The Hessian Ried (german: Hessische Ried) is a low-lying, agricultural region that forms part of the northeastern area of the
Upper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...
. It is situated in
South Hesse
Darmstadt is one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Hesse, Germany, located in the south of the state. The other two Regierungsbezirke are Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, ca ...
in west central
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 ...
.
Location and description
The Hessian Ried lies between the
River Rhine to the west, the
Bergstraße route in the east and between the town of
Lampertheim
Lampertheim is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. In 1984, the town hosted the 24th ''Hessentag'' state festival.
Geography
Location
Lampertheim lies in the southwest corner of Hesse in the Rhine rift at the Biedensand Cons ...
in the south to town of
Groß-Gerau
Groß-Gerau () is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area. In 1994, the town hosted the 34th Hessentag state festival.
Geogra ...
.
In former times the lowlands of the Ried were largely marshland and repeatedly affected by serious
flooding
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
of the Rhine and
Weschnitz
The Weschnitz is a right tributary of the Rhine running through the German states of Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. The name of the river traces to the Celtic god Visucius, who was worshiped in the region.
The river source is in the Odenwald, ...
. During the time of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
the area was therefore avoided and the road, the ''Strata Montana'', on the
Bergstraße, built higher up along the edge of the
Odenwald. Later
Lorsch Abbey
Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries ...
became an important centre in the middle of the Ried.
Not until the regulation of the Rhine and
Weschnitz
The Weschnitz is a right tributary of the Rhine running through the German states of Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. The name of the river traces to the Celtic god Visucius, who was worshiped in the region.
The river source is in the Odenwald, ...
did it become increasingly suitable for
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
. In addition, widespread drainage produced land for agricultural use in the wake of the "General Cultural Plan" of 1925. In the mild
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
asparagus
Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.
It was once classified in ...
and
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
thrive. Because of the proximity of the large centres of population nearby (the
Rhine-Main
The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'' or ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'', abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan re ...
and
Rhine-Neckar regions) vegetables and lettuce are grown widely. Due to the low
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
in the Hessian Ried, increasing amounts of artificial
watering
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been develop ...
is needed.
Heavy
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...
extraction for public
water supplies, for industry and for agriculture have, especially in dry periods (around 1976 and 1993), led to
subsidence and damage to buildings and, especially in the forests and
wetlands to damage to groundwater-dependent
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...
. This led to considerable disputes between the
water companies, landowners, farmers, the
forestry industry
The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furn ...
and
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
agencies. These conflicts were defused by the introduction of a more flexible management of groundwater extraction that is now oriented towards the groundwater-land relationship. In addition the Hessian Ried Water Association was founded in 1979 and had worked to improve the groundwater.
Origin of the name
The name ''Hessisches Ried'' is probably derived from the
reeds that once covered much of the landscape. Frequent flooding - especially from the Rhine and the Weschnitz – made the Hessian Ried an ideal habitat for these plants. Today large beds of reed are very rare and are mostly found in nature reserves.
Another explanation may be that ''Ried'' was the name given to a
forest clearing of the area in order to make it usable for agriculture.
Sub-regions
*
Altrhein
**
Kühkopf-Knoblochsaue – nature reserve with the
island of Kühkopf and the Knoblochsaue to the north
** Rhine island of Nonnenau near
Ginsheim
The double city of Ginsheim-Gustavsburg in the northwest of the Groß-Gerau district in the German state of Hesse, has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is part of what is called the Rhine-Main region in Germany which has the city of Frankfurt am Main a ...
* Schwarzbachaue near
Trebur
Trebur is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hessen, Germany. It is 13 km southeast of Mainz, and 8 km south of Rüsselsheim.
Geography Location
Trebur is located in the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region. The cities of Mainz, Wiesbade ...
*
Riedsee bei Leeheim
Riedsee bei Leeheim is a lake in Hesse, 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 ...
*
Riedsee bei Biblis
*
Biedensand nature reserve near
Lampertheim
Lampertheim is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. In 1984, the town hosted the 24th ''Hessentag'' state festival.
Geography
Location
Lampertheim lies in the southwest corner of Hesse in the Rhine rift at the Biedensand Cons ...
