The Tiefwerder Wiesen (lit. German: Tiefwerder meadows) in Berlin is the remnant of the former floodplain landscape in the Havel/Spreetal lowlands. It is situated in the Tiefwerder area and the lowland region of the Pichelswerder River peninsula in the Wilhelmstadt district of Spandau. These wet meadows contain historical Havel River arms and have been protected under Landschaftsschutzgebiet (LSG) (landscape conservation area) since 1960, covering an area of 66.7 hectares. Within the LSG lies the Faule See (Lazy Lake), which emerged from an old arm of the Havel.
The natural floodplain is the last pike spawning area in Berlin. However, due to the lowering of the Havel water level since 1990, the accessibility of the meadows for the pike has significantly deteriorated. Moreover, the German Unity 17 transport project, if implemented, would cause a further drop in the water level, posing an additional threat to the pike's habitat. Endangered species such as the bladder sedge grow in the wet meadows dominated by sedges in Berlin. The LSG serves as an important inner-city link in the Havel biotope network and functions as a flight path for bats and a migration route for the native beaver. Since 2007, Berlin has been considering extending its protected status to a nature reserve.
Territory boundaries The highly dissected landscape conservation area lies between the Havel, the Havelchaussee, and the Heerstraße (Bundesstraßen B 2/B 5).
It starts in the north with a narrow east tip of the Freiheitswiesen on Tiefwerder. The western boundary runs southwest between an allotment/weekend settlement and a forest and meadow area, then continues along the Faulen See Lake, and finally crosses the Kleiner Jürgengraben ditch. In the lowland area south of the village of Tiefwerder, the boundary turns west and runs along the Kleiner Jürgengraben for a short distance to the Havel River. Along the river and the Havelseenweg, the western border stretches south almost to the Freybrücke (Frey bridge) and, after a short detour, it reaches the Heerstraße on Pichelswerder.
On the eastern side, the boundary starts from the narrow northern tip of the area, omitting the Tiefwerder waterworks. It runs southward along the Havelchaussee and the Havelaltarm Hohler Weg, which flows into the Stößensee Lake. Here, it also runs parallel to the district border with Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, which is marked by the S-Bahn embankment of the Spandauer Vorortbahn (Spandau Suburban Railway), located a few meters away from the Havelchaussee. Just before reaching the Stößensee Lake, the LSG border crosses the Hohlen Weg to the west towards the Steffenhorn and runs below the Schulzenwall and Langer Wall along the Hauptgraben back to the north. Then it circles the weekend settlement on the hill of Pichelswerder at the transverse ditch to the Toten Mantel, turns south again below the hill, and reaches the Heerstraße past the Pichelswerder natural gas storage facility. The southern boundary follows Heerstraße for about 300 meters. The landscape conservation area measures approximately 1.6 kilometers in length from north to south and about 900 meters in width, from west to east.
During the German division, the GDR claimed a small part of the Tiefwerder Wiesen as an exclave of the municipality of Seeburg. However, this claim had no consequences due to the opposition of the British authorities.
Geology, natural space, and climate
The Tiefwerder Wiesen is located in the southern part of the Spree where it meets the Havel River. This region is part of the Weichselian glacial valley in Berlin, characterized by thick sands that reach depths of over 20 meters. The Havel River follows a glacial channel in this area and does not extensively utilize the glacial valley.
On the eastern side, separated by the Havelchaussee and the S-Bahn embankment, lies the Schanzenwald forest, which also belongs to the valley sand area of the Spree lowlands. The Schanzenwald merges into the Murellenberge mountains, creating the Murellenschlucht canyon and Schanzenwald forest nature reserve. These hilly areas are part of the northwestern edge of the Teltow Plateau. Interestingly, the Tiefwerder Wiesen and the Schanzenwald forest run parallel to each other, separated by only a few meters, but are now divided by the S-Bahn embankment of the Spandauer Vorortbahn, also known as Olympic Railway. This railroad was built during preparations for the Summer Olympics, which were canceled due to the First World War, and eventually took place in Berlin 20 years later.
To the west of the Havel channel lies the former lowland Börnicker Lake, also known as Birnicker Lake. On its marshy meadows, the Spandauer Südpark (Spandau South Park) was established in 1923, featuring the Südparksee Lake. The channel continues to flow towards Scharfen Lanke and Grimnitzsee, which are located on the opposite side of the Havel, facing the Tiefwerder Wiesen. South of the Heerstrasse, the LSG Tiefwerder-Wiesen is followed by the landscape conservation area Pichelswerder, after which the Havel, which is canalized at Tiefwerder, opens into the southern Berlin Havel Lake chain. The Tiefwerder meadows are assigned to the Brandenburg-Potsdam Havel area (No. 812) in the natural space unit D 12a (East German Lowlands, Central Brandenburg Plates and Lowlands).
The Tiefwerder Wiesen is in a temperate climate zone, transitioning from the Atlantic-influenced climate of Northern/Western Europe to the continental climate of Eastern Europe, which is similar to the outskirts of Berlin.
Anthropogenic influences on flood dynamics
The biotope and landscape function of the Tiefwerder Wiesen also referred to as pike spawning meadows, relies heavily on their flood dynamics, which are greatly influenced by the water level of the Havel River and human activities. The Havel lakes play a significant role in regulating the water levels, resulting in a relatively stable environment. The river’s low gradient averaging about 0.05% (equivalent to 5 cm per kilometer), ensures a serene and tranquil flow through the country.
Middle ages Archaeological discoveries of vessel fragments, belonging to the Prague type and dating back to the sixth to the eighth century, provide evidence of an early Slavic settlement on the eastern shore of the Faulen See (Lazy Lake), which was known as Wirchen Lake until the 19th century. The Middle Ages saw the presence of a Slavic settlement, although it did not significantly impact the water regime of the region. However, many of the Havel's old water names and the former lake name, likely derived from the settlement's name (Wirchen from Slavic verch/virch = height, elevation - referring to the neighboring Teltow slopes), trace back to this historical period.
Following German settlement, the water level of the Havel experienced a significant rise around 1180, attributed to a backwater in Spandau. This increase was primarily caused by the mill dam of the city of Brandenburg, which played a role in altering the flooding dynamics of the area. Despite water regulations implemented during the pre-industrial period between 1500 and 1750, the water balance of the region remained largely unaffected.
Havel regulations, and Elsgraben Until the mid-19th century, the vast and intricate network of estuary branches from the Spree and numerous ramifications of the Havel would regularly flood the lowlands between the Spree and Pichelswerder.Landschaftsschutzgebiet Tiefwerder Wiesen. In: Senatsverwaltung In 1880 and 1881, the canalization of the Havel, known for its strong meandering at Tiefwerder, and the river regulation during the expansion of the southern harbor at Tiefwerder in 1908 significantly altered the water network. However, the Elsgraben, built in 1832, played a crucial role in maintaining good flood dynamics. This canal diverted floodwaters from the Spree directly into the Tiefwerder Wiesen. Originally navigable until 1886, the Elsgraben gradually filled in around 1930. It connected the (old) Spree opposite the former Otternbucht (approximately at the location of today's Reuter combined heat and power plant) with the Faulen See. The primary purpose of the ditch was to protect Spandau by directing water away from the city through the Faulen See into the Havel in case of floods. Additionally, the Elsgraben facilitated the drainage of the Verlandungsmoor Fließwiese Ruhleben (Flow meadow Ruhleben), a former dead ice channel and the northern continuation of the dry valley Murellenschlucht canyon, into the Tiefwerder Wiesen.
Settlement construction and conflicts of interest
In the early 20th century, the floodplain area underwent significant changes due to settlement construction and industrial development. Embankments were built, narrowing the floodplain over time. In 1816, the fishing village of Tiefwerder was established in a higher and flood-free area, marking the first steps of human settlement in the region. As industrial facilities sprouted in the northern part of the area from 1910 onwards, further changes to the landscape were set in motion. The construction of the Heerstraße, between 1910 and 1912, further divided the Stößensee with an embankment, affecting the nearby Pichelswerder as well. The demand for drinking water from the Tiefwerder waterworks prompted the lowering of the groundwater level, starting in 1914. This change allowed for the construction of allotment colonies and weekend houses to the south of the village and along certain ditches. The freedom meadows (Freiheitswiesen) to the north were filled with rubble after the Second World War.
Today, the remaining floodplain in the Tiefwerder-Wiesen landscape conservation area consists only of a limited lowland area south of the village. To protect the delicate wet meadows, the state of Berlin undertook measures in the 1980s, removing road embankments and filled-in paths. Some of the pathways were replaced with footbridges and bridges, promoting a more sustainable approach to the preservation of the area's natural beauty. In 2005, the Naturschutzamt Spandau (Spandau Nature Conservation Office) issued notices of termination to 67 tenants who had allotment garden plots on state-owned land within the LSG. Though many plots have been cleared and their arbors dismantled, legal disputes arose, with some allotment gardeners successfully contesting the termination in court. Presently, certain residents are voicing opposition to the electric fences erected for the commercial keeping of water buffalo, goats, and sheep. These fences encompass several former recreational areas, and allotment gardeners have been granted the right to use them.
Transport project German Unity 17
Various factors such as the reduction of the Spree inflows in Lusatia (the water volume that the Spree fed to the Havel was more than twice as high as that of the Havel itself at its mouth until 1990, 38 m3/s compared to 15 m3/s) or the deepening of the Havel led to a lowering of the Havel water level since 1990. Additionally, the deteriorating flood dynamics have resulted in limited accessibility of the small remaining area for pike, making it possible only during specific years. For instance, prior to 1990, the water level of 29.55 meters above sea level was undercut on 220 days per year, whereas in the 2000s, it reached about 310 days per year. Meanwhile, the water level in the Havel has been reduced to a minimum.