Pleiße
The catchment area of the splices
The splice is a right (eastern ) tributary of the White Elster in Saxony and Thuringia. It opens in the Leipzig waters nodes. The river is well served by the splice cycle path.
Name
The name splices means "the swamps water formed ". She gave the significant during the Middle Ages Pleissenland at their lower reaches of the name.
Course
The splices has its source southwest of Zwickau in light pine, Ebersbrunn district, in a three- Linden Fountain (formerly Alboldsbrunnen ). After the Saxon cities Werdau and Crimmitschau the Thuringian towns Ponitz, Goessnitz, Nobitz and Altenburg follow. Behind Windischleuba the dam Windischleuba controls the flow according to Fockendorf and Treben. On Haselbach, which still belongs to the Thuringian Pleißenaue, follow the Saxon communities Wyke Regis, Deutzen, Neukieritzsch, Rotha, Bohlen, Markham before the splices finally flows into the White Elster at the Leipzig Eck.
Tributaries and Water Retaining Structures
The river had originally but a straightened length of 115 km, was mainly due to the lignite mine south of Leipzig and thus shortened and now only has a length of about 90 km. Between Saara and the Nobitzer district Kotteritz her run has the status of a natural monument area.
For flood protection for Leipzig flood retention basins Regis - Serbitz was built, the ungestaut flows through the splices in normal operation and one of the longest dams has in Germany. Another flood protection device is the retention basin Stöhna at Bohlen, which was created on an opencast mine. In Rötha the water level in the reservoir is regulated Rötha in shunt across a tributary of the splices.
In the second half of the 20th century, the splices between Wyke Regis and Markham as a result of lignite opencast mine at a length of approximately 35 kilometers was almost completely moved and reduced by about 10 kilometers. Only southeast of Bohlen remained a 1.5 -kilometer-long section of the old Pleißenaue exist. The new bed was usually of a trapezoid, interrupted by gradient levels, and it runs mostly on narrow land corridors between the former open-cast mines. When laying because of the open pit aspen grove also in 1933 applied between Großstädteln and Markham splices reservoir, which was 850 m long and 20 m wide and was designed for flow regulation and the settling of suspended matter disappeared.
In Leipzig, the splices shall notify the Connewitzer weir in the partially vaulted Pleißemühlgraben and splices flood bed which opens about 600 m further north at the Leipzig Eck in the Elster flood bed.
Pending investment of the flood bed splices, the splices also informed about the place of today's Connewitzer weir in two natural arms, both of which resulted in the Weisse Elster in the present area. One of them, the old splices or Kuhstrangwasser, was filled in during the second half of the 19th century. The second arm, the Rödel, existed even after the interruption by the Elster flood bed until 1926 and was filled until 1927.
Water quality
Discharge of waste products from the chemical industry in the area south of Leipzig carbo led to discoloration, smell, strong foam formation and death of all life in the lower reaches of the river. This made the splices during the time of the GDR has become synonymous of a dirty river. Following closure of the causative industry in the 1990s, the water quality has improved, so that even now are again encountered numerous species of fish. At present, there is still a slight ( non-toxic ) browning iron compounds, mainly pyrite, out of the water regime of largely disused lignite mining.
Music and poetry
Johann Sebastian Bach was the river honored by two works. The one, the secular cantata Creeps, playing waves BWV 206, he composed after the sealing of an unknown poet on the occasion of the birthday of the Saxon Elector Friedrich August II, as Augustus III. at the same time Polish king. In a typical baroque panegyric, a praise and speech, the rivers Vistula, Elbe, Danube splices and pay homage to the prince and king. Danube and Elbe got into a fight, who the " illustrious " ruler, the "double government sun ", may claim to be (his wife was the Austrian princess Maria Josepha ). The little nymph splices but wins the war of words over the " mossy heads high currents ", and the four rivers join in a harmonious hymn.
In the second cantata on, blaring sounds of lively trumpets BWV 207a, probably 1735 listed for the feast of the prince, her second set is dedicated to the Recit plays the silent splices.
" The silent plays Splices With its small waves [ ... ] It is emblazoned with soft moss and clover; There some beautiful flower blooms, This raises the flora great glory A plant in the Hoh ' [ ... ] "
Published in Leipzig in 1736 a collection of songs titled Singing Muse at the splices. Its author Sperontes had amassed simple melodies and backed by his own texts. The collection was very popular and learned several editions. The Saxon dialect poet Lene Voigt sang the splices in several ways:
"Where de Bleiße bläddscherd dorchs site un the Gnoblauch dufded without end, there in body Zich in the sumbfschen Aun schbugn nächdlich sächssche water Fraunhofer. [ ... ] "