''Siek'' is a north German term for a wet depression, hollow or lowland area. It is mainly used to describe typical cultural landscape elements in eastern

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

, especially in the county of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

and in the region of

Ravensberg Land Ravensberg Land () is a cultural landscape in the district of Ostwestfalen-Lippe in the northeast of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It lies between the Wiehen Hills to the north, the Teutoburg Forest to the south, the state bo ...

. In

East Westphalia Ostwestfalen-Lippe (, literally ''East(ern) Westphalia-Lippe'', abbreviation OWL) is the eastern region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, congruent with the administrative region of Detmold and containing the eastern part of Wes ...

"siek" is a very common component of the names of tracts of land, roads, places and even personal names, e.g. ''Heidsiek'', ''Siekhorst'', ''Im Siek'', ''Siekmann'' and '' Sieker''.

Origins

The fertile

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

soils in this region of north Germany are dissected by a host of brooks and headstreams, which used to flow in marshy

V-shaped valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...

s. Not all ''Sieke'' are or were, however, crossed by a stream, but at the very least they always consisted of wet ground. During the course of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

cultural and agricultural history, people developed these natural landforms by cutting into the edges of the V-shaped valleys (so-called ''Wiesenbrechen'' by ''Wiskenmaker''Adolf Schüttler: ''Das Ravensberger Land''. Aschendorff, Münster 1995, S. 13, ) and turning them into

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

and box valleys, and any streams were regulated such that they ran in straight beds along the edges of such a box valley. The aim of these measures was the create a wet

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

in the now broad, accessible stream meadows which could then be extensively cultivated. In addition the cut, grass sods or ''

plaggen Plaggen soil or plaggic anthrosol is a type of soil created in parts of northwest Europe in the Middle Ages, as a result of so-called "plaggen" agriculture on marginal podzol soils. In order to fertilize the fields, pieces of heath or grass includi ...

'' were able to be used to fertilise the surrounding fields ('' Plaggendüngung''). In Ravensberg Land, ''sieke'' are generally narrow, trough valleys interspersed in the countryside and lying next to cultivated areas of slightly higher ground or ''

kuppe A ''Kuppe'' is the term used in German-speaking central Europe for a mountain or hill with a rounded summit that has no rock formation, such as a tor, on it. A range of such hills is called a ''Kuppengebirge''. In geology the term also refers t ...

n'' (''

Plaggenesch Plaggen soil or plaggic anthrosol is a type of soil created in parts of northwest Europe in the Middle Ages, as a result of so-called "plaggen" agriculture on marginal podzol soils. In order to fertilize the fields, pieces of heath or grass includ ...

e''), which were raised by the grass sod fertilisation.

Importance today

Since, owing to the changed production conditions in modern agriculture, the grasslands in the ''sieken'' have become economically largely superfluous, many unused ''sieke'' would become marshy again in the long term without

mowing A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reaper ...

and maintenance and turn into

black alder Black alder is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *''Alnus glutinosa'', native to Europe and widely naturalized *''Ilex verticillata ''Ilex verticillata'', the winterberry, is a species of holly native to eastern North America in ...

carrs. Conservation and cultural landscape management today have the task of ensuring a balanced relationship between renaturalising ''sieken'' on the one hand and regularly mown grassland ''sieken'' on the other. An example of protected ''siek'' systems is the

Kilverbach Kilverbach is a small river on the border of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is 8.4 km long and flows into the Else as a left tributary south of Rödinghausen. See also *List of rivers of Lower Saxony *List of rivers of Nor ...

valley () and the Wöhrener Siek in Ravensberg Land.

''Siepen''

Etymologically probably related and conceptually similar is the valley landform known as a''

siepen ''Siepen'', ''Siefen'', ''Seifen'' or ''Seipen'' are typical regional words used in northwestern Germany for what are often narrow, wet, ravine-like V-shaped valleys of the German Central Uplands with their small headstreams. In the south German r ...

'', which is mainly found in the south Westphalian area and generally also describes wet valley bottoms, mostly stream-bearing V-shaped valleys.

References

Literature

*Florian Herzig: ''Vom Wert der feuchten Wiesen, Entstehung, Nutzung und Zerstörung der Sieke im Ravensberger Hügelland''. In: Kreisheimatverein Herford (publ.), Kommunalarchiv Herford (publ.): ''Historisches Jahrbuch für den Kreis Herford 2005''. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte. Bielefeld, 2004. {{ISBN, 389534592X Landforms Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia Westphalia