Lethe (Hunte)

Middle reaches of the Lethe at Littel (view from Lübbers dam to south)

The Lethe is a 36.5 km long left tributary of the River Hunte in the northwestern Lower Saxony. The name of Lethe has arisen from Lith, a local term for high, wooded riverbank.

Course

The Lethe arises in two places on the moor at Halen (municipality Emstek ) and then flows through the estate Lethe to the north by the municipalities Garrel, Great kneading and Wardenburg to Oldenburg. It originated in the post-glacial, supplies the Ahlhorner fish ponds with water and flows after 36.5 km at Oldenburg, over the Easter Burger channel in the Hunte. To the east of the forest tree way the Lethe is dammed. Below the Lethe Dam she has to Charlottendorf West retained its natural course, in parts lined vegetated dunes and sand banks. For the most part they are located within the banks of the Fauna-Flora -Habitat - area 012 ( " Sager sea, Ahlhorner fish ponds, Lethetal " ) of the European Union.

A special feature of Lethe is that it crosses the Hunte at Hundsmühlen: Your water is passed through culverts under the Hunte through ( Lage53.099512898.1868905 ), the result of water regulation measures a higher water level than the Lethe, and whose course had been artificially relocated to the north. It so happens that the Lethe, although their catchment area of ​​the Hunte is on the left orographic flows over the Easter Burger channel from the right in the Hunte.

Water quality

As part of the project " hunte 25 " the quality of the water of Lethe Lethe between good and Bissel was investigated. A strong and clogging of the water was found below the dam Lethe. The study predicts that the nitrate concentration due to the intensive agriculture in the upper reaches of Lethe will exceed the specified limits in today's drinking water regulations clearly. The authors recommend a reduction of nitrogen inputs in the upper reaches of the Lethe.

In November 2008, the "Biological Protective Association Hunte Weser -Ems " the request to provide the catchment area of ​​the Lethe in their source area to protect the Ahlhorner fish ponds under protection. The district of Cloppenburg as Lower conservation authority refused the request.

Historical Significance

From 1400 to 1803 the upper reaches of the Lethe formed the boundary between the low pin Münster and the county or the Duchy of Oldenburg. Where the Flemish road crossed the border river, the castle Lethe was built as a center of the estate of the same name in the 15th century. For a long time was the manor house on the left bank. It was by 1756 replaced by a new right of Lethe, where today is located the office building of the highway patrol.

Since the Reformation, the Lethe is in its upper reaches at the same time a confession limit: Even today, about 80 percent of the residents are in Oldenburger Munsterland catholic, in the other parts of the former Land Oldenburg, however, less than 20 percent.