Wümme

Catchment area of ​​the Wümme

South arm of Wümme at Bremen

The Wümme ( Low German Wümm ) is 118 km long main source river of Lesum that travels from the association with that of the Northeast ( right) approaching Hamme another 10 miles to the mouth of the Lower Weser. From Borg field ( 0.00 km ) to the confluence with the Hamme ( 18.53 km ), the intertidal, the Wümme is one of the so-called other inland waterways of the Confederation; responsible is the Waterways and Shipping Office Bremen. On it the Maritime Traffic Regulations applies.

The Wümme flows through the northern Lower Saxony and Bremen. The water has nearly continuous Class II: moderately polluted. Thus the Wümme one of the cleanest rivers in northern Germany.

Wümme is also the name of a village which is located near the first crossing of the Wümme by the B 75 ( between Tostedt and Lauenbrück ).

Geography

General

At the Wümme are the towns of:

• Bremen- Blockland
• Bremen -Borg field
• Hellwege
• Lauenbrück
• Lilienthal
• Otter mountain with the artists' colony Fischerhude and Quelkhorn
• Oyten, OT Sage Horn (Back Mountain )
• Rotenburg ( Wümme)
• Scheessel
• Wesseloh

Important tributaries of the Wümme are:

• Ahaus Bach ( in Hellwege, from left)
• Beeke ( in Scheessel, from left)
• Fintau ( in Lauenbrück, from left)
• The hedonist ( in Veersebrück at Scheessel, from left)
• Wiedau, with Rodau, ( in Rotenburg, from left)
• Wieste ( at Otter Mountain, from the right)
• Wörpe ( in Lilienthal, from right)
• Small Wümme (before Wummensiede, from left)

Headwaters

The source of Wümme located in the highest part of the Lüneburg Heath nature reserve Lueneburg Heath south of Niederhaverbeck. From Wilseder mountain comes as the largest source Bach Haverbeeke that unites located 1.5 km west of Niederhaverbeck with the Wümme. These first flows through natural valleys. Then flows through Scheessel and Rotenburg, once helped the mills on the Wümme to their development. Between Rotenburg and Otter Mountain Wümme the valley is divided by a low dune ridges in the lengthwise direction. North of this ridge dunes extend as side arms of the Everinghausen - Scheeßeler channel (from Scheessel to Everinghausen near the A 1) and - closer to the Wümme - the Reith Bach.

Most important tributaries in this area are the Fintau that the Wümme of water management slightly exceeds the mouth point, 2 km south of Scheessel follows the hedonist and the Rotenburg Wiedau, which has recently merged with the Rodau.

Wümmewiesen

In Otter Mountain (from Dodenberg ) the Wümme ramifies into a single delta, named after its main vegetation Wümmewiesen. During the winter months here are often large areas under water for weeks and form a bird resting area of international importance. North arm, middle arm and south arm of Wümme unite at the northeast corner of the Bremen area become a river, since the country applied for the protection of the Holler ( with the Bremen district Oberneuland ) Holler dike limited here Wümmewiesen south. The former südwestlichere dike line is traced from the old Lehester dyke and the former Achterdiek ( street name in the Horn Lehe district ).

Intertidal

Below the last weir in Bremen- Borg field Wümme is influenced by the tide, however, prevented since 1974 Lesum barrage threatening floods caused by storm surges. In this section, the river forms the border between Lower Saxony and Bremen. From Kuhsiel to say the Bremen Dike Wümme dyke march behind the block country. In Trupe joins from the north, the Wörpe. Their earlier, natural mouth was to the northwest at the Truper Blänken. In Wasserhorst the Wümme combined with the Hamme to only 10 km long Lesum. The Tidensaum of Wümme and Lesum covered one of the largest reed beds in northwestern Germany.

Torfschifffahrt on the Wümme

From the north arm of the Wümme branches in the area seamounts / Witches / Ebbensiek so-called ship ditches in the marsh villages Rautendorf, Schmalenbeck and Meinershausen from. They were used to transport the peat to Bremen, as well as the Semkenfahrt. In the Kuhsiel mentioned in the 13th century Kuhgraben branches, which extends only to the Little Wümme today. At its link with the Dobben (now the small square Park Avenue / An der Weide / Am Dobben ) was until 1826 at the southeast corner of Bürgerweide Bremer peat harbor. Was created with the ( new ) peat harbor on the west side of today's citizen parks, then between citizens and citizens pasture grazing Champs 1817-1826 of about 3.5 kilometer ( New ) Torfkanal. The routes of Torfschiffe led last on the Hamme, the Semkenfahrtkanal or Wörpe to Wümme from this about the new Semkenfahrt to Torfkanal.

After the opening up of the marshes by the little train Bremen- Tarmstedt in 1900 and the railway line Stade- Osterholz- Beck 1911 Torfschiffe no longer drove to Bremen.

Hydraulic

The water from the area south of Holler dike and dike Bremer Wümme collects in the Holler Fleet, in the Little Wümme (possibly an old lower reaches of the Wümme Südarms ) and Kuhgraben. At low tide it flows off through sluices, at high water level of Wümme and Lesum it is since 1864 pumped by a pumping station at the end of the machine fleet deployed in the Lesum to the water level behind the dam to keep lower than in the Wümme. From the historic pump house only remnants are protected as a monument. The modern pumps are hidden in a chamber in the dike body.

The still existing Dammsiel originated in Wümme dike at the mouth of the Little Wümme in the Great Wümme, near the town of Damme. It was first mentioned in 1299. The Dammsielschleuse was renewed several times. Entertain them was from the village communities of the block and Holler country. Here stood an inn, einkehrten in the mainly Torfschiffer.

In earlier times, water ran in heavy Weser flood by a dune gap in Bremen- Mahndorf in the Wümme. After the last such event to date the beginning of 1881, the Weser dikes were massively increased. Since then, the Bremen area between the Weser and Wümme is surrounded by a dike ring. Responsible is the Bremen Dike Association on the right bank of the Weser.

On behalf of the Wümme Water Board Fischerhude was the weir two rebuilt in November 2012 in WÃ ¼ mme - south arm in a Sohlgleite. Planning and supervision of the restoration action lay in the hands of the operating point of the Verden NLWKN. As part of the GR project Fischerhuder Wümme lowland more weirs and locks were converted to Sohlgleiten in the district of Verden. Thus, the ecological continuity of Wümme was improved so that many migrating fish may migrate to their spawning areas again. In the middle reaches of the Wümme ( Scheessel, Unterstedt, Hellwege ) but still high weirs impede the spawning migrations of fish living here.

Nature Conservation and Tourism

The Wümme is provided in its entire course a nature and landscape protection. It belongs to the European reserve Natura 2000. In one part of the Wümmewiesen at chiselling pastures avenues and wild hedges were removed to make space for the rare great bustard attractive.

The intertidal of the river is navigable, but traveled almost entirely of pleasure boats. The paddle area extends much further upstream to Lauenbrück. The Wümme cycle path along the lower reaches on either side or behind the dikes, further upstream to its source mainly from the river.

The Wümme is considered one of the most valuable for the fish species conservation rivers of Lower Saxony. Noteworthy is the occurrence of endangered migratory fish species such as sea lamprey, river lamprey, sea trout and salmon. Many angling clubs in the area Wümme been working for years at the reintroduction of salmon and sea trout. The upper Wümme area is habitat of endangered species such as small minnow, bullhead, stone loach, loach and lamprey.