Medem

The Medem shortly before the lock

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Medem is a 16 km long river in Lower Saxony, which flows near the town of Otter village in the same.

The Medem is navigable along its entire length for small boats. The river has about 70 meanders from the mouth to the stage pumping station in Ihlienworth. Takes you from there through Pedingworth and new churches after Otter Village, where it flows together with the Hadelner channel in a common outer tidal creek in the lower Elbe. To be independent from the natural drainage by the tide, 1928 the pumping station Otter village was built. The drainage area covers approximately 22,000 hectares of Medemverbandes.

A gate leads to the Otter villages yacht harbor in the Medem.

Importance

Has formed the Medem from a tidal creek, the dewatered in ancient times the area now Hadeln and Sietland.

Economic and drainage

After great economic importance to the end of the 19th century for the development and sustenance of the city Otter village, which was built right on the river, the Medem is now essentially important for the drainage of the country Hadeln. The pumping station Ottersdorf in Otter Village has the largest water pipe Europe to dissipate the mass of water that must be pumped out of the inland areas with a height level below sea level.

The Medem has no natural flow. Of water exchange is controlled only by the control of the dewatering of the Sietlandes. In dry summer months, the river almost to standing water. This regularly leads to the risk of a lack of oxygen.

Tourism

The present meaning in addition to the drainage opens up for the most part in the tourist area. In the summer months ( "Uncle Heinz" MS) on a former Hamburg harbor launch (MS " Jens" ) and a former Alsterdampfer offered trips on the Medem. With the MS " Jens" or the MS "Uncle Heinz" different long drives by the investor on Specken or the investor can be taken at the lock in Ottersdorf to Neuenkirchen, Pedingworth or Ihlienworth. As the banks of the Medem are not fixed, may only be driven with about six kilometers per hour. This slow speed serves to protect the embankment and leaves a lot of time for observation of riparian vegetation.

In summer, boat trips on excursion boats in Ihlienworth that originate from the Spreewald. In this, however, small electric motors were installed since the Punting ( move with a pack, a four -meter-long rod of ash) is very difficult to use on soft ground.

Also known as a fishing spot the Medem is popular.

Nature

On the banks of many animals can be encountered. Wild ducks, lapwings, coots, moorhens, herons and cormorants show only slight aversion to the slow-moving boats, the kingfisher is, however, very shy and is rarely sighted.

In particular, in the center of Otter village there is a colony of rooks and other corvids.

The Medem is also used as a fishing spot. Eels, perch, pike, carp, tench or perch can be caught here.

In 2012, 73 massive earthworks were carried out around the shore area to transform into shallow water near the main road. Thus there arise a new nature areas.

Tributaries, channels and rant

• Large Medemstader bettors
• Road dike bettors
• Emmelke
• Large Siedenteiler bettors
• Auswettern

• Uthwettern
• Wilster
• Brown bettors
• Old Medem
• Hadelner channel