The Pelze river is a tributary of the Mulde in the

Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve The Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve is a Biosphere Reserve in the German Federal state Saxony-Anhalt. The Middle Elbe reserve is a 430 square kilometre protected reserve, and is the largest protected region in Saxony-Anhal It extends along the Elbe r ...

near the confluence into the Elbe, between

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

and

Roßlau Rosslau (in German orthography: Roßlau) was until 30 June 2007 a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, belonging to the district Anhalt-Zerbst. After a fusion with the town of Dessau it became eponym of the newly founded town of Dessau-Roßlau and a qua ...

. The watercourse has a length of about 1.5 km and is connected to the Leiner See and Löbben through the flow channel. Lakes are fed by the Kapengraben into the Mulde. During high water levels in the Mulde and Elbe, the Pelze also comes into contact with the Igel-Lache, another old

riverbed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow (channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood st ...

. With 21 documented species, the Pelze is considered the most species-rich old riverbed in the

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

. In 1927, the Pelze was designated as one of the first protected areas for a mammal in

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 ...

, specifically as a beaver reserve for the

European beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers surviv ...

. At the angle formed by the confluence of the Pelze with the Mulde, in the 12th century, there was the castle "Burg Waldeser" and a village of the same name.

References

Rivers of Saxony-Anhalt Rivers of Germany {{SaxonyAnhalt-river-stub

See also

References