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37-728: 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

74-405: A 1 cm-long ( 1 ⁄ 2  in) petiole . The male flowers are grouped into catkins , produced in the spring. The fruit 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

111-614: 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

148-475: 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

185-482: A colossal tenderness, and from the conquered breast of rock it issued forth like sighs of passion and languorous sounds of wistfulness. The 'most devastating' floods from the Bode occurred in the years 1539, 1667, 1730, 1740, 1772 and especially at Christmas in 1925. Only on the completion of the Rappbode Dam in 1959 could the risk of flooding be eliminated. The water quantities in the Bode can vary significantly: during

222-731: A temperature difference of 2 °C, merge not far from the Königsburg Ruins immediately before flowing into the Königshütte Dam (a feeder dam or Überleitungssperre ). Other tributaries of the Bode include the Rappbode and the Luppbode . The Rappbode is impounded near Wendefurth by the Rappbode Dam . At the northern end of this reservoir, the Rappbode joins the Bode, which is impounded here by

259-435: 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

296-547: 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

333-450: 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 ,

370-583: 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 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

407-410: Is traditionally used for building, ships and furniture. Today the best woods are used for quality cabinetmaking , veneers and barrel staves. Rougher material 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

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444-462: 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

481-735: The Wendefurth Dam . Other tributaries of the Bode are the Goldbach , the Holtemme and the Selke . The waterfalls in the Harz are not high. The Upper Bode Falls ( Obere Bode-Fall ) on the Warme Bode are really a fast-flowing stream ( Sturzbach ) with small steps about 1 metre in height. Likewise the Lower Bode Falls ( Untere Bode-Fall ) on the Warme Bode is simply ledge of similar height. The Bodekessel in

518-631: 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

555-568: The Bode Gorge is a former step in a large hollow, that was reduced in height in 1798 from 2 metres to 1 metre by explosive. The fourth waterfall is in the Kästental . The Bode winds its way between Treseburg and Thale through a 10-kilometre (6 mi) long, narrow valley, the Bode Gorge . Today, the valley is a nature reserve . The Bode Gorge and its villages are the primary setting for Theodor Fontane ’s novel, Cécile . The river then crosses

592-426: 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

629-637: The Bode has a specific catchment area in the Harz, that is part of the catchment area of the Bode. The catchment areas of the various reservoirs are as follows: for the Wendefurth Reservoir, 309.2 square kilometres (119.4 sq mi), for the Rappbode Pre-Dam and Rappbode Reservoirs, 269 square kilometres (104 sq mi), and for the Königshütte Reservoir, 154.2 square kilometres (59.5 sq mi). The Mandelholz Dam impounds

666-434: The Bode ist about 3000 km² in area. Important tributaries within the Harz are the Rappbode and the Luppbode . The Rappbode is impounded at Wendefurth by the Rappbode Dam . At the northern end of the reservoir the Rappbode joins the Bode which is also impounded by the Wendefurth Dam . Other tributaries are the Goldbach , the Holtemme and the largest one, the Selke . In a hydrological sense every source stream of

703-602: The Harz Foreland in a curving and, in places, diked and canalised, course until it discharges into the Saale at Nienburg . Important Bode tributaries are the Selke and the Holtemme. Other towns on the Bode river are Quedlinburg , Wegeleben , Gröningen , Oschersleben , Hadmersleben , Egeln and Staßfurt . The Bode gorge north of Thale is now a protected area . The catchment area of

740-530: 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

777-523: The New Year flooding in 1925 a discharge of 350 cubic metres per second (12,000 cu ft/s) was recorded, whereas in the following summer of 1926 it fell to just 0.35 cubic metres per second (12 cu ft/s). Sessile oak See text . Quercus petraea , commonly known as 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

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814-553: The Saale at Nienburg . The river is named after a legendary giant, the wild, rampaging, Bohemian, Prince Bodo , who, according to the Rosstrappe legend, changed into a marauding dog that guarded the crown of Princess Brunhilde in the Kronensumpf ("crown marsh") in the present-day Bode Gorge ( German : Bodetal ). The gorge is the narrow section of the Bode valley between Treseburg and Thale . According to tradition, there

851-539: 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 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

888-567: 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

925-459: 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

962-507: 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

999-572: 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 The Bode is a river in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt , a left tributary of the Saale . It rises in the Harz mountains and drains them in a northerly direction. After 169 kilometres (105 mi) it discharges into

1036-533: The other hand, prefers deeper, richer soils at lower altitude. Fertile hybrids with Quercus robur named Quercus × rosacea are found wherever 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

1073-422: 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

1110-541: 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

1147-519: 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

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1184-538: 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

1221-552: The romantic Bode valley in his 1826 travelogue Die Harzreise : That dusky beauty, the Bode, did not receive me very graciously, and when I first caught sight of her in the smithy-like darkness of the Rübeland, she seemed even sullen and shrouded herself in a silver-grey veil of rain: but in a rush of love she threw it off when I reached the heights of the Roßtrappe, her face lit up opposite me in sunny splendour, from every aspect breathed

1258-490: The so-called Rosstrappe . Meanwhile, Bodo was turned into a dog. As her horse leapt the gorge, however, the princess lost her golden crown, which was now guarded by the dog Bodo in the valley of the river. The river was given the name Bode after the giant Bodo who was now under a spell. The Bode is heavily divided in its source region on the Brocken , the highest peak in the Harz, but its two most important source streams are the: The two rivers, which actually have

1295-416: The stalked leaves, and the stalkless (sessile) acorns from which one of its common names is derived. (With the pedunculate oak, it 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

1332-700: The water of the Kalte Bode . The total catchment area of the Bode is about 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi). In the Early Middle Ages the Bode formed the border between the provinces of the Harzgau in the west and the Schwabengau in the east. The two most important Bode crossings at that time were the settlements of Ditfurt und Gröningen, mentioned frequently in the Fuldau annals. Heinrich Heine depicts

1369-421: Was once a giant called Bodo who came from Thuringia , in modern-day central Germany, to pursue Brunhilde , the king's beautiful daughter, whom he wanted to marry against her will. Brunhilde fled on a white stallion ( Ross ), but they suddenly came to a deep ravine. With one bold leap she reached the rocks on the far side, but her pursuer fell into the abyss. The hoofprint of her horse can still be seen today as

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