Ryck

The Ryck is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. From its source near Bartmannshagen, part of the Süderholz community northeast of

Grimmen Grimmen (; csb, Grzëmié) is a town in Vorpommern-Rügen, a district in the Bundesland Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Prior to 2011, when district reforms were made in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it was the capital of the now bygone Nordvorpomm ...

, the Ryck flows for about to the east, reaching

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...

shortly before its mouth. The larger part of the river outside Greifswald is also referred to as ''Ryckgraben''. In Greifswald, the Ryck provided both the medieval

Hanse The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German ...

atic port and natural

salt evaporation ponds A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural sal ...

, as due to the low elevation,

hypersaline A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing that of ocean water (3.5%, i.e. ). Specific microbial species can thrive in hi ...

water of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

is driven into the river by the wind, flooding the lower meadows on the Ryck's northern bank. In the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

, the Ryck marked the southern border of the

Principality of Rügen The Principality of Rügen; da, Fyrstendømmet Rygien; pl, Księstwo rugijskie; la, Rugia was a Danish principality, formerly a duchy, consisting of the island of Rügen and the adjacent mainland from 1168 until 1325. It was governed by a loc ...

and the northern border of the County of Gützkow. West of Greifswald, the Ryck fed the ''Boltenhägener Teich'', a medieval lake. The old Hanseatic port in Greifswald is now an open-air ship museum. Image:Caspar David Friedrich 043.jpg, "Meadows near Greifswald"

Caspar David Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich (5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landsca ...

, 1820 (depicting the area used for salt evaporation) File:Greifswald_Museumshafen_StbBr.JPG, Old port, downtown Greifswald, view from Steinbecker bridge File:Greifswald Museumshafen.JPG, Old port, downtown Greifswald, view from pedestrians' bridge Image:Greifswald-Wieck_3.jpg, Old bridge in Greifswald-Wieck Image:Greifswald Wieck.jpg, Mouth at Greifswald-Wieck File:Greifswald im Mittelalter (Rekonstruktion Theodor Pyl).jpg, Map of medieval Greifswald showing ''Boltenhäg(en)er Teich'' and the confluence of the ''Baberow'', neither of which now exist. Rivers of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Federal waterways in Germany Rivers of Germany {{Mecklenburg-river-stub