red = Blockland in the territory of Bremen City
reddish grey = other parts of the Western district Blockland is a landscape and nowadays a borough of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is part of the Western municipal district and covers an area of 30.3 km².

Geography

The Blockland is part of the

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es of the Hamme, a tributary of the

Weser River The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...

, and the

Wümme Wümme () is a river in northern Germany, in the states Lower Saxony and Bremen, marking the border between the two states for part of its course. It is the main headstream of the Lesum. The Wümme's length is . Including the Lesum, that runs in ...

(its main source), both of which are

tidal river A tidal river is a river whose flow and level are influenced by tides. A section of a larger river affected by the tides is a tidal reach, but it may sometimes be considered a tidal river if it has been given a separate name. Generally, tidal ri ...

s. The average elevation is 1 meter above sea level. Without the dikes along the Hamme and the Wümme, it would be flooded twice a day. Since its cultivation in the 12th century, the Blockland is drained by a network of parallel trenches which cut the area into blocks, giving the area its name.

Population and landuse

The density of population is quite low, 14 inhabitants per square kilometre. The settlements are concentrated along the dike. Most of the land use is Greenland economy of pastures and meadows. For the inhabitants of Bremen, the Blockland is an important leisure resort. Cycling, hiking and skating on the small roads at the dikes and along Kleine Wümme, an affluent of the Wümme, are popular activities. The Kleine Wümme and the limiting waterways of Wümme and Kuhgraben are used for paddling. And if there is enough frost, the ancient navigation canal of Semkenfahrt becomes a natural ice-rink. The

garbage dump A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

of Bremen City, called ''Blockland-Deponie'',Umweltbetrieb Bremen, ''Bremens höchster Berg'' (in German)
/ref> is situated just outside the political Blockland in the territory of the borough of

Walle Walle is a surname of Norway, Norwegian and Germany, German origin, which is a variant of the surname Wall (surname), Wall. Wall in turn is a topographic name, which meant a person who lived by a defensive or stone-built wall.''Dictionary of Americ ...

. 1416Wasserhorst Kirchwurt.JPG, Wasserhorst parish church Kuh im Blockland - Bremen - 2007.jpg, Typical landuse Zweiständerhof Blockland.jpg, Typical farmhouse on the dike

Cultural heritage

The oldest building of the Blockland is the tower of the evangelical parish church of Wasserhorst (DE). The church was mentioned first in 1185. The tower, in a

Romano-Gothic Romano-Gothic refers to an architectural style, also called Early Gothic, which evolved in Europe in the 12th century from the Romanesque style, and was an early style in Gothic architecture. In England "Early English Gothic" remains the usual te ...

borderline style, was erected in the 13th century. The nave was remodeled in 1743. To keep them safe from inundations, the church and churchyard have been built on an artificial hill ( Ger. Warft), here based on a natural hill that had not been high enough to be safe.

References

External links

Ortsamt Blockland
Populated places in Bremen (city) {{Bremen-geo-stub