Wesenitz - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Wesenitz is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

in the Free State of Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, right tributary of the Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

. Its total length is 83 km. The Wesenitz runs through the tourist regions of the Lusatian Highlands and Saxon Switzerland

Saxon Switzerland

Saxon Switzerland is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sandstone Mountains....

. Its name is derived from Sorbian

Sorbian languages

The Sorbian languages are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Historically the language has also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code...

language wjaz (Elm

Elm

Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

Geography

The Wesenitz originates near Neukirch/Lausitz and flows southwest through Bischofswerda

Bischofswerda

Bischofswerda is a small town in Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony.-Geography:The town is located 33 km to the east of Dresden at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is known as the "Gateway to Upper Lusatia" - "Tor zur Oberlausitz" in German. It is...

, passes Großdrebnitz

Großdrebnitz

Großdrebnitz, in Sorbian language Drjewnica, is part of the city of Bischofswerda in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It stretches along 4 km from the river Wesenitz in the north to the foothills of Lausitzer Bergland in the south....

, flows through Stolpen

Stolpen

Stolpen is a town in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.- References :...

and Dürrröhrsdorf-Dittersbach

Dürrröhrsdorf-Dittersbach

Dürrröhrsdorf-Dittersbach is a Saxon municipality in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. It is located near Dresden, Pirna and Stolpen. Its nearest river is the Wesenitz.-Main sights:...

. The Wesenitz joins the Elbe near Pirna

Pirna

Pirna is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 40,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as a Große Kreisstadt...

Touristic Attractions

Stolpen Castle

Stolpen

Stolpen is a town in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.- References :...

is officially documented first time for the year 1222 when it was a property of the Bishop of Dresden-Meissen

Bishop of Dresden-Meissen

The Bishop of Dresden-Meissen is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen in the Archdiocese of Berlin.The diocese covers an area of 16,934 km² and was erected as the Diocese of Meissen on 24 June 1921...

. In 1559 it had been passed over to Augustus, Elector of Saxony

Augustus, Elector of Saxony

Augustus was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586.-First years:Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He consequently belonged to the Albertine branch of the Wettin family...

. The castle's fame originates from the period 1716 till 1765 when Augustus II the Strong

Augustus II the Strong

Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....

imprissoned here his mistress

Mistress (lover)

A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...

Countess of Cosel.

The Liebethaler Grund
Liebethaler Grund
The Liebethaler Grund is a narrow, deeply incised valley of the Wesenitz river in the vicinity of Liebethal near Pirna. The valley is a popular walking trail, the Poet-Musician-Artist Way and is described as the "Gateway to Saxon Switzerland“...

, the "Gateway to Saxon Switzerland", is a picturesque ravine. Near a former hydropower station

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

the world's biggest memorial to Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

can be visited.

Historical Usage

Beginning with the inauguration

Inauguration

An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....

of Johann V. of Weißenbach in 1476, the Bishops of Meißen until 1559 and later the prince-elector

Prince-elector

The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...

s of Saxony

Saxony

performed fish farming

Fish farming

Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...

of carp

Carp

Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

s in two pond

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

s between Goldbach and Kleindrebnitz

Großdrebnitz

respectively in Bischofswerda

Bischofswerda

, which were fed with Wesenitz water. The fish farms were of approximately 20 ha each and had to be closed due to economic and technical reasons about 1815.
In 1895, 63 industrial plants made use of the water power, among them 44 mill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

s. Today, five such water mills can still be visited. One of them with two Francis turbine

Francis turbine

The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....

s is operated by Lohmen

Lohmen

Lohmen is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany.- History :Lohmen was first officially recognized as a village in 1292. The village name comes from the Slovak term lom or "fissure". There were quarries in the area as early as 1200, and were the first...

in the Liebethaler Grund.

Fauna

With an average width of 10 m and an average slope of 0.53%, grayling

Grayling (species)

The grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, the grayling is widespread throughout northern Europe, from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia...

resp. brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

s are the leading species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

in the lower and middle part, resp. the upper part of the river Wesenitz.

Down from Helmsdorf, the river Wesenitz is protected according Habitats Directive, referring to the appearance of European bullhead

European bullhead

The bullhead is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the Cottidae family, a type of sculpin...

and common minnow. In 1994, the salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

was renaturalized.

The Wesenitz historically inhabitated a large population of otter

Otter

The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....

s, which were hated by the fishermen. This population had been extincted until 1920, but revived in recent years due to measures of nature protection. Since 1969, a migration from the river system of Schwarze Elster

Schwarze Elster

The Black Elster or Schwarze Elster is a 179 km long river in eastern Germany, in the states Saxony, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, right tributary of the Elbe. Its source is in the Upper Lusatia region, near Elstra....

is reported at Großharthau

Großharthau

Großharthau is a municipality in the east of Saxony, Germany. It belongs to the district of Bautzen and lies southwest of the eponymous city.- Geography :...

respectively Bischofswerda

Bischofswerda

and is noticed in traffic victims at crossing points over the B6.

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