Schwarza (Saale)

The catchment area of ​​Schwarza

Schwarza at Schwarzburg

The Schwarza is an approximately 53 km long left tributary of the Saale in Thuringia in Germany. She was the river landscape of the year 2006/2007.

Source

The river rises near Scheibe-Alsbach, 250 meters northwest of the Rennsteig, at an altitude of 717 m above sea level. NN. The water of the Schwarza source rises from great depths to a fissure between sandstone and shale with a constant temperature of 6 degrees Celsius to light. It was enclosed in 1855.

Course

Nestled in a varied hilly landscape Schwarza flows from its source through narrow gorges and broad valleys to the mouth of the River Saale in Rudolstadt district Schwarza.

In its river Schwarza takes on 57 tributaries, of which the light, Sorbitz, Werre and channel are the most water. A geological feature are their potholes ( scours ) in the lower Schwarzatal. The Schwarza is also the richest gold river in Germany.

In the dam Scheibe-Alsbach the Schwarza is dammed.

Naming

Has your name Schwarza ( Black River ) from the black-brown color of her dark soil substrate on the upper reaches by the shading of their banks by the originally very dense and almost impenetrable vegetation in close Schwarzatal. From the river again the name of the Black Castle and the associated noble family was derived.

Economy

A sustainable settlement of the Schwarza area was relatively late and was based initially on the search for mineral deposits. On the banks of Schwarza there was in former times an important iron mining and processing. Gold, silver and copper were coveted metals, which were obtained in the mining and soap works. Many mills, stamp mills, iron and brass hammers were in operation.

In addition to mining the wealth of wood attention has been paid. The Harz and Pecher lived on the resin extraction and Pechsiederei and in sawmills fir, spruce, beech and oak trees were cut into beams, planks and boards. There were also a variety of box makers and shingle splitters. The forest also malnourished fowler, Kustelsteiger and cone pickers, wood carters and rafters. Herdsmen and shepherds grazing their flocks on the already lifted areas and meadows, while the farmers were dependent on the forest pastures. Numerous charcoal kilns and glass works are still in the ground detectable. The last reactors in Schwarzatal was still operated around 1950 at the Pocherbrücke below seat village. Since the late 18th century was found with the introduction of the first porcelain manufacturers a major source of income for the Schwarzatal.

Tourism is based not only on the natural beauty of the valley on the existing technical sights here ( Oberweißbacher mountain railway, Schwarzatal train).

Special

Conservation

The lower Schwarzatal is considered one of the most beautiful river valleys of the Thuringian Forest and the Thuringian Slate Mountains. The more natural habitat has numerous steep slope sections and has retained its torrent character. In cool damp canyon forest you will find many rare animals and plants ( Kingfisher, Dipper ).

Hydrology

In the upper reaches of the Schwarza and the light of two hydraulic engineering major projects were built: The pumped storage plant Goldisthal is located in the main run of the Schwarza, the drinking water Leibis - light in the course of the influent light.

The Schwarza Gold

The gold was in the river itself, or on the three adjacent Pleistocene river terraces (with seat village) - the first at around 30 meters, the second at about 60 meters and the third at about 120 meters above the sea level to about 300 m. NN -lying floodplains of the Schwarza - washed out of the gravel. The mining of gold ore mining from the quartz veins in the bedrock of Schwarzatal occurred only rarely, since the system of tunnels and pits in the hard rock proved to be very costly and mineable ore veins were not detected in large numbers. In the heyday of gold mining, which was in the 16th century, the total yield is said to have amounted to four tons of pure gold. The Schwarzatal, could you look at the gold content per ton of tailings, quite to the gold fields of South Africa match.