| Jade Bight | |
|---|---|
| Jade Bay | |
 Map showing JadeBay (Jadebusen) at lower center | |
| Location | North Sea |
| Coordinates | 53°28′N8°14′E / 53.467°N 8.233°E /53.467; 8.233 (Jade Bight) |
| River sources | Maade,Jade |
| Ocean/sea sources | Atlantic Ocean |
| Basin countries | Germany |
| Max. width | 16 km (9.9 mi) |
| Surface area | 190 km2 (73 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 18.5 m (61 ft) |
 Interactive map of Jade Bight | |
TheJade Bight[1][2] (also known asJade Bay;[3]German:Jadebusen,pronounced[ˈjaːdəˌbuːzn̩]ⓘ) is abight orbay on theNorth Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as (the)Jade orJahde. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than anestuary.[4]
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About 180 km² (70 mi²) in area, the Jade was largely created bystorm floods during the 13th and 16th centuries.[5] Since the early 14th century, it has joined eastward to theestuary of the riverWeser. For some time, there were three permanent connecting branches and one flood bed between the river and the bight, forming anestuarine delta. The first of these junctions was closed in 1450 bydikes and the last one in 1515. However, about a century passed before most of the area flooded by these connections was regained for pasture and arable land.
In the west, the Jade extended far into theFrisian peninsula. From the early 16th century, a number of dikes were built against the storm floods and to gain arable land. The main dike,Ellenser Damm, was built between 1596 and 1615 by theCounty of Oldenburg before the agreement with the objectingCounty of East Frisia was finished successfully.
The extension of Jade Bight and its branches fragmented the freeFrisian territory ofRüstringen inBant in the northwest, most of which has disappeared in the waves,Bovenjadingen ('above the Jade') with the lowmoraine hills ofFriesische Wehde in the southwest,Butjadingen ('outside the Jade') in the northeast, which was an island for almost two centuries, andStadland ('bank-land'), which became a narrow island along the left bank of the Weser in 1384. The devastation by floods and the losses of land weakened the Frisian community. In the years about 1400, theFree City of Bremen tried to rule Stadland and Butjadingen. At the beginning of the 16th century, all countries around Jade Bight were conquered by the Counts of Oldenburg.
Together with the conquest of the island of Stadland, theLockfleth, the largest branch of the Weser delta, was interrupted by a dike atOvelgönne in 1515. In the next years the water course was cut off at more sites. The most important projects prior to 1650 were the Ellenser Damm across the Schwarzes Brack in the west of the bay in 1596 to 1615 and the New Hoben-Dike in the east in 1643. South of this dike, the coast became a mossy bog. The bog was affected by high floods, and dikes built on the bog proved to be very fragile.
Tidal flows make the neck of Jade Bight the deepest natural channel near Germany's North Sea coast. In 1853, theKingdom of Prussia bought a part of the western shore of the bay from Oldenburg, in order to use the harbour as a Prussian naval base, later calledWilhelmshaven. DuringWorld War I, the GermanHigh Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte), the main battle fleet of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine), was based at Wilhelmshaven in the Jade Bight. AfterWorld War II, Wilhelmshaven became the main German port for the import of petroleum.
The foreshore areas of Jade Bight form a part of the GermanWadden Sea National Parks.
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