Ruppiner Canal

The Kremmener Luch is a shallow

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...

, known locally as a '' luch'', between the Glien plateau (near

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) in the south, and the Beetzer Heath in the north. The western

Rhin The Rhin is a long river in Brandenburg, Germany, right tributary to the river Havel. It flows through the city Neuruppin and several lakes. A few kilometres downstream from Rhinow it flows into the Havel, about upstream from where the Havel ...

flows through the Kremmener Luch, where it is called the Kremmener Rhin, or the

Ruppiner Canal Kremmener-Luch-15-01-2008-045

The Kremmener Luch is a sha ...

. The

Kremmen Lake Kremmen is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located 15 km (10 miles) west of Oranienburg and 38 km (24 miles) northwest of Berlin. It is known mostly for its castle Ziethen. The local church contains ...

, which is embedded in the Kremmener Luch, was converted into a nature preserve in 1924. This wildlife preserve is 11 square kilometres large today, and there can one can still see cranes,

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

s, and European otters. For 300 years the Kremmener Luch has been drying up, and today, the greater part of it is suitable for agricultural usage, and has thus lost its moorish character. The Kremmer Dam, scene of the decisive battle which established the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

s as rulers of Brandenburg, goes through the Luch, the only road connection to the north, though the Kremmen-Neurippin railway line also provides access to the north. Wetlands of Germany Havelland Landforms of Brandenburg {{Brandenburg-geo-stub