The Schwentine is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the North

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

state of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

. It is approximately long and rises on the hill of Bungsberg, the highest point in the state, near the village of Kasseedorf in

Ostholstein Ostholstein (; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Stormarn, Segeberg and Plön, the Baltic Sea and the city of Lübeck. Geographically, the district covers the vas ...

. It then runs from its source to

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

where it flows into the Kiel Fjord, a bay of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. It passes through several lakes, including the Großer Plöner See, the largest lake in Schleswig-Holstein, as well as the towns

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Ostholstein, Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of December 2022, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic ...

Malente Malente is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is about 5 km northwest of Eutin and 35 km north of Lübeck. The cities belonging to this municipality are Timmdorf, KreuzfeldNeukirchen Siev ...

, Plön,

Preetz Preetz () is a town southeast of Kiel in the Plön (district), district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. Preetz is also known as "Schusterstadt" (English: 'shoemaker town') named after shoemakers who used to live and work in this ...

and Kiel.

Water management

The Schwentine is of great importance in the supply of

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

managed by the Kiel Utilities Company. The Schwentine Valley Waterworks (''Wasserwerk Schwentinetal'') has been located near Klausdorf since about 1900. Although the Schwentine valley gives an exceptionally natural impression along virtually its entire length, it is closely linked to the

industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

of the city of

. Two hydroelectric plants, now classed as cultural monuments, (one on the Rosensee) were laid out by the shipyard founder, Bernhard Howaldt, and are still in operation today. The once great mill industry no longer exists today. The old Howaldt Shipyard (that was merged into the firm of HDW), of which only the old metal foundry remains, was given a new lease of life as an industrial museum. Thanks to various sponsor programmes (e. g. the EU's programme) the region around the Schwentine estuary has gradually lost its character as an industrial wasteland. Apart from the immediate area of the estuary, no cargo boats use the Schwentine. Instead there are excursion boats (''5-Seen-Fahrt, Schwentinetalfahrt'') and rowing boats.

Nature conservation

The Schwentine Oxbow Lake (''Altarm der Schwentine'') is a part of the Schwentine that has been designated as

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

since 1984. It received this conservation status because the waterbody has remained close to its natural state due to its steep river banks and is a habitat for a range of rare plants and animals. It covers an area of . In addition to the section of river it includes an ox bow lake, a tributary, hedgerows, wooded river banks and slopes, rich in herbs, and small ponds.

History

The name ''Schwentine'' comes from the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

''Šventinė'' (meaning 'The holy one'; in

, ''die Heilige'');(Schwęʃkieʃe wardas tawa) Martynas Mažvydas Catechism, printed on 8 January 1547 by Hans Weinreich in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. or from the Slavic word ''Sventana'', of similar meaning. The original source of the Schwentine was not on the Bungsberg, but in the vicinity of Bornhöved. The source of the present-day Alte Schwentine is viewed by historians, natural scientists and linguistic researchers as the original source of the Schwentine. During the Early and

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

the little river marked the border between the German or Saxon region, which extended to the

near Kiel, and the Slav-settled regions in the present-day Ostholstein. In the Battle of Bornhöved on the field of Sventanafeld (Sventanapolje or "Schwentine field") near the village of Bornhöved near Neumünster in 798 the Obodrites, led by Drożko, allied with the Franks, defeated the Nordalbingian Saxons. See also: Wagria, Limes Saxoniae.

Photos

File:Quelle der schwentine bei bornhöved.jpg, Source of the Alte Schwentine near Bornhöved File:SchwentineBeiMalente.JPG, The Schwentine near Bad Malente File:Wst schwentine preetz 001.jpg, The Schwentine in the area between Preetz and the Rosensee near Raisdorf

Course

List of lakes through which the Schwentine flows (in downstream order): * Stendorfer See *

Sibbersdorfer See The Sibbersdorfer See is a lake in the district of Kreis Ostholstein, Ostholstein within the region known as Holstein Switzerland in the North German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It lies between Sibbersdorf and Fissau, north of the Großer Eutiner ...

* Großer Eutiner See *

Kellersee The Kellersee () is a lake in the Holstein Switzerland region of North Germany. It lies east of the village of Malente on the River Schwentine, has an area of , is up to 27 metres deep and lies at a height of . Southeast of the lake is the v ...

* Dieksee * Langensee * Behler See * Höftsee * Großer Plöner See * Stadtsee * Schwanensee * Kleiner Plöner See * Kronsee * Fuhlensee * Lanker See * Kirchsee * Rosensee, a reservoir

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Schleswig-Holstein Rivers of Germany