Ablach (Danube)

Course of Ablach

The Ablach is a southern (right ) side of the Danube river and arises from the only weakly indicated European main watershed of the minority villages Aach and also from the neighboring moorland of Waltere, the district Hohenfels in the district of Konstanz, fed. Its length is about 36 km; from source streams at Hohenfels expected is around 38 km.

Geology

During the Rißeiszeit, the penultimate ice age about 120,000 years ago, the Ablach flowed at Engelswies into the Danube, their previous valley was from Rißgletscher covered the same time the Danube jammed, so the Danube valley up to Geisingen and Spaichingen - up to 667 meters in height - a large lake was formed. This flowed from temporarily at Spaichingen about the local Talschwelle in the Neckar Valley. After Rißeiszeit the Ablach created using the jammed and then rapidly flowing water masses about 100,000 years ago, its current valley.

Before straightening the Ablach had a meandering course. The Ablachtal applies in the broadest sense as a separation between the Heuberg the north and the Linzgau in the south.

Course

On their way to the Danube Ablach is still in its upper reaches by the Schwackendorf Reuter Lakes and passed the places Bichtlingen, Schnerkingen. In Meßkirch the Ablach receives inflow from the left side grave creek. The Ablach still happens Igelswies and Menningen where the Ablach fed the now partially backfilled trenches of the water castle Menningen in the Middle Ages. Before Goeggingen the Ablach is fed from the right side Ringgenbach and later derived a portion of the amount of water in the mill canal so-called. Behind Goeggingen mill canal and Ablach flow together again.

The Ablach happening now named after their village Ablach and continues to flow direction Krauchenwies and by the local royal parks. There it is from a right tributary, the Andelsbach fed. Behind Krauchenwies it flows, defined on a begradigtes bed in the middle of a target Began collection of lakes. At the height of Restaurants South Seas III is a weir, so that parts of the water the Ablach could be derived in a channel to serve the energy of a mill and a sawmill. Behind the Dillmann 's sawmill the water of Ablach was fed back to be equal then derived again. Beneficiary is the Dinsersche sawmill here. The derived channel water is flowing through quantities ( Mengener Ablach ). The original Ablach happened Ennetach ( Ennet Acher Ablach ) to behind amounts with those derived waters to reunite and immediately south of Blochingen to flowing into the Danube.

On the last 800 meters before its present mouth of the Ablach flows in the former riverbed of the Danube. This Altwasserarm was separated by the straightening of the present course of the river Danube.

The minority villages Aach, watershed and bifurcation

Today's headwaters of the minority villages Aach is the original, natural headwaters of the Ablach. Since the Stockacher Aach has a favorable for the use of hydroelectric power gradient and the local sawmills and hammer work needed more water, reached around the year 1699 for the first time the man in the course of a natural stream. In the field of European watershed between the basins of the Rhine and Danube, the water of the minority villages Aach was largely diverted in the area of ​​today's Schwackendorf Reuter Lakeland at the corner mill, from under- Strand Aach / Ablach piercing in the Stockacher Aach, which is about 100 meters further west flows past. So they changed the Talwasserscheide in favor of Stockacher Aach. They dug the Ablach literally off the water. This is called an artificial bifurcation, where a lower weir of limestone inhibits the watercourse.

The water of the small minority villages Aach branches at the bifurcation and the far greater amount of water flowing west as Stockacher Aach into Lake Constance, from there it passes through the flowing Rhine from Lake Constance to the North Sea. North flows only in months with high water levels, the puny residual amount of water that flows off the Talverlauf following, as Ablach into the Danube and takes over this course on the Black Sea.

Concerns for harvesting of feed to the Ablach were particularly voiced by Meßkircher artisans from Meßkirch. The reduced amount of water, as it was then feared there would be disadvantages for the millers, tanners, sawmill and other water -related trades in Meßkirch. However, representatives of the Prince bergischen hammer mills in Zizenhausen had insisted on more water force for the Aach.

With the emergence of Schwackendorf Reuter lakes the Ablach received, an artificial stream bed. In the nunmehrige Aach a spillway of approximately five meters in length was built, which overflows with the appropriate water level and should release water into the Ablach. The weir is down to a trickle overgrown (as of 2007 ), making even less water the Ablach is supplied. This means that the Ablach is applied only at high tide and low tide times in the upper reaches largely dry out.

History

Early on, people learned to make the fertile land left and right of the river usable, as evidenced in early colonization by the Celts, Romans and Alemanni.

That Celts in Ablachtal settled, but the name of that river itself testifies, because the Celtic Abela means something like "Bach". Along the Ablachtals be found at the siedlungstopographisch best places Altsiedelorte, which had already been established during the Alemannic land acquisition, ie in the fifth and sixth centuries and whose names end in " -ingen ": Goeggingen, Menningen, Schnerkingen, Bichtlingen.

Later, the Ablachtal won by its wooden stock and due to the good quality soil for cultivation is becoming increasingly important. The annual spring floods ensured there is enough manure. Only in the last century, the Ablachtal got importance in the industrial gravel mining.

The course of the Ablach received by many factors its present form. So a few kilometers of the upper course of the Ablach have been redirected to the Stockacher Aach, whereby the catchment area of ​​the Ablach reduced by approximately 22 square kilometers. Curiously enough, that the upper reaches of today's Aach, which flows through Zizenhausen, 1857 there still Ablach said. The state-owned railway also took great influence on the course of the river, the construction of the railway line from Schwackendorf Reute to Pfullendorf (1873 opened ) and the construction of hegau Ablachtal Railway, 1866-1870 by Stockach to Meßkirch and up to 1873 by Meßkirch about Krauchenwies by quantity, changes in the river. The railway line runs along the often Ablach and crosses them also. In addition, the Ablach learned by the emergence of road their limitation. So received by the federal highway 311 already modified by agriculture habitat its present image. It has also been corrected for repeated floods the Ablach between Menningen and Goeggingen; it was decided in November 1910 to broaden the water course to twelve meters, which measures cost 140,000 marks. Besides the changes to traffic- technical construction there were further course corrections by the gravel mining.

Level

The level of Ablach is measured from the Government of Tübingen in three places: A measuring device located in Menningen and two in amounts, at the Ennet Acher Ablach and the Mengener Ablach.

Flora and Fauna

Especially in upper reaches of the Ablach suffered by straightening and lowering structural and functional damage. Meanwhile, however, is the beaver at her home again.

Art

The Schwackendorf Reuter lakes is as visible mark of the European watershed, the watershed - plastic, a 2007 inaugurated artwork by Peter Klink.