The Schierenbeke is a left tributary of the

Große Aue The Große Aue (in its upper reaches known as the ''Aue'' and then also the ''Neuer Mühlenbach'' or ''Mühlbach'') is an , southwestern, left tributary of the River Weser in northern North Rhine-Westphalia and central Lower Saxony in Germany. ...

, or Neuer Mühlenbach as it is known in its upper reaches in the German state 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 ...

. The stream lies entirely within the East Westphalian parish of

Rödinghausen Rödinghausen (; ) is a municipality in the Herford (district), district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Rödinghausen is situated on the southern slope of the Wiehengebirge, approx. 20 km north-west of Herford and ...

in the district of

Herford Herford (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is situated in the cultural region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL) and the Detmold (administrat ...

Course

The Schierenbeke rises in Schwenningdorf at a height of around . The river flows in a west-to-east direction south of and parallel to the

Wiehengebirge The Wiehen HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (, , also locally, just ''Wiehen'') are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long f ...

hills. In its upper reaches the stream runs through the ''Schierenbeke Nature Reserve''. The valley at the 1.0 kilometre point is known locally as the ''Wolfskammer'' ("Wolf's Chamber"). A left tributary of the Schierenbeke is the

Wehmerhorster Bach The Wehmerhorster Bach is a stream in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany which rises on the Maschberg. It is long and flows into the Schierenbeke as a left tributary near Rödinghausen. See also *List of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia A list ...

, which enters at kilometre 0.8. The Schierenbeke discharges into the Neuer Mühlenbach or Große Aue at a point 81.5 km up the Aue from its mouth. The confluence is at around . ''Beke'' or ''Biäke'' means ''Bach'' or 'stream' in the

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

language.

Nature

The Schierenbeeke nature reserve embraces the upper reaches of the Schierenbeke and a neighbouring stream and their valleys as well as the forested area at the ''Wolfskammer'' and has a total area of . The streams are classified as 'near-natural'. Their water quality of class I to II supports a large number of rare animal species. The boundary of the region is close to the nature reserves of Wehmerhorster Wiesental and Auebachtal.

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Schierenbeke
Naturschutzgebiet Schierenbeke
Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia Rivers of Germany