The Schwinge is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany, a left tributary of the Elbe. The Schwinge is long. It rises in the Hohes Moor near (a part of Kutenholz) on the

Stade Geest The Stade Geest (German: ''Stader Geest''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Stoder Geest'') is a natural region of low, sandy heath (geest) in the North German Plain. It includes a large part of the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the cities of Hamburg, Bremen a ...

in the bifurcation area with the Oste. From there it flows in a largely natural, more than upper reach towards

Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

. Because of its very natural river scenery and its biodiversity, the floodplains of the upper reach and the meadows near Stade are protected for landscape conservation. In Stade the ca. 1000-year-old Hanse port (') lies at the Schwinge. Here the upper reach is isolated from tides by a

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

called ''Salztorschleuse'' since 1792; the lower reach of the Schwinge, which flows into the lower Elbe north-eastern of Stade at Stadersand, begins. Because of the deepening of the Elbe the average tidal hub of the lower reach rose to , because of the backlog when the sluice gates are closed the fluctuations of the upper reach only amounts to a few decimeters. Despite the embankment the banks of the lower reach are lined with exceptional rare fresh water mudflats. The Schwinge is a federal waterway from the Elbe to the ''Salztorschleuse''. Since the completion of the Schwingesperrwerk, a flood barrier near the mouth of the river in 1971, all places at the Schwinge are protected better against storm surges. The gap is closed with two gates. From the Late Middle Ages until the 1950s the Schwinge was used for the transport of goods with smack-like ships called "". During

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

of the Schwinge and the ''Hansehafen'' countless historic artefacts were found, including famous Ulfberht swords from the 8th to 12th century. Today, however, the leisure and sports boat traffic dominates the shipping on the lower reach, the upper reach beyond Stade isn't navigable.

References

Rivers of Lower Saxony Federal waterways in Germany Rivers of Germany {{LowerSaxony-river-stub

See also

References