Köhm is a small river of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is 4.4. km long and flows into the

Niers The Niers (, ) is a river in Germany and the Netherlands, a right tributary of the river Meuse (German and ). Its wellspring is near Erkelenz, south of Mönchengladbach, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Course and length The Niers flows thr ...

near

Erkelenz Erkelenz (, ) is a town in the Rhineland in western Germany that lies southwest of Mönchengladbach on the northern edge of the Cologne Lowland, halfway between the Lower Rhine region and the Lower Meuse. It is a medium-sized town (over 44,000) ...

-Keyenberg. Its upper course no longer exists due to

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

mining (

Garzweiler surface mine The Tagebau Garzweiler () is a surface mine () in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a ...

Course

The original source of the Köhm was in the area between Garzweiler and Kaiskorb. Here, at an altitude of 120 m above sea level, was the watershed between the

Erft The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardina ...

(

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

) and the

Rur Rur or RUR may refer to: * Rur (river), a tributary of the Meuse, mostly in Germany * '' R.U.R.'', a 1920 Czech sci-fi play by Karel Čapek * Russian ruble, a currency (pre-1998 ISO 4217 code: RUR) * Ohaw, or rur, a Japanese soup dish * Rur., a ...

(

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

). From here, the Köhm flowed north past Alt-Otzenrath. The area between Garzweiler and Otzenrath is now in the excavated area of the open-cast mine. Heading from Otzenrath, the Köhm runs in a west-east direction in a narrow valley at an altitude of 74 to 78 m above sea level through the village of Borschemich, then north of Keyenberg directly past the former knight's estate Haus Keyenberg to finally flow into the Niers. It is only a flowing body of water after heavy rainfall and when the snow melts. Some of the water is fed in by drainage measures for the Garzweiler open-cast mine. From the entrance to Borschemich, the Köhm is canalized and only flows openly again from Marienstiftstraße next to the parish house. In the past, the Köhm in Borschemich fed the ditch system of Haus Paland; a part of the ditches is still preserved. In the past, water also flowed into the Köhm from the ditch system of Haus Keyenberg, which in turn was fed by springs.

'Köhm-Lied'

A traditional song exists about the Köhm river in the Borschemich dialect of German: Kütt dr Sonndachnommedach wehs kehner us noch en löf dat Dres de Stros eraf flöck nom Onkel hin säht em dann jet in et Uer hei dat wütt jemaat hei dat jöff en Sondertour hei dat jöff en Fahrt Jo mir fahre med nem Böötche ob dr Kue´hm allemole un et Dres mit singem Ühem un dat Dres dat kritt dr zedder be demm janz glitter jo no Mod - jo no Mod - jo no Mod allemole op dem klene Paddelboot !

References

Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia Rivers of Germany {{NorthRhineWestphalia-river-stub

Course

'Köhm-Lied'

See also

References