The Soeste

courseThe Soeste rises from a hollow on the eastern edge of the Schullenmoors in the north of Emstek. It flows north past the core town and is reinforced about 2 km west of the Emsteker Bäke coming from the town. In a north-westerly direction it reaches the outskirts of Cloppenburg, which it crosses in a south-westerly direction. There it already has so much water that it used to be possible to operate a water mill here, as evidenced by the name “Mühlenstraße” in downtown Cloppenburg. The Soeste flows through two other former mill locations, Stedingsmühlen and Neumühlen, into the Thülsfeld dam, which was built in the 1920s. Shortly afterwards it leaves the Geest area and flows through Friesoythe to Kampe, where its largest tributary comes from the right, the Lahe. Half a kilometer later, it is passed under the coastal canal with a culvert. Not far after that, the influence of the tides begins. united, and on to Barßel.

The Soeste is formed from two source streams in the fields of Hesselnfeld and Egterholz in the municipality of Emstek. It flows in a north-westerly direction through the town of Cloppenburg, where it already carries enough water so that a watermill could be operated here in the past. Mühlenstraße in the center of Cloppenburg is an eloquent example in this regard. The Soeste flows through two other former mill locations, Stedingsmühlen and Neumühlen, into the Thülsfeld dam, which was built in the 1920s. From there it flows via Friesoythe to Kampe, where it unites with the Lahe, and on to Barßel, where it flows through the "Zandersee" at the boat harbor and shortly thereafter unites with the Nordloher low to form the Barßeler low, which is a little further down to the Jümme will.

On the last kilometer after the local boat harbor, it is somewhat widened and is probably also called "Zandersee" here.
At the confluence with the Nordloh-Barßeler Tief, the name and hydrographic definitions differ from one another today: The Soeste ends here, while the valley is 3.2 km upstream from the Aue-Godensholter Tief and the Nordloher Canal. Hydrographically (water code 388) it continues in the lower part of the deep and becomes 4.7 km further to the Jümme. Official maps from the 1980s also differentiated between the Nordloher Tief east of the confluence with the Soeste and the Barßeler Tief west of the confluence.