Bode River

The Bode () is a river in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, a left tributary of the Saale.
It rises in the Harz mountains and drains them in a northerly direction. After it discharges into the Saale at Nienburg. The river is named after a legendary giant, the wild, rampaging, Bohemian, ''Prince Bodo'', who, according to the '' Rosstrappe'' legend, changed into a marauding dog that guarded the crown of ''Princess Brunhilde'' in the ''Kronensumpf'' ("crown marsh") in the present-day Bode Gorge (). The gorge is the narrow section of the Bode valley between Treseburg and Thale.

The ''Bodo'' legend

According to tradition, there was once a giant called ''Bodo'' who came from Thuringia, in modern-day central Germany, to pursue ''Brunhilde'', 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-called '' Rosstrappe''. 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 dog ''Bodo'' in the valley of the river. The river was given the name ''Bode'' after the giant ''Bodo'' who was now under a spell.

Geography

Source and catchment areas

The Bode is heavily divided in its source region on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz, but its two most important source streams are the:
* Kalte Bode, , which rises at ''Bodesprung'' in
* Warme Bode, long, with its headstream, the ''Bodebruch''

The two rivers, which actually have a temperature difference of 2 Â°C, merge not far from the Königsburg Ruins immediately before flowing into the Königshütte Dam (a feeder dam or ''Ãœberleitungssperre'').

Other tributaries of the Bode include the Rappbode and the Luppbode. The Rappbode is impounded near Wendefurth by the Rappbode Dam. At the northern end of this reservoir, the Rappbode joins the Bode, which is impounded here by the Wendefurth Dam. Other tributaries of the Bode are the Goldbach, the Holtemme and the Selke.

Waterfalls

The waterfalls 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.
The ''Bodekessel'' 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 the ''Kästental''.

Course

The Bode winds its way between Treseburg and Thale through a long, narrow valley, the ''Bode Gorge''. Today, the valley is a nature reserve. The Bode Gorge and its villages are the primary setting for Theodor 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 at Nienburg. Important Bode tributaries are the Selke and the Holtemme.
Other towns on the Bode river are Quedlinburg, Wegeleben, Gröningen, Oschersleben, Hadmersleben, Egeln and Staßfurt.

The Bode gorge north of Thale is now a protected area.

File:bode_warme_grosse_herbst.jpg, The ''Große Bode'' (headstream of the ''Warme Bode'') above Braunlage
File:BodeZusammenfluss.jpg, Confluence of the ''Warme Bode'' (left) and ''Kalte'' (right) ''Bode'' near Königshütte
File:Wilde Bode.jpg, The ''Wilde Bode''
File:Stassfurt_Bodebruecke.jpg, View of the Bode bridge in Staßfurt

Catchment area and tributaries

The catchment area of the Bode ist about 3000 km² in area. Important tributaries within the Harz are the Rappbode and the Luppbode. The Rappbode is impounded at Wendefurth by the Rappbode Dam. At the northern end of the reservoir the Rappbode joins the Bode which is also impounded by the Wendefurth Dam. Other tributaries are the Goldbach, the Holtemme and the largest one, the Selke.

Dams

In a hydrological sense every source stream of the Bode has a specific catchment 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, , for the Rappbode Pre-Dam and Rappbode Reservoirs, , and for the Königshütte Reservoir, . The Mandelholz Dam impounds the water of the ''Kalte Bode''. The total catchment area of the Bode is about .

History and culture

Middle Ages

In the Early Middle Ages the Bode formed the border between the provinces of the ''Harzgau'' in the west and the ''Schwabengau'' in the east. The two most important Bode crossings at that time were the settlements of Ditfurt und Gröningen, mentioned frequently in the Fuldau annals.

Modern era

Heinrich Heine depicts the romantic Bode valley in his 1826 travelogue ''Die Harzreise'':

Flood and low water

The 'most devastating' floods from the Bode occurred in the years 1539, 1667, 1730, 1740, 1772 and especially at Christmas in 1925.Vgl. 'Das Bode-Hochwasser Silvester 1925 in Quedlinburg: Festschrift zur Einweihung der Bahnhofsbrücke am 27. November 1926'. Herausgeben vom Magistrat der Stadt Quedlinburg, 1926. 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 was recorded, whereas in the following summer of 1926 it fell to just .

See also

*List of rivers of Saxony-Anhalt
*

Sources

* Monika Schönau/Edmund Werner: ''Die Bode: ein Fluss führt Hochwasser!'' Sachsen-Anhalt, Staatliches Amt für Umweltschutz Magdeburg, Magdeburg 2000.

References

External links

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Further information

{{Authority control

Rivers of Saxony-Anhalt
Rivers of the Harz
Rivers of Germany