Jade Bight

Jade Bay ( with Innenjade )

The Jade Bay is a 190 km ² bay between the lower Weser and the East Frisian Islands. It ends at the southern end of the bottleneck between Wilhelmshaven and Butjadingen. North of this line are the Innenjade and Außenjade, collectively referred to as jade. The main towns on the shores of the Jade Bay are Wilhelmshaven in the northwest and Varel in the southwest. In the Jade Bay Lighthouse Arngast stands as a beacon for the Wilhelmshaven Jadefahrwasser.

• 3.1 Marine
• 3.2 fisheries
• 3.3 tourism

• 4.1 Floating Moor

Jade Bay, jade, Jadegebiet and Jadefahrwasser

The Jade Bay does not represent a continuation of the river Jade ( although this runs into the Jade Bay ), but is, as well as the inner and the outer Jade, part of the German Bight of the North Sea and thus. Defines the basis of its salinity ( salt content), which is 3.0 percent near the mouth of the river Jade, that is only 0.5 percentage points less than the salinity of the open North Sea. So a brackish water zone is absent, unlike, say, in the case of neighboring Weser estuary. This is mainly due to the very small catchment area of ​​the Jade and the correspondingly low entry of upstream water. As in the two centuries, when there was a Weser Delta, spilled the main flow of water into the Weser Weser estuary, remains open, how did the salinity of the Jade Bay at that time.

The character as bay differs accordingly the designation of river from those of the neighboring Flussästuare: indoor and outdoor Außenjade lying next to the Weser and Outer Elbe. In summary, foreign, Innenjade Jade Bay and are referred to as " Jadegebiet ". This term can be easily confused with the identical name for the adjacent former Prussian enclave in the country Oldenburg.

Unlike the inner and the outer Jade, the Jadefahrwasser is in the center, takes the Jadefahrwasser, officially the Federal waterway called Jade, only a small portion of the Jade Bay one. The federal waterway begins at the level of the former I. entrance to Wilhelmshaven ports and is already at over 2 km in the Innenjade. The smaller creeks in the Jade Bay are not part of the federal waterway Jade. As a side fairway in the Jade Bay Vareler fairway, the ancestor and the Kaisebalje apply. They are also, albeit less intense than the federal waterway Jade, managed by the Water and Shipping Authority Wilhelmshaven.

The tidal range of jade is 3.15 m - 4.33 m, which is about as much as on the Weser estuary, less than half a meter in Antwerp and twice as much as in Rotterdam. With each tidal cycle almost all of the water content of the Jade Bay flows through the narrowness of Jadefahrwassers at high tide and at low tide again. This natural pendulum flow flushes the fairway ever free from any disturbing sand deposits. She is here much more than in the estuaries of the Elbe and Weser. And the entry of sediments is less. Only the east-west flow between the East Frisian Islands and the East Frisian mainland coast carries sand in the outer mouth of the Jadefahrwassers. The but is counteracted by dams and other river constructions when Minsener Oog, see a case Außenjade. Along with that are much lower maintenance work necessary for the water depth than at other ports.

History of the Bay

Formation

A " primordial Jade Bay " there were already 5,000 years ago. The interpreted by some as estuaries of the Weser Delta channels are remnants of a tidal creek system, which has to some extent extends from the Ur - Jade Bay in the Weser Marsch and expired there in the area of Seefeld, welding or Rönnelmoor. The bay watts of the original Jade Bay is from 3100 BC largely silted up, with initially spread fens and is carried around 1900 BC, a rapid and wide -scale envelope of fen to raised bog vegetation.

The bay is similar to the Dollard, the result of marine drops during storm surges in the Middle Ages, favored not only by the rise in sea level by the removal of the original Moore of human activity for the use of peat as fuel, as a source of salt and for cultivation. The original moorland had been lying up to four meters above the March level and was therefore also been reasonably high water safely without diking. From the open sea and the Weser this moorland was separated by the wide shore ramparts, which consisted of angeschlemmten sediments. They were relatively resistant to erosion, held from normal Tidenhochwasser and were a little higher in flooding from storm surges and river flooding by a new layer of sediment. Only in the north there was a hole through which flowed inland water. At this point, invaded from the 13th century with large storm surges ever larger water masses, washed a deep gutter and washed behind the protective walls shore. The development of the Jade Bay probably put a with the First Marcellus of 16 January 1219.

Frisian Balje

In the opinion of some of the explorers of the Jade Bay, the sea is likely to be penetrated early far south and the Frisian Balje have formed, because in the early 14th century Salztorf was at Diekmannshausen won near present-day southern end. Others see as a source of early salinization single storm surges, according to which the water initially expired again because she was not nearly as strong apparently, to kill off the moss. More deep penetrations made ​​during the Lucia Flood ( 13 and December 14, 1287 ) and in the flood Clemens ( November 23, 1334 ). The floods cleared of the soft peat soil, so that the Jade Bay stretched on all sides. The process of removal of peat soils continues to this day in the area of ​​the outer dike Sehesteder Moores, of which only small remnants remain. In the West, the deep slump of the Black Bracks, who cut off the northerly, older Maadebucht of their water flows from the hinterland, so this was slowly silted up.

The parish Arngast in Jade Bay was lost in the flood Clemens on 23 November 1334. The same island residual became smaller and smaller, but still contributed to the 17th century a small village.

Temporary Weser Delta

Through a combination of expansion of the Jade Bay and outbreaks of the Weser there was between the 14th and the first years of the 16th century Weser Delta. It was not a classic Sedimentationsdelta, but a Ästuardelta, stood by the forces of erosion in the foreground. Because almost missing slope and position in the intertidal is to assume that there were changing flow directions in most waters arms. The largest part of the upper waters of the Weser reached at all times by the Weser estuary at Blexen into the sea.

First permanent links between the Jade Bay and Lower Weser emerged in the first half of the 14th century. With the ancestor, possibly formed from the River Weser from before 1319, the island Butjadingen ( "outside - Jade" ) was separated from the mainland. The market town Aldessen ( Harold home ) on the south bank of the ancestor opposite Eckwarden was last mentioned around 1428. The Heete formed forth in the Clemens flood rather from the Jade Bay. They branched off from the western part of the ancestor and was north of them, was soon to a waterway and the new southern border Butjadingen. At its confluence with the Weser near Aten built the Imperial City of Bremen 1407 Vredeborg.

Extremely devastating consequences had the Second Marcellus (first " Grote Mandränke ") dated January 16, 1362: Through them, the Lockfleth extended to the east of Moore. Since there aufschwammen large bog areas were fragmented and driven away, she called the northern section of the Lockfleths also the " Hoben ", usually the Frisian word for aufschwimmendes Moor. During the expansion of the Jade Bay increased the tidal currents in the jade, the lower Weser silted up and entered the more easily in flood their banks. 1384 was built north of the village Harrien a large levee breach, the Harrier Brake ( eponymous for the now standing there city Brake) and thus a Weserarm who combined for 130 years the Weser on the Lockfleth with the Jade Bay. This was the Urban land to an elongated and initially only about three kilometers wide island. From two fractures of the Weser dyke north of Elsfleth 1367 in Linebrok created a ramified waters, the Liene - up vorschob with the years until the Moorriem. After 1420 there formed a flood channel through which mutually water from the River Weser to Jade and over stepped the other way around. Only after the construction of the salt dike at the upper Binnenjade beginning of the 16th century, the Jademarsch in the north and in the east the Linebrok were successfully drained. To the east near the dike salt but was still decades, a lake, called the Great Sea. Meanwhile, originated in 1613 further north, a new bog breakthrough, east passed through the now and then water from the Frisian bellows in the actually already drained marshes of the Lockfleths until they built the end of the century in the bog dikes, a precisely defined by the resulting in the gutter lake called Achternmeer.

The Heete, Jade, Weser and in about the same distance from the open sea and therefore subsequently flushed little of tidal currents was 1450 already so far silted that they could be separated by dikes, however, was far from the local inland waterways.

Black brackish

The largest expansion reached the Jade Bay by three short successive storm surges, the second Cosmas and Damianflut on 26 September 1509 an unnamed storm surge on 9 September 1510 and the flood Antoni on 16-17. Januar 1511th Then stretched its western foothills, the Black Brack, far inland. The notification was carried out because of the dark water color, which was based on the boggy ground.

Belonging to the County of East Frisia glories peace Castle and Gödens got access to the sea, the land connection between the rule of Jever and the County of Oldenburg was interrupted. Tidal creeks ranged at this time until the river Maade, which opens today at Ruestersiel the Innenjade. The later founded the city of Wilhelmshaven area at that time was on an island. The ancient mounds of Banter parish were like little holms in watts.

Reclamation and design by humans

On the west side you went from 1525 gradually because, first convert the collapse of the sea crossed by creeks Watts area of the "Black Bracks " in the country. 1575 came the north of the "Black Bracks ' preferred rule Jever to the County of Oldenburg. A transport connection was just west on East Frisian area. Therefore, the ruler of Oldenburg Count Anton Günther, establish a secure connection to his land north of the country tried. After long disputes with the county Ostfriesland was 1596-1615 the still existing Ellenser dam. The low-lying area of the "Black Bracks " could only be drained with the construction of drainage systems and sluices and reclaimed. More embankments of the Jade Bay followed until the 19th century.

The embankment designed nor protracted than in the west to the east side of the Jade Bay. The breakthrough extended from the southeast to the Jade Weser and ran right through the marshland at Schweiburg direction Roden churches and Ovelgönne with Brake. It proved difficult to start dikes on peaty soil. Although it had already begun in the 15th century to close individual breakthroughs, there was until the 18th century repeatedly heavy dikes, most recently at Christmas flood 1717. Was not until 1721-1725 managed under the direction of Oldenburg country bailiff Sehestedt the final reclamation of the country between the Weser and Jade Bay.

In the realm naval port Act of 1883 stipulates that measures which affected the flow in Jadefahrwasser, the approval of the Navy needed. This was to ensure that in the Jade Bay inflowing and outflowing water quantity sufficient with the tides, so as not to let the Jadefahrwasser sand. In practice, this led to the end of all land reclamation in the Jade Bay and to substantially retain its shape. For the same reason there were no measures to protect the last islands in the bay. Thus disappeared the last remnants of the island Arngast 1904 and the top of the ancestor 's fields off the coast of Butjadingen 1940.

East Frisian peninsula around 1600. Ellenser The dam across the Black Brack is already located.

On the map of 1906 The top ancestor 's fields as islands are still listed.

Jade -Weser estuary

The Jade Bay as part of the National Park Lower Saxon Wadden Sea

View of the Jade Bay of Wilhelmshaven; in the foreground of the great harbor, behind the South Beach

View from Vareler port on the Jade Bay at Wilhelmshaven

Watt and seagulls on Vareler harbor with bird observation tower during migration Days 2012

Observation tower on the Vareler harbor watching the migratory birds at the Jade Bay

Use of the Jade Bay

Shipping

The Jade Bay is well suited appears to be a great natural harbor, as seven-eighths of its area are surrounded by land. Nevertheless, he was not accepted for centuries as such.

The construction of permanent ports was mainly hampered by the fact that often changed the boundary between land and sea by storm surges. The collapse of the Black Sea brackish example, enabled the establishment of the Sielorts Neustadtgödens. The construction of the Ellenserdamms cut the former Sielort again from direct access to the sea from.

There were early attempts to use the Jadegebiet as a naval port. As a precursor may apply Sibetsburg here, which lay on a tributary to the area where today Wilhelmshaven is located, and the pirates of the Vitalienbrüder temporarily offered a safe haven.

King Christian V of Denmark ordered in 1681 as ruler of Oldenburg the inclusion of construction work of the port Christiansburg in Varel, but the fairway there could not be kept open and always silted up again with the former agents. Therefore, the project was abandoned in 1693.

Apart from the difficulties fairway entertainment, it was mainly the living conditions in the coastal areas, which prevented the construction of a port. Ultimately, Prussia could only implement this idea into action after it had in 1853 the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg bought the so-called Jadegebiet and founded there Wilhelmshaven. In the early years the port was established residents and harbor construction workers suffered from lack of drinking water and feverish diseases which they treat injuries sustained in the swamps along the jade. At times, 40 percent of the workers were ill, some even became infected with malaria.

The harbors south of Wilhelmshaven, also had prior to its inception, always only regional importance and could not compete with the big ports on the Elbe, Weser and Ems.

Fishing

1973 Varel was still home port of eleven full commercial fishing trawlers. 2010 is left of it still a cutter. Since 2011, however, landed in Dangast by another cutter from crabs.

Tourism

Already 1795 has begun in a seaside resort Dangast to establish one of the earliest in Germany.

Nature reserve

The Jade Bay belongs almost entirely to the National Park Wadden Sea. A special feature of the Jade Bay is that it (except for the " dunes playground " artificial at Banter See in Wilhelmshaven ) is no dunes here.

By 1986 most of the Jade Bay belonged to the " bird sanctuary Jade Bay ", a 1962 is under a conservation reserve. The Jade Bay as feeding, roosting, transit and wintering ground for shorebirds and waterfowl of paramount importance. For birds, the Jade Bay is attractive because they are largely undisturbed there. There is no ground predators, and since 1973 applies in the Jade Bay a year-round ban on hunting. Through the designation as a nature reserve breeding birds should be protected in the outer salt marsh and wading birds, swans, ducks, geese, gulls and terns, which take advantage of the exceptionally high food potential of tidal flats, which consists of mussels, snails, worms and crabs.

The Jade Bay is part of a landscape with the name " Watten in the Elbe -Weser Triangle Jade Bay ", which identifies the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.

Floating Moor

The area of the Jade Bay was until the onset of the sea in the middle ages a marshland that was flooded by the sea. The last remnant of this Moores is the " Floating bog " in Sehestedt on the east side of the Jade Bay. It is located between the outer dike and the sea and is Europe's only salt water raised bog. When the storm surge marsh floats on.