The Bode Gorge ( German : Bodetal ) is a 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long ravine that forms part of the Bode valley between Treseburg and Thale in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The German term, Bodetal (literally "Bode Valley"), is also used in a wider sense to refer to the valleys of the Warme and Kalte Bode rivers that feed the River Bode.
25-756: At the Bode Gorge, the River Bode , which rises on the highest mountain in the Harz, the Brocken , has cut deeply into the hard Ramberg granite rock. The ravine is about 140 m deep at Treseburg and some 280 m deep at Thale where it breaks out into the Harz Foreland . The Bode Gorge was designated a nature reserve as early as 5 March 1937; its boundaries being subsequently expanded. With an area of, currently 473.78 hectares (1,170.7 acres), it
50-635: A 150 m high dam at the Bodekessel . The plan was scrapped. Only a few streams enter the Bode, on the right-hand side of the ravine. The Luppbode is a lively, bubbling brook coming from the direction of Allrode which joins the Bode near Treseburg. Another tributary stream is the Dambach, which empties into the Bode from a side ravine below the Rabenstein. There is a rapid succession of habitats in
75-475: A carpet. Common toothwort ( Lathraea squamaria ) and spring snowflake ( Leucojum vernum ) also occur here and there. Perennial honesty ( Lunaria rediviva ) and large white buttercup ( Ranunculus platanifolius ) may be found in places in the woods. The Bode Gorge ist also a habitat and refuge for many types of rare animal. Such rarities include the wildcat , Bechstein's bat , peregrine falcon , black stork , middle spotted woodpecker . The insect fauna
100-400: Is an acorn 2–3 cm ( 3 ⁄ 4 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 in) long and 1–2 cm ( 1 ⁄ 2 – 3 ⁄ 4 in) broad, which matures in about six months. Significant botanical differences from pedunculate oak ( Q. robur ) include the stalked leaves, and the stalkless (sessile) acorns from which one of its common names is derived. (With the pedunculate oak, it
125-435: Is characterised by fast-flowing, clean, shady stretches of river. In addition to brown trout it ish also home to loach , bullhead , three-spined stickleback and minnow . Rare visitors include pike , dace and perch . Rainbow trout have been introduced by anglers . The Bode Gorge may only be passed through on foot. A cycle path or bridleway is not feasible due to the narrowness of the ravine. Climbing and walking off
150-565: Is one of the largest nature reserves in Saxony-Anhalt . Apart from intrusions of Ramberg granite, which rose to the surface and solidified 300 million years ago in the Upper Carboniferous Period, and their associated veins of quartz , the ravine of the Bode also cuts through hornfels and knotenschiefer (a type of slate ), as well as argillite and graywacke with quartz elements and diabase dikes from
175-454: Is particularly varied. The white-throated dipper and grey wagtail can be observed hunting for insects on the stream beds. Mallard breed here and there in the reed beds or on remote gravel beds. In spring fire salamanders can be seen splashing about in the Bode Gorge during the spawning season. Care must be taken when walking not to disturb them. Where it flows through the gorge, the Bode ,
200-432: Is the acorns which are pedunculate, i.e. on stalks, while the leaves are not.) It occurs in upland areas of altitudes over 300 m (984 ft) with higher rainfall and shallow, acidic, sandy soils. Its specific epithet petraea means "of rocky places". Q. robur , on the other hand, prefers deeper, richer soils at lower altitude. Fertile hybrids with Quercus robur named Quercus × rosacea are found wherever
225-517: Is used for fence construction, roof beams and specialist building work. The wood also has antimicrobial properties. It is also a good fuel wood . During autumns with good acorn crops (the mast years), animals are traditionally grazed under the trees to fatten them. The Pontfadog Oak , once considered to be the oldest oak tree in the UK, was a sessile oak. This grew near Chirk in North Wales. It
250-469: The Devonian Period, 400 to 370 million years ago. Ramberg granite predominantly forms the front section of the ravine and characterises its highest rocks. It appears light-coloured due to the high proportion of white feldspar . The quartz lends it a grey shade. The proportion of black mica ( biotite ) is low and carries no weight in terms of colouring. The light-coloured granite stands out from
275-631: The granite rocks . Plants such as the snowy mespilus ( Amelanchier ovalis ), dyer’s greenweed ( Genista tinctoria ), browntop bent ( Agrostis capillaris ), sticky catchfly ( Lychnis viscaria ), blue stonecrop ( Sedum reflexum ) are particularly common. The scenery in spring is graced by wood anemones ( Anemone nemorosa ) and yellow anemones ( Anemone ranunculoides ), hollowroot ( Corydalis cava ), spring vetchling ( Lathyrus vernus ), kidneywort ( Hepatica nobilis ) and alternate-leaved golden saxifrage ( Chrysosplenium alternifolium ), which grows on stream banks, but also covers scree slopes like
SECTION 10
#1732773061368300-418: The pedunculate oak ( Q. robur ), with which it overlaps extensively in range. The leaves are 7–14 centimetres ( 2 + 3 ⁄ 4 – 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches) long and 4–8 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 –3 in) broad, evenly lobed with five to six lobes on each side and a 1 cm-long ( 1 ⁄ 2 in) petiole . The male flowers are grouped into catkins , produced in the spring. The fruit
325-477: The sessile oak , Cornish oak , Irish oak or durmast oak , is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran . The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland , and an unofficial emblem in Wales and Cornwall . The sessile oak is a large deciduous tree up to 40 metres (130 feet) tall, in the white oak section of the genus ( Quercus sect. Quercus ) and similar to
350-426: The Bode Gorge that produces a tightly woven mosaic of vegetation, characterised by an especially rich variety of plant species. The most common trees in the woods are sessile oak ( Quercus petraea ), large-leaved lime ( Tilia platyphyllos ), sycamore ( Acer pseudoplatanus ), silver birch ( Betula pendula ) and rowan ( Sorbus aucuparia ). Also worth mentioning is the common yew ( Taxus baccata ). Dominating
375-541: The Königsruhe tavern, is shrouded in legend. It was a low waterfall before its explosive demolition in 1798. Stones and boulders occupy the river bed. Slow-moving stretches of water occur, especially in the area of the Hornfels ( Zahme Bode ); rapids ( Wilde Bode ) are found particularly in the lower part of the ravine and formed by the incision of the river into the blocks of Ramberg granite . The water regime inside
400-567: The dark to black coloured rocks of hornfels and argillite. As a result, the front section of the ravine and the river bed of the Bode in this area appear clearly lighter than the rear section. The argillite at the rear of the gorge shows bands of colour in places that evinces the former strata of the marine sediments . The stratified slate was only slightly metamorphosed . In the area of the Bode Gorge average annual temperatures range from 8 °C down to 6.5 °C and annual precipitation between 600 and 720 mm. But sharp, local differences in
425-465: The edges of the gorge. In the area of the ravine the Bode has a width of 7 to 25 metres and descends 100 metres in 17 kilometres. Its river course and bed are very much in their natural state inside the ravine. Kettle-holes, rapids and scouring in the rock alternate with islands of gravel and flat river banks. The most notable rapids on the Bode, the Bodekessel , not far southwest of
450-507: The ground cover are plants like the wood bluegrass ( Poa nemoralis ), wavy hair-grass ( Avenella flexuosa ; especially in dry oak woods), white wood-rush ( Luzula luzuloides ), male fern ( Dryopteris filix-mas ), limestone oak fern ( Gymnocarpium robertianum ), wall hawkweed ( Hieracium murorum ), baneberry ( Actaea spicata ), small balsam ( Impatiens parviflora ), Herb Robert ( Geranium robertianum ), dog's mercury ( Mercurialis perennis ). A special plant community has grown on
475-655: The order they occur along the Bode Gorge from Thale to Treseburg. 51°44′08″N 11°00′35″E / 51.73556°N 11.00972°E / 51.73556; 11.00972 River Bode Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 550478494 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:51:01 GMT Sessile oak See text . Quercus petraea , commonly known as
500-422: The path, mountain biking, canyoning, water walking and whitewater canoeing or rafting are banned in order to protect the wildlife and biotope . Tourist facilities, restaurants and overnight accommodation are located at Thale by the entrance to the Bode Gorge. A ten kilometre long footpath runs through the Bode Gorge between Thale and Treseburg. At pinch points the path is routed in steep zigzags and walkways over
525-541: The ravine between, for example, the sunny, warm and dry southern slopes and the more shaded, cooler and damper northern slopes and valley floor, modify the local climate considerably. The most common soil types are silicate leptosols , that belong to the thin stony soils around areas of rock and scree. In flatter areas with less rearrangement of the soil particles are stony Ranker leptosols of various thickness. One particular soil type, brown Ranker occurs above argillite rock. Podsolised brown earth soils are found around
SECTION 20
#1732773061368550-528: The ravine is affected, however, by the dams owned by the Bodewerk in the upper reaches of the river. The discharge can vary sharply: during the devastating New Year floods of 1925 a discharge of 350 m/s was recorded; in the summer of 1926 the Bode almost ran dry (0.,35 m/s). Other major floods occurred in 1667, 1730 and in April 1984. There was a plan to impound the Bode in the ravine as well in 1891 with
575-552: The rocks. From them there are superb views into the ravine. Paths lead down into the gorge from the observation rocks at Rosstrappe and the Hexentanzplatz ("Witches' Dance Floor"). From the latter there is also a ridgeway to Treseburg. The Bode Gorge receives hundreds of thousands of visitors per year and is one of the leading tourist destinations in Saxony-Anhalt. The following places of interest are listed in
600-573: The two parent species occur and share or are intermediate in characters between the parents. Charles Darwin , in Chapter II of On the Origin of Species , noted that the sessile and pedunculate oaks had been described as both distinct species and mere varieties depending on the authority consulted. Quercus petraea was first described by Heinrich Gottfried von Mattuschka in 1777 as a variety of Quercus robur , Quercus robur var. petraea . It
625-534: Was raised to a full species by Franz Kaspar Lieblein in 1784. As of March 2023 , Plants of the World Online accepted five subspecies: Sessile oak is one of the most important species in Europe both economically and ecologically. Oak timber is traditionally used for building, ships and furniture. Today the best woods are used for quality cabinetmaking , veneers and barrel staves. Rougher material
#367632