerous old kieselgur pits (either side of the Sothrieth).
Fauna and Flora
Because Örtze has largely been spared from development, a near-natural habitat has been preserved. Its water qualityWater quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
is classed throughout as Class II: moderately polluted (saprobic system). Alders, pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
s and spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
along the river bank provide shade, keeping the water cool even in summer and the oxygen content high. The Örtze is relatively low in nutrients. Its course is meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
ing and structurally-varied (strukturreich) in places and offers many places for fish to hide and spawn with its steep banks, hollows, gravel and sand banks.
The fish and animal species found in the river include:
freshwater eels
Anguillidae
Anguillidae is a family of fishes that contains the freshwater eels. There are 19 species/subspecies in this family, all in genus Anguilla. They are catadromous, meaning they spend their lives in freshwater rivers, lakes, or estuaries and return to the ocean to spawn...
(Anguilla anguilla) and burbot
Burbot
The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...
s (Lota lota), grayling
Grayling (species)
The grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, the grayling is widespread throughout northern Europe, from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia...
(Thymallus thymallus), brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
(Salmo trutta forma fario), bream
Carp bream
The common bream, freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream or carp bream, Abramis brama, is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae....
(Abramis brama), minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), perch
European perch
The European perch, Perca fluviatilis, is a predatory species of perch found in Europe and Asia. In some areas it is known as the redfin perch or English perch, and it is often known simply as perch. The species is a popular quarry for anglers and has been widely introduced beyond its native area,...
(Perca fluviatilis),
Gudgeon (fish)
Gudgeon is a common name for a number of small freshwater fishes of the families Cyprinidae, Eleotridae or Ptereleotridae. Most gudgeons are elongate, bottom-dwelling fish, many of which live in rapids and other fast moving water....
(Gobio gobio), pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
(Esox lucius), bullhead
European bullhead
The bullhead is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the Cottidae family, a type of sculpin...
(Cottus gobio), roach (Leuciscus rutilus), rudd (Scardinius erytrophthalmus) and brook lamprey (Lampreta planeri). Even the endangered otter
European Otter
The European Otter , also known as the Eurasian otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter and Old World otter, is a European and Asian member of the Lutrinae or otter subfamily, and is typical of freshwater otters....
and kingfisher live here.
Salmon fishing in the Örtze had been recorded since 1766, but the last salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
was caught in 1935. Since 1982 attempts have been made to re-introduce salmon by stocking the river. The weir at Wolthausen
Winsen (Aller)
Winsen an der Aller or Winsen is a town in the district of Celle in the German state of Lower Saxony.-Geography:Winsen has around 12,900 inhabitants and lies on the southern perimeter of the Lüneburg Heath, on the banks of the Aller, somewhat to the west of its tributary, the Örtze and about...
is, however, an obstacle to fish swimming upstream. From the 16th century until 1960 the Örtze drove the water wheel
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
of a corn mill here, today by contrast it powers a turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
next to the water wheel to generate electricity (generator). A fish pass (a fish ladder (with eight steps and suitable for invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s) is being planned.
Boating on the Örtze
Boating is permitted on the Örtze during the summer months, from 16 May to 14 October, between 9 am and 6 pm, provided it does not harm the natural environment. The only types of craft allowed are rowing boats (e.g. kayakKayak
A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
s or canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s). The Örtze may be used downstream of the mill in Müden. There are launching places in Müden, Baven, Hermannsburg, Oldendorf, Eversen, Wolthausen and Winsen
Mentioned in literature
The regional writer Hermann LönsHermann Löns
Hermann Löns was a German journalist and writer. He is most famous as "The Poet of the Heath" for his novels and poems celebrating the people and landscape of the North German moors, particularly the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony. Löns is well known in Germany for his famous folksongs...
devoted a chapter to the Örtze with several pages. He wrote inter alia:
Meadow irrigation
Until the 1950s the meadows in the floodplain of the Örtze were irrigated, and fertilised by the minerals and organic substances in the river water, using a principle known as Lüneburger Rückenbau or Suderburger Rückenbau.To irrigate the Baven meadows (Rieselwiesen) a canal was laid between 1831 and 1850 and opened in 1854. It began near Müden with a weir at the start of the diversion. Other weirs distributed the water from the canal into the meadows. Today the canal acts as a floodway.
History
Timber raftingTimber rafting
Timber rafting is a log transportation method in which logs are tied together into rafts and drifted or pulled across a water body or down a flatter river. It is arguably the second cheapest method of transportation of timber, next after log driving...
on the Örtze probably began in the 17th century. On 28 February 1677 the prince's master rafter (Floßmeister), Johann Bastian Erhardt, looked into the possibility of using the river to float timber downstream from forest in the areas of Hassel, Lüß and Kalbsloh. He gave the following report to the senior forester of Wahrenholz:
This expert opinion led to timber rafting being established on the Örtze.
In the 19th century, timber rafting on the Örtze assumed great importance for the region. The number of rafts increased from around 600 per year in 1868 to 1,946 in 1874, which reflected the economic boom of the so-called Gründerzeit
Gründerzeit
' refers to the economic phase in 19th century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. At this time in Central Europe the age of industrialisation was taking place, whose beginnings were found in the 1840s...
years. Demand was generated by the construction of buildings and ships at Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
and in the district of Wesermarsch. Its supply, by contrast, was from private landowners and local communities (Realgemeinden) to whom large areas of old forest had been transferred following the division of common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
in the mid-19th century. From 1877 the number of rafts on the Örtze fell rapidly, especially when its lower reaches silted up and became too shallow. From 1912 timber rafting came to a standstill. Competition came from the Celle-Soltau light railway, Celle-Munster light railway built in 1910 and the metalled roads and new sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s in the immediate vicinity.
Number of rafts from 1869 to 1910
(from the files of the district committee for rafting on the Oertze)
| Year | No. of rafts | Year | No. of rafts | Year | No. of rafts | Year | No. of rafts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1869 | 1592 | |||||||||
| 1870 | 1262 | 1880 | 546 | 1890 | 182 | 1900 | 160 | |||
| 1871 | 1446 | 1881 | 522 | 1891 | 220 | 1901 | 135 | |||
| 1872 | 1733 | 1882 | 371 | 1892 | n.E. | 1902 | 134 | |||
| 1873 | 1788 | 1883 | 350 | 1893 | 148 | 1903 | 123 | |||
| 1874 | 1946 | 1884 | 286 | 1894 | 139 | 1904 | 51 | |||
| 1875 | 1476 | 1885 | 211 | 1895 | 145 | 1905 | 70 | |||
| 1876 | 1130 | 1886 | 257 | 1896 | 206 | 1906 | 61 | |||
| 1877 | 695 | 1887 | 207 | 1897 | 216 | 1907 | 17 | |||
| 1878 | 583 | 1888 | 255 | 1898 | 186 | 1908 | 31 | |||
| 1879 | 611 | 1889 | 232 | 1899 | 201 | 1909 | 22 | |||
| 1910 | 14 |
Technology
The Örtze was navigable by timber rafts all year round from its confluence with the Wietze near Müden to the Aller thanks to its water-retentive, sandy river bed. A timber raft could travel these 36 river kilometres in a day. In the second half of the 19th century there were also 11 raft-building points from Müden to Oldendorf where the logs hauled to the river by horse and cart were tied together to form a raft. On the Aller the logs were bound together to form even larger rafts and floated down to their offloading point in Bremen. From there the wood was shipped to England, Holland, France or Spain.The rafts were 23 metres long and 3 metres wide. One feature were the rounded willow hoops at the front, the so-called hand rails (Handregels), which the rafter could grab in an emergency. The rafter carried a pole (Schufstaken or Schufboom) for manoeuvering the raft which he pressed against the left shoulder with a T handle. It was fitted with a iron spike and hook at the end.
Source
- Jürgen Delfs: Die Flößerei auf Ise, Aller und Örtze, Gifhorn 1995, ISBN 3-929632-24-1