| Bode | |
|---|---|
 The upper course of the Bode nearTreseburg as it enters the Bode Gorge Nature Reserve | |
 Das Flusssystem der Bode | |
| Location | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Saxony-Anhalt[1] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Harz |
| • elevation | 860 metres (2,820 ft) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Saale |
• coordinates | 51°50′27″N11°46′17″E / 51.84083°N 11.77139°E /51.84083; 11.77139 |
• elevation | 80 metres (260 ft) |
| Length | 169 kilometres (105 mi) |
| Basin size | c. 3,000 km2 (1,200 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 3.5 m3/s (120 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Saale→Elbe→North Sea |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Holtemme |
| • right | Rappbode,Luppbode,Selke |
| Towns and villages | Quedlinburg,Oschersleben,Staßfurt,Thale,Wegeleben,Gröningen |
TheBode (German pronunciation:[ˈboːdə]ⓘ) is ariver in theGerman state ofSaxony-Anhalt, a left tributary of theSaale. It rises in theHarz mountains and drains them in a northerly direction. After 169 kilometres (105 mi) it discharges into the Saale atNienburg. The river is named after a legendary giant, the wild, rampaging, Bohemian,Prince Bodo, who, according to theRosstrappe legend, changed into a marauding dog that guarded thecrown ofPrincessBrunhilde in theKronensumpf ("crown marsh") in the present-dayBode Gorge (German:Bodetal). The gorge is the narrow section of the Bode valley betweenTreseburg andThale.
According to tradition, there was once a giant calledBodo who came fromThuringia, in modern-day central Germany, to pursueBrunhilde, the king's beautiful daughter, whom he wanted to marry against her will.Brunhilde fled on a white stallion (Ross), but they suddenly came to a deep ravine. With one bold leap she reached the rocks on the far side, but her pursuer fell into the abyss. The hoofprint of her horse can still be seen today as the so-calledRosstrappe. Meanwhile,Bodo was turned into a dog. As her horse leapt the gorge, however, the princess lost her golden crown, which was now guarded by the dogBodo in the valley of the river. The river was given the nameBode after the giantBodo who was now under a spell.
The Bode is heavily divided in itssource region on theBrocken, the highest peak in the Harz, but its two most important source streams are the:
The two rivers, which actually have a temperature difference of 2 °C, merge not far from theKönigsburg Ruins immediately before flowing into theKönigshütte Dam (a feeder dam orÜberleitungssperre).
Other tributaries of the Bode include theRappbode and theLuppbode. The Rappbode is impounded nearWendefurth by theRappbode Dam. At the northern end of this reservoir, the Rappbode joins the Bode, which is impounded here by theWendefurth Dam. Other tributaries of the Bode are theGoldbach, theHoltemme and theSelke.
Thewaterfalls in the Harz are not high. The Upper Bode Falls (Obere Bode-Fall) on the Warme Bode are really a fast-flowing stream (Sturzbach) with small steps about 1 metre in height. Likewise the Lower Bode Falls (Untere Bode-Fall) on the Warme Bode is simply ledge of similar height.TheBodekessel in the Bode Gorge is a former step in a large hollow, that was reduced in height in 1798 from 2 metres to 1 metre by explosive. The fourth waterfall is in theKästental.
The Bode winds its way between Treseburg and Thale through a 10-kilometre (6 mi) long, narrow valley, theBode Gorge. Today, the valley is anature reserve. The Bode Gorge and its villages are the primary setting forTheodor Fontane’s novel,Cécile.
The river then crosses the Harz Foreland in a curving and, in places, diked and canalised, course until it discharges into the Saale atNienburg. Important Bode tributaries are the Selke and the Holtemme.Other towns on the Bode river areQuedlinburg,Wegeleben,Gröningen,Oschersleben,Hadmersleben,Egeln andStaßfurt.
The Bode gorge north of Thale is now aprotected area.
Thecatchment area of the Bode ist about 3000 km² in area.[1] Important tributaries within the Harz are theRappbode and theLuppbode. The Rappbode is impounded atWendefurth by theRappbode Dam. At the northern end of the reservoir the Rappbode joins the Bode which is also impounded by theWendefurth Dam. Other tributaries are theGoldbach, theHoltemme and the largest one, theSelke.
| Left tributaries | Right tributaries |
| |
| Locations of confluences in brackets | |
In a hydrological sense every source stream of the Bode has a specificcatchment area in the Harz, that is part of the catchment area of the Bode. The catchment areas of the various reservoirs are as follows: for the Wendefurth Reservoir, 309.2 square kilometres (119.4 sq mi), for theRappbode Pre-Dam and Rappbode Reservoirs, 269 square kilometres (104 sq mi), and for the Königshütte Reservoir, 154.2 square kilometres (59.5 sq mi). TheMandelholz Dam impounds the water of theKalte Bode. The total catchment area of the Bode is about 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi).
In theEarly Middle Ages the Bode formed the border between the provinces of theHarzgau in the west and theSchwabengau in the east. The two most important Bode crossings at that time were the settlements ofDitfurt und Gröningen, mentioned frequently in the Fuldau annals.
Heinrich Heine depicts the romantic Bode valley in his 1826 travelogueDie Harzreise:
That dusky beauty, the Bode, did not receive me very graciously, and when I first caught sight of her in the smithy-like darkness of the Rübeland, she seemed even sullen and shrouded herself in a silver-grey veil of rain: but in a rush of love she threw it off when I reached the heights of the Roßtrappe, her face lit up opposite me in sunny splendour, from every aspect breathed a colossal tenderness, and from the conquered breast of rock it issued forth like sighs of passion and languorous sounds of wistfulness.
The 'most devastating' floods from the Bode occurred in the years 1539, 1667, 1730, 1740, 1772 and especially at Christmas in 1925.[2] Only on the completion of the Rappbode Dam in 1959 could the risk of flooding be eliminated. The water quantities in the Bode can vary significantly: during the New Year flooding in 1925 a discharge of 350 cubic metres per second (12,000 cu ft/s) was recorded, whereas in the following summer of 1926 it fell to just 0.35 cubic metres per second (12 cu ft/s).
Media related toBode at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
