{"id":7560,"date":"2016-07-21T08:30:59","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T08:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=7560"},"modified":"2017-12-08T13:53:52","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T13:53:52","slug":"german-nationalparks-part-13-unteres-odertal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-nationalparks-part-13-unteres-odertal\/","title":{"rendered":"German Nationalparks \u2013 Part 13: Unteres Odertal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In previous months, we have already explored a large part of the gesch\u00fctzte Sch\u00f6nheit\u00a0<\/em>(protected beauty) of German nature.\u00a0We went to the windige K\u00fcsten\u00a0<\/em>(windy shores) of the\u00a0Wattenmeer<\/a>, <\/em>the\u00a0eindrucksvolle Felsen\u00a0<\/em>(impressive rocks) of the\u00a0S\u00e4chsische Schweiz<\/a>, <\/em>the\u00a0Jahrhunderte alten W\u00e4lder\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>(centuries old forests) of the\u00a0Bayerischer Wald<\/a><\/em>, the\u00a0Erzminen\u00a0<\/em>(ore mines) in the\u00a0Harz<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>Tiger\u00a0<\/em>(tigers) roaming around in the\u00a0Eifel<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0Tausend Seen\u00a0<\/em>(thousand lakes) of\u00a0M\u00fcritz<\/a><\/em>, the hohe Gebirge\u00a0<\/em>(high mountain ranges) of\u00a0Berchtesgaden<\/a>, <\/em>and the atemberaubende Natur\u00a0<\/em>(stunning nature) of the\u00a0Schwarzwald<\/a><\/em>. We discovered the\u00a0bedrohten<\/em>\u00a0Kreidefelsen\u00a0<\/em>(threatened chalk cliffs) of\u00a0Jasmund<\/a><\/em>. We visited\u00a0Hainich<\/a><\/em>, and its\u00a0Alte Buchen\u00a0<\/em>(old beeches). Then, we went to\u00a0Hessen<\/em>, to\u00a0Kellerwald-Edersee<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>with the\u00a0Staudamm\u00a0<\/em>(dam) of the\u00a0Edersee<\/em> and its old forests. Last time, we moved north to the beautiful lagoons of the\u00a0Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I am back! Today we will visit a park located to the border of Poland, Nationalpark Unteres Odertal<\/em>.\u00a0Next week, we will already visit the last (and youngest)\u00a0Nationalpark\u00a0<\/em>of Germany. I hope that you liked the series and let me know if you would like to see more posts like this and whether it helped you to learn about German culture and the German language!<\/p>\n

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The National Parks in Germany (Image by Lencer at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 3.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

Der Nationalpark\u00a0Unteres Odertal<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n

Nationalpark Unteres Odertal\u00a0<\/em>is a part of the\u00a0Internationalpark Unteres Odertal,\u00a0<\/em>which is managed together with\u00a0Polen\u00a0<\/em>(Poland). The international park\u00a0was established on May 7, 1992. This was not long after the Mauerfall\u00a0<\/em>and the\u00a0Wende<\/a><\/em> in 1989. The\u00a0Nationalpark\u00a0<\/em>was established on September 10,\u00a01995, and has a size of 10,500 hectares (approx. 26,000 acres). This is only a small part of the whole\u00a0Internationalpark<\/em>, which has a size of almost 120,000 hectares (approx. 300,000 acres). In 2015, the park celebrated its 20th Jubil\u00e4um\u00a0<\/em>(anniversary), for which a Dokumentarfilm\u00a0<\/em>(documentary) was filmed (see below).<\/p>\n

What is special about the\u00a0Nationalpark Unteres Odertal<\/em>?<\/h2>\n

First of all, it is not far from the capital of Germany, Berlin, and so many\u00a0Stadtmenschen\u00a0<\/em>(city people) come during weekends and visit the park to enjoy the nature and silence that the city lacks.<\/p>\n

Another specialty is its strange measurements. It is very narrow and long, as it follows the river\u00a0Oder<\/em>. It is only 2-8 km (1-5 mi) wide, while it is around 60 km (37 mi) long!<\/p>\n

Polder-Landschaft<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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On the left, you can clearly distinguish the Sommerdeich. (Image by Uckermaerker at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 4.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

But what is really unique about the park is its\u00a0Polder<\/em>–Landschaft\u00a0<\/em>(polder\u00a0<\/em>landscape).\u00a0Polders\u00a0<\/em>are a Dutch phenomenon (and word!), which you can read much more\u00a0about on our Dutch blog here<\/a>. The park has the only intact\u00a0polder\u00a0<\/em>landscape in the entirety of Germany. The\u00a0Flussgebiet\u00a0<\/em>(river basin) is surrounded by a lower\u00a0Sommerdeich\u00a0<\/em>(summer dyke) and further apart are the\u00a0Winterdeiche\u00a0<\/em>(winter dykes), which protect the houses that stand behind the dyke from the water when it floods. The logic to have a lower Sommerdeich<\/em>\u00a0and a higher Winterdeich<\/em>\u00a0is that most water will come through the river in the winter. In November, they open the Sommerdeiche<\/em>, so that the water can flood the entire\u00a0Flusstal\u00a0<\/em>(river valley). This way, the chance of a flooding is practically zero, and in the summer months, when the water is gone, the ground is very fertile. Then, the\u00a0Sommerdeiche\u00a0<\/em>are enough to keep the water at bay. The valley area that is dry in the summer is used as\u00a0Weide\u00a0<\/em>(pasture).<\/p>\n

This environment is also great for many different kinds of animals. Many Zugv\u00f6gel\u00a0<\/em>(migrating birds) enjoy the park a lot.<\/p>\n

Kanufahren<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

All this makes the park great for\u00a0Kanufahren\u00a0<\/em>(canoeing). The ranger of the park explains it here. A transcript and translation are below!<\/p>\n