Towns and villages in the Hessian Ried
* The
Alsbach-Hähnlein villages of: (Alsbach lies on the Bergstraße)
**
Hähnlein
* The
Bensheim
Bensheim () is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstraße and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain. With about 40,000 inhabita ...
quarters of (Bensheim itself lies on the Bergstraße)
**
Fehlheim
**
Langwaden
**
Schwanheim
*
Biblis
Biblis is a municipality in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies in the Rhine rift west of the Odenwald between Darmstadt to the north and Mannheim to the south; it also lies north of ...
and its villages:
**
Nordheim
**
Wattenheim
Wattenheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Wattenheim lies on a cone-shape ...
*
Biebesheim am Rhein
*
Bürstadt
Bürstadt is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hesse, Germany, 7 km east of Worms, and 17 km north of Mannheim. In 1981, the town hosted the 21st ''Hessentag'' state festival.
Geography
Location
Bürstadt lies in the Rhine ...
and its quarters:
**
Bobstadt
**
Riedrode
*
Büttelborn
Büttelborn is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Büttelborn lies on the edge of the northern Hessisches Ried, the northeastern section of the Rhine rift, and even today is still partly rural. Its proxim ...
*
Einhausen (Hesse)
*
Gernsheim
Gernsheim () is a town in Groß-Gerau district and Darmstadt region in Hesse, Germany, lying on the Rhine.
Geography
Location
The ''Schöfferstadt Gernsheim'', as Gernsheim may officially call itself – it was Peter Schöffer's birthplace – ...
and its quarters:
**
Allmendfeld
**
Klein-Rohrheim
*
Griesheim
*
Groß-Gerau
Groß-Gerau () is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area. In 1994, the town hosted the 34th Hessentag state festival.
Geogra ...
and its quarters:
**
Berkach
**
Dornberg
**
Dornheim
Dornheim is a municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany.
The main attraction is the village church where the composer Johann Sebastian Bach was married in 1707.
References
Ilm-Kreis
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
{{IlmK ...
**
Wallerstädten
**
Nauheim
Nauheim is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hesse, Germany.
Nauheim is located southwest of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the metropolitan region of Frankfurt. It lies in the Hessian Ried.
Geography
Location
Nauheim lies 3 ...
*
Groß-Rohrheim
*
Lampertheim
Lampertheim is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. In 1984, the town hosted the 24th ''Hessentag'' state festival.
Geography
Location
Lampertheim lies in the southwest corner of Hesse in the Rhine rift at the Biedensand Cons ...
and its quarters:
**
Hofheim
**
Hüttenfeld
**
Neuschloß
**
Rosengarten
*
Lorsch
Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Geography
Location
Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...
*
Pfungstadt
Pfungstadt is a town of 25,029 inhabitants (2020), in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in the state of Hesse, Germany.
History
The town was first mentioned in 785 as property of the Monastery of Lorsch and got its town rights in 1886 due to its ...
and its quarters of:
**
Eich
**
Eschollbrücken
**
Hahn
*
Riedstadt
Riedstadt, with its municipal area of 73.76 km² is Groß-Gerau district's biggest town by land area. It lies in Hesse, Germany, about 12 km southwest of Darmstadt.
Geography
Location
Riedstadt is shaped not only by its preserved rur ...
and its town quarters:
**
Crumstadt
**
Erfelden
**
Goddelau
**
Leeheim
**
Wolfskehlen
*
Stockstadt
*
Rüsselsheim with the town quarter of:
**
Bauschheim
*
Trebur
Trebur is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hessen, Germany. It is 13 km southeast of Mainz, and 8 km south of Rüsselsheim.
Geography Location
Trebur is located in the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region. The cities of Mainz, Wiesbade ...
and its villages of:
**
Astheim
**
Geinsheim
**
Hessenaue
**
Kornsand
* Der
Zwingenberg quarter (Zwingenberg itself lies on the
Bergstraße)
**
Rodau
Literature
* Peter Prinz-Grimm und Ingeborg Grimm: ''Wetterau und Mainebene.'' Borntraeger, Berlin/Stuttgart, 2002, ''(Sammlung geologischer Führer 93),'' especially p. 12.
External links
Hessisches Ried environmental atlasDas Hessische Ried zwischen Vernässung und Trockenheit: eine komplexe wasserwirtschaftliche Problematik Teil 1(pdf; 6.3 MB)
Teil 2· 70 page brochure by the Hessian Ministry for the Environment, 2005 (pdf files; 5.6 MB)
{{coord missing, Hesse
Geography of Hesse
Regions of Hesse