The Kremmener Luch is a shallow

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

, known locally as a '' luch'', between the Glien plateau (near

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) in the south, and the Beetzer Heath in the north.

Overview

The western

Rhin The Rhin is a long river in Brandenburg, Germany, right tributary to the river Havel. It flows through the city Neuruppin and several lakes. A few kilometres downstream from Rhinow it flows into the Havel, about upstream from where the Have ...

flows through the Kremmener Luch, where it is called the Kremmener Rhin, or the

Ruppiner Canal The Kremmener Luch is a shallow fen, known locally as a ''luch (landform), luch'', between the Glien plateau (near Berlin) in the south, and the Beetzer Heath in the north. Overview

The western Rhin flows through the Kremmener Luch, where it ...

. The

Kremmen Lake Kremmen () is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located 15 km (10 miles) west of Oranienburg and 38 km (24 miles) northwest of Berlin. It is known mostly for its castle Ziethen. The local church contai ...

, which is embedded in the Kremmener Luch, was converted into a nature preserve in 1924. This wildlife preserve is 11 square kilometres large today, and there can one can still see cranes,

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

s, and European otters. For 300 years the Kremmener Luch has been drying up, and today, the greater part of it is suitable for agricultural usage, and has thus lost its moorish character. The Kremmer Dam, scene of the decisive battle which established the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

s as rulers of Brandenburg, goes through the Luch, the only road connection to the north, though the Kremmen-Neurippin railway line also provides access to the north. Wetlands of Germany Havelland Landforms of Brandenburg {{Brandenburg-geo-stub