White Stork Nests in Krümse

It was only with the large-scale drainage project at the end of the 19th century that the white stork population in the Elbe marshes began to decline rapidly.The construction of the Ilmenau Canal, the embankment, the draining of waterways,
and the development of wetlands significantly reduced the storks' food sources
(earthworms as first food, amphibians, insects, mice, and fish for the older chicks). The stork population has now stabilized at a much lower level than before.The nesting sites on farmhouses in Krümse, Fahrenholz, and Mover have been regularly occupied, in some cases for decades, mostly with annual breeding success.The Drennhäuser Hinterdeich is a popular feeding ground for storks. The better the food supply, the smaller the areas they need to feed.Nowadays, attempts are being made to establish storks on stork towers.
They offer the advantage of a clear approach path, because the stork depends on a specific wind direction when landing.They also provide good protection from predators such as martens and cats.
One such mast can be seen in Rönne, south of Elbuferstraße.samtgemeinde-elbmarsch.de/agenda21/kruemse.html

The village Krümse was first mentioned in documents in 1