Örtze
The Örtze nearHermannsburg
Location
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	north ofMunster in theGroße Heide (Bundesforst Raubkammer)
• coordinates	53°01′36″N10°05′01″E / 53.02667°N 10.08361°E /53.02667; 10.08361
• elevation	86 m above sea level (NN)
Mouth
• location	into theAller southeast ofWinsen
• coordinates	52°40′17″N9°55′54″E / 52.67139°N 9.93167°E /52.67139; 9.93167
• elevation	30 m above sea level (NN)
Length	62.3 km (38.7 mi)[1] (with Aue andWietze 70 km (43 mi))
Basin size	772 km2 (298 sq mi)[1]
Basin features
Progression	Aller→Weser→North Sea
Landmarks	Small towns:Munster Villages: Kreutzen, Poitzen,Müden,Hermannsburg,Oldendorf,Eversen andWolthausen
Tributaries
• left	Kleine Örtze, Schmarbeck and Sothrieth (discharge as the Landwehrbach into the Örtze),Weesener Bach, Angelbach
• right	Ilster,Wietze,Brunau, Brandenbach, Hasselbach, Mühlenbach

Örtze (German pronunciation:[ˈœʁt͡sə]^ⓘ) is ariver ofLower Saxony,Germany. The Örtze rises north ofMunster in theGroße Heide (in theRaubkammer federal forest) and, after 62 kilometres (39 mi), joins theAller southeast ofWinsen.

The Örtze valley is an oldglacial valley. It was formed during theSaale glaciation about 230,000 to 130,000 years ago by the drainage of meltwater from the ice sheet which cut 20 to 50 metres (65 to 165 ft) deep into the plateaus of the southernLüneburg Heath. The upper Örtze has incised its own, much smaller valley into thesandur beds and the roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) wide, flat glacial valley floor.

The source region of the Örtze and its several source bogs lie on the terrain of theMunster North Training Area. In order to removesuspended solids andsediments which are washed away during heavy rains from the tank training areas with their sparse covering of vegetation, four successive lakes – the so-calledMunoseen – have been created on the Örtze, and, on theIlster, the main headstream of the river, there is a further dam pond. The Örtze is the largest river on the Southern Heath orSüdheide and drains its central area, between the rather longerBöhme to the west and theIse to the east. It has a relatively steep incline. In the middle of the river in its lower course the stream flow is about 0.71 metres (2 ft 4 in) per second and the water depth varies from 0.5 to 2 metres (2 to 7 ft). It is classed as a so-called summer-cold heath stream (sommerkalter Heidebach).

The Örtze passes the towns and villages ofMunster (an importantmilitary base in North Germany), Kreutzen, Poitzen,Müden,Hermannsburg (renowned because of theHermannsburg Mission),Oldendorf,Eversen andWolthausen.

The tributaries of the Örtze are the:Ilster,Kleine Örtze,Wietze, Schmarbeck and Sothrieth (which discharge together as the Landwehrbach into the Örtze),Brunau,Weesener Bach, Brandenbach, Hasselbach, Angelbach and Mühlenbach.

The main headstream of the Örtze is theIlster. Its name recalls the largest village, which the Munster-North Training Area has to circumvent. Its largest tributary is the Wietze, which rises betweenSoltau and Munster and which, together with its tributary theAue, is longer than the Örtze by a good 5 kilometres. It joins the Örtze near Müden and gave the heath village its name.TheKleine Örtze rises north of Oerrel (parish of Munster) and discharges into the Örtze near Kreutzen (parish ofFaßberg). Before it was renaturalised its upper course acted as a drainage ditch for the former raised bog, now afforrested, in the narrow valley (nature reserve).^[2]On the headstreams of theLandwehrbach lies theFaßberg Air Base (north ofSchmarbeck) and numerous oldkieselgur pits (either side of theSothrieth).

Because Örtze has largely been spared from development, a near-natural habitat has been preserved. Itswater quality is classed throughout as ClassII: moderately polluted (saprobic system).^[3][4]Alders,pines andspruce along the river bank provide shade, keeping the water cool even in summer and the oxygen content high. The Örtze is relatively low in nutrients. Its course ismeandering and structurally varied (strukturreich) in places and offers many places for fish to hide and spawn with its steep banks, hollows, gravel and sand banks.

The fish and animal species found in the river include:freshwater eels (Anguilla anguilla) andburbots (Lota lota),grayling (Thymallus thymallus),brown trout (Salmo trutta forma fario),bream (Abramis brama),minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus),perch (Perca fluviatilis),Gudgeon (Gobio gobio),pike (Esox lucius),bullhead (Cottus gobio),roach (Leuciscus rutilus),rudd (Scardinius erytrophthalmus) andbrook lamprey (Lampreta planeri). Even the endangeredotter andkingfisher live here.Salmon fishing in the Örtze had been recorded since 1766, but the last salmon was caught in 1935. Since 1982 attempts have been made to re-introduce salmon by stocking the river. The weir atWolthausen is, however, an obstacle to fish swimming upstream. From the 16th century until 1960 the Örtze drove thewater wheel of acorn mill here. Today by contrast it powers aturbine next to the water wheel to generate electricity. Afish pass (a fish ladder with eight steps and suitable forinvertebrates) is being planned.

• 
  Örtze Park inHermannsburg, in spring the Örtze regularly overspills its banks
• 
  Örtze Park in Hermannsburg at normal water levels
• 
  The weir in Wolthausen
• 
  Örtze in the spruce woods near Hermannsburg
• 
  Flooded Örtze meadows
• 
  Örtze meadows near Oldendorf
• 
  In the sandy and flat river bed just before it joins theAller
• 
  Mouth of the Örtze, from the left

Boating is permitted on the Örtze during the summer months, from 16 May to 14 October, between 9 am and 6 pm, provided it does not harm the natural environment. The only types of craft allowed are rowing boats (e.g.kayaks orcanoes).^[5] The Örtze may be used downstream of the mill in Müden. There are launching places in Müden, Baven, Hermannsburg, Oldendorf, Eversen, Wolthausen and Winsen.

The regional writerHermann Löns devoted a chapter to the Örtze with several pages. He wroteinter alia:

On the banks of the Örtze.Many rivers and streams has the Lüneburg Heath; but its truest heath river is the Örtze. As a heath maiden she has no desire for other lands; in the heath she is born and in the heath she wants to end. She is so modest, so wise and so still, like a real child of the heath; it would be an easy thing for her if she went her own way to the sea, because even in the driest summer she has enough water, the brooks and streams from the moors, the Schmarbeck and Sotriet, Lutter and Wittbeck, Wietze and Brunau, do not let her go thirsty. But there is nothing for her in the wider world.

Until the 1950s the meadows in the floodplain of the Örtze were irrigated, and fertilised by the minerals and organic substances in the river water, using a principle known asLüneburger Rückenbau orSuderburger Rückenbau.

To irrigate the Baven meadows (Rieselwiesen) a canal was laid between 1831 and 1850 and opened in 1854. It began near Müden with a weir at the start of the diversion. Other weirs distributed the water from the canal into the meadows. Today the canal acts as afloodway.

• 
  Overview map of the irrigated meadows between Müden and Hermannsburg
• 
  Old Örtze weir near Müden, at the start of the canal
• 
  Overgrown Örtze canal between Müden and Hermannsburg
• 
  Old outlet lock near Hermannsburg/Baven

Timber rafting on the Örtze probably began in the 17th century. On 28 February 1677 the prince's master rafter (Floßmeister), Johann Bastian Erhardt, looked into the possibility of using the river to float timber downstream from forest in the areas of Hassel, Lüß and Kalbsloh. He gave the following report to the senior forester of Wahrenholz:

The Örtze is a good, fast waterway which, in many places, has high banks on both sides and is therefore suitable for rafting both long as well as short logs to Stedden, where the Örtze shoots into the Aller.

This expert opinion led to timber rafting being established on the Örtze.

In the 19th century, timber rafting on the Örtze assumed great importance for the region. The number of rafts increased from around 600 per year in 1868 to 1,946 in 1874, which reflected the economic boom of the so-calledGründerzeit years. Demand was generated by the construction of buildings and ships atBremen,Bremerhaven and in the district ofWesermarsch. Its supply, by contrast, was from private landowners and local communities (Realgemeinden) to whom large areas of old forest had been transferred following the division ofcommon land in the mid-19th century. From 1877 the number of rafts on the Örtze fell rapidly, especially when its lower reaches silted up and became too shallow. From 1912 timber rafting came to a standstill. Competition came from theCelle-Soltau, Celle-Munster Light Railway built in 1910 and the metalled roads and newsawmills in the immediate vicinity.

Number of rafts from 1869 to 1910(from the files of the district committee for rafting on the Oertze)

The Örtze was navigable by timber rafts all year round from its confluence with the Wietze near Müden to the Aller thanks to its water-retentive, sandy river bed. A timber raft could travel these 36 river kilometres (22 mi) in a day. In the second half of the 19th century there were also 11 raft-building points from Müden to Oldendorf where the logs hauled to the river by horse and cart were tied together to form a raft. On the Aller the logs were bound together to form even larger rafts and floated down to their offloading point in Bremen. From there the wood was shipped to England, the Netherlands, France or Spain.

The rafts were 23 metres (75 ft) long and 3 metres (10 ft) wide. One feature were the rounded willow hoops at the front, the so-called hand rails (Handregels), which the rafter could grab in an emergency. The rafter carried a pole (Schufstaken orSchufboom) for manoeuvering the raft which he pressed against the left shoulder with a T handle. It was fitted with an iron spike and hook at the end.

• List of rivers of Lower Saxony

• Jürgen Delfs:Die Flößerei auf Ise, Aller und Örtze, Gifhorn 1995,ISBN 3-929632-24-1

• River-forest nature trail by the Örtze

• Tributaries of the Aller (Germany)
• Rivers of Lower Saxony
• Lüneburg Heath
• Rivers of Germany

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