The Prerower Strom, Prerow Strom
at www.ostseeferieninfo.de. Retrieved 27 Jun 2019. or Prerowstrom is an arm of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

in northeast Germany. It begins near the island of Schmidtbülten in the

Bodstedter Bodden The Bodstedter Bodden is a lagoon, of the type known as a ''bodden'', that is part of the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain and the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park in northeastern Germany. It lies south of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zing ...

and winds its way through the countryside of the peninsula of

Fischland-Darß-Zingst Fischland-Darß-Zingst or Fischland-Darss-Zingst''Fischland-Darss-Zi ...

, where it separates

Darß The Darß or Darss is the middle part of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The peninsula's name is of Slavic origin. There is a large forest in the ...

from the peninsula of Zingst. It ends at the harbour of the village of Prerow that gives it its name. The Prerower Strom is part of the

Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park The Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park
at www.naturefund.de. Ac ...

History

The Prerower Strom is not a river, but a so-called " gat" (''Seegatt'') or inlet, and was not formed until the first millennium A.D. when the Zingst began to be exposed as sea levels fell. As a rule the waters of the Prerower Strom flowed towards inland, which is how the ''Schmidtbülten'' were formed as part of a

regressive delta A regressive delta is a body of sediment that forms at the landward end of a gut. In contrast to river deltas, regressive deltas are not caused by fluvial sedimentation but by marine sedimentation. During storm events, sediment-bearing sea water ...

. Until the 19th century the Prerower Strom linked the ''

bodden Bodden are briny bodies of water often forming lagoons, along the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea, primarily in Germany's state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. These lagoons can be found especially around the island of Rügen, Usedom an ...

'' with the open sea and was up to 10.35 kilometres long. In 1872, however, there was serious flooding in the area, during which the northern part of the inlet, near Prerow, silted up and, as a result, was filled in and protected by dykes in 1874.

Today

The Prerower Strom, which has long since ceased to carry any flowing water, was divided into four parts, all separated by road embankments and linked by small canals and leats. These stretches of water are on average up to 3 metres deep. The longest section is 7.13 kilometres long and runs from the ''bodden'' to the ''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...

'' 21 (L 21) state road, the so-called "Spas Road" (''Bäderstraße'') in Prerow. West of the road, in Prerow, lie three smaller Strom lakes (''Strom-Seen''), which are each 500 to 700 metres long.

Boat services and leisure activities

There are boat services on the main arm of the Prerower Strom from Prerow to several villages on the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst and the nearby mainland. These comprise both ferry and passenger vessel services. On the centre of the western lakes, accessible from the road that runs to the

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

on the Baltic Sea, fishing and pedal-boats are also permitted. On the southwestern corner of this lake, on ''Ladenstraße'' near the boat hire place, there are several confectionery stalls, a

pirate ship Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

ride and a merry-go-round. This corner is known by locals as the ''Volksfest'' or "folk festival". Further north, towards the pier, where there are driving restrictions on the ''Ladenstraße'', there are about 20 souvenir and speciality shops that make it the busiest shopping road on the peninsula.

Gallery

File:Prerow strom 1.jpg, The Prerower Strom between Zingst and Darß File:Prerow Strom.jpg, Aerial photo of the Prerower Strom with Prerow, the harbour, Strom lakes, L 21 road and pier File:Prerower Strom.jpg, One of the northern Strom lakes

References

{{Coord, 54, 26, 3.5124, N, 12, 37, 15.81, E, type:waterbody_region:DE, display=title Fischland-Darß-Zingst Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain Straits of the Baltic Sea