Sulm (Germany)

Course of the river Sulm (red)

The Sulm in Erlenbach

The Sulm is a non- navigable right tributary of the Neckar river in the district of Heilbronn in Baden- Württemberg, which rises in the Löwenstein mountains and over 25 km away and 315 meters above sea level in Bad Frederick Hall, near Neckarsulm and Untereisesheim, flows into the Neckar. For the Valley of the Sulm together with its side valleys is a collective term also the name of Weinberg Valley usual, after the main site vineyard. After the flow of medieval Sulmgau was named.

Geography

The Sulm rises south of the city of Lion's Arch at the edge of the Löwenstein mountains. The origin different streams come in question, which are considered depending on the interpretation either as source streams or tributaries. In Löwensteiner Won Sauklinge close to spring from the clinic Lowenstein and the main road in 1066 to about 460 m above sea level. NN three of these streams that flow westward united soon. This stream is sometimes also referred to as Sauklinge. A little further down stream, where a forest trail crosses the stream, is a sign to the alleged origin of the Sulm to find at this point. After a further influx Won in shock hamlet of Bach meets west, immediately southeast of the state road 1111 ( Vorhofer road ) to a further influx, dehydrated through which the artificially dammed Bleichsee in the south of the country terrace Cherry Plain.

The Bleichsee lies on the watershed between Sulm and Schozach and is kept with dams in both directions. He is among others fed with water that is propagated through an old mill race from the east springing to 465 m above sea level directory stream. Without this procedure, it would flow to the Schozach; but as it enters the Bleichsee and from there into the Sulm. Depending on the used ( literature ) source and the short piece of Bleichsee effluent or even the whole of the upper book Bach including the millrace to Bleichsee considered Sulm is ( in this case a total length of 26.2 km is reached).

Undisputed the name Sulm is definitely from the confluence of the two streams from the Sauklinge and from the Bleichsee directly on the L 1111. From there, from the Sulm flows for a short distance below the site of mineral water bottler Teusser verdolt (ie underground ), built on the edge of Löwensteiner district Teusserbad and the 1623 water lock sounds stretching over to the north, then east past the Löwensteiner district Rittelhof. When Seemühle south of the B 39, one of three original Löwensteiner mills, it feeds a Mühlsee. After passing under the B 39 is not far from the homestead Beckershof for reasons of flood protection to approximately 222 m above sea level. NN to 39.9 ha large artificial Breitenauer dammed lake, which is already on top Ulm district with its larger part, and was built in 1975 to 1980. To the northwest of Weiler - Obersulm she leaves him below the Seedamms again. The old Sulm bed is directly below the dam initially fed only from the sources and drainage discharges. The effluent from the Breitenauer lake water, however, is guided in a Dole below the ground to the north of the road Weiler- Affaltrach, then a few dozen meters flows in a preserved part of the old mill-race of Affaltracher mill and finally meets the Sulm inflow Schlierbach, a few meters further empties itself into the Sulm. The Sulm then turns west-northwest and flows through the upper districts Ulmer Affaltrach and Willsbach; the last of the valley, Sülzbach, lies on the right bank. The following Ellhofen other hand, it touches on its northeastern edge, this passes under the railway line Crailsheim -Heilbronn and then flows constantly continue northwest on Weinberger area, but not through the city itself vineyard

Right at the beginning it is out here right through the Weinberger motorway junction, where the A 6 and A intersect 81. At this point, was until 1971 the Weinberger Benz mill, which had to make way for a motorway. Been preserved, however, is the after crossing under the motorway junction at waters standing Hasenmühle. Already on Erlenbacher district, but still east of this place, located on the tributary of the creek Weißenhof the dam a flood retention basin.

At the edge of Erlenbach and its district Binswangen left past the Sulm continues to flow to the northwest toward Neckarsulm. There, the dam of another flood retention basin crosses the half a kilometer wide valley floor. From the city limits of the Sulm flows straightened in a park area, the 1975 scale Sulmtalpark. Before it was they travel around on Neckarsulmer area some mills. Located right at the city limits Closer mill was canceled in 1988. From here the Sulm suggested earlier a wide arc to the first north and then west through the premises of NSU Motor Works. After two floods in 1970, the river was verdolt 1973-1975. It runs underground since about 2.6 km and meets in the north of the Neckarsulm district, on the border with bath Frederick Hall, on the ( in this section) 1925 finished Neckarkanal. There the Sulm is passed immediately afterwards under the channel; recently she can be seen in a maintenance building again several feet below.

On the west side of the Neckar Canal it comes to the "island" between the channel and Altneckar reappear, here flows about 250 m directly north of the border between Bad Frederick Hall and Untereisesheim Friedrich Haller on bathroom area and then flows towards the southern Untereisesheim to 148 m above sea. NN in the Neckar.

Catchment area

The water catchment area covers approximately 122 km ² Sulm. It extends from a small wooded hilltop in Hummelsbühl to 483.5 m above sea level. NN on the sources of Bach's book in a northwesterly direction about 20 km to the mouth; transverse to it it reaches a maximum width of about 10 km.

It is bordered by a short watershed to the bottom stove in the far north, a very long northeastern against its major underflow inflow Brettach, a very short southeasterly to Murr and two medium- long only to Schozach in the south-southwest, then to all these draining Neckar in West southwest and west, where lies beyond the city of Heilbronn in the Neckar basin.

The highest point is located at about 515 m above sea level. NN on the watershed to Brettach inflow Bernbach on a nameless small flat wooded hilltop between the B 39 and the Hohlenstein.

The Sulm has on a larger scale two track sections, the first northward to Obersulm - Affaltrach, here she has only initially in the mountain heights to Lowenstein not quite small headwaters and tributaries, and then most recently in Affaltrach at its north-western bend the larger right of Schlierbach and Michel Bach. In the following, twice as long underflow section you then run regularly tributaries of some size, including the two largest, the right and the left Eberbach city Seebach.

Inflows

• Mill race creek (left source stream, 2.4 km )
• ( From the Bach ) Sauklinge (right source stream, 1.7 km )
• Deep Klingenbachstrasse (right, Lowenstein 0.7 miles)
• Offel blade (right, Lowenstein - Seemühle, 2.0 miles)
• Schlierbach (right, Obersulm - Affaltrach, 6.3 km and 6.2 km ²)
• Michel Bach (right, Affaltrach, 7.3 km and 9.3 km ²)
• Hambach (left, Obersulm - Willsbach, 4.8 km and 9.9 km ²)
• Seebächle (right, Willsbach, 3.3 km and 3.4 km ²)
• Mice Bach (left, Willsbach 1.5 km )
• Sülzbach (right, Obersulm - Sülzbach, 3.8 km and 4.7 km ²)

• Ellbach (left, Ellhofen, 5.5 km and 8.3 km ²)
• Bet Rischbachstollen (right, Ellhofen, 1.3 km )
• Eberbach (right, Erlenbach, 7.0 km and 18.5 km ²)
• City Seebach (left, Erlenbach, 7.6 km and 13.3 km ²)
• Erlenbach (right, Erlenbach, 3.8 km and 5.3 km ²)
• Pfühlbach (right, Neckarsulm - Reisachmühle, 1.4 km )
• Hängelbach (right, Neckarsulm, 2.4 km and 2.8 km ²)
• Amorbach (right, Neckarsulm, 3.0 km and 1.6 km ²)
• Attichsbach (right, Neckarsulm, 6.7 km and 4.6 km ²)

History

The earliest traces of human settlement found in Sulmtal date back to the Neolithic period. Numerous finds in Obersulm - Willsbach suggest a permanent settlement. For the Roman period a settlement in the vineyard has been demonstrated; a Roman road between the Limes forts in Böckingen and Öhringen ran through the Sulmtal. Following the Alamanni and Franks settled in Sulmtal.

The name Sulm is first mentioned in the year 771 with the entries of Neckarsulm as Sulmana villa in a deed of the monastery Lorsch documented. It probably goes back to a Ablautbildung ( zero grade ) of the old Germanic verb swellan, the thresholds (on), means welling up.

For centuries, the non- navigable river, especially as the power source for mills was important; Lion's Arch to Neckarsulm were Sulm and its tributaries over 20 mills. Because the Müller often had the right to create ponds, they laid apart from the actual mill ponds sometimes used for fish farming ponds, which is still partly exist. Mühlkanäle made ​​for the necessary slope to the operation of the mills. Partially preserved, albeit largely drained, the Mühlkanal Affaltracher the mill; of more than 1.8 km long Mühlkanal the Willenbacher mill with a gradient of 4.5 m was decommissioned in 1963 and filled in 1972. Both grinders are like the mill on Schlierbach in Weiler still in operation today, without, however, still take advantage of the water power. In one of the Neckarsulm mills Sulm, the Brunner 's saw and plaster mill, in 1880 settled at the mechanical workshop for knitting machines, which took advantage of the water power of the Sulm as the operating force and from which the later company NSU Motor Works emerged.

On average, from 1980 to 2003, the Sulm led on level Erlenbach 920 l / s of water; in a flood were on 18 June 1978 ( before the flood protection measures in the upper Sulmtal ) approximately 60,000 l / s. The regular flooding were exacerbated by the increasing soil sealing and a problem for based in Neckarsulm between Sulm and Neckar industry. After two floods in February and May 1970, which flooded the factory premises of the very important Neckarsulm and the surrounding company, Audi NSU and led to a 14-day loss of production, decided the Baden- Württemberg state government to move ahead flood protection in Sulmtal.

In order to secure jobs, 1973, the Water Board Sulm was founded with headquarters in the vineyard, which the district Heilbronn, the city of Heilbronn and all cities and towns Sulm and its tributaries belong (including bathroom Frederick Hall, Bretz field, Eberstadt, Lehrensteinsfeld and Oedheim ). Earlier created plans to verdolen the Sulm in Neckarsulm were carried out from 1973 to 1975. To the east of Neckarsulm, to the district border to Erlenbach, to November 1974, a retention basin was constructed. The Sulm was laid in Neckarsulm town area to 2.6 km in length and verdolt, that runs up to the lower crossing of the Neckar Canal since underground. As the central flood retention basins in Sulmtal 1975-1980 Breitenauer the lake was created. More retention basins Sulm and its major tributaries were built in the following decades until the beginning of the 21st century. Flood damage could be largely avoided since, for example, in a heavy rain with up to 86.4 l / m² on July 5, 2006 - A total of 17 basins are planned.; to 2009 were 15 completed it. In 1973, the cost of implementation of flood protection were estimated at 10.2 million euros. As things stand, the total cost will be about 36 million euros.

Environment

Especially in the lower reaches of the Sulm is heavily straightened or verdolt, which is not so much true for the upper reaches. But there was, for example, in Willsbach 1950 Sulm " regulated "; 1963, the inflow Michel Bach was verdolt for " odor nuisance ... by the heavily polluted waters of Michel Bach of Eschenau " in Affaltrach. Morphologically the Sulm in almost its entire course affects or is judged non-natural. The biological water quality is classified 2004 ( grade II ), charged directly as moderately polluted at the origin as low ( grade I- II).

The upper Sulmtal is recognized since 1979 as a nature reserve Upper Sulmtal with rim heights (No. 1.25.029 ) and is located in the Swabian- Franconian Forest. The Bleichsee the headwaters of the Sulm, since 1978 also protected landscape area (No. 1.25.030 ), is one of the most important amphibian breeding areas in the district of Heilbronn. On artificial Breitenauer lake nature was given wider space, parts of the lake are closed to human use, shallow water areas were piled up for use as fish spawning grounds. Over 100,000 trees, bushes and shrubs were planted, which serve about 140 some of them rare species of birds that could be already observed there as a habitat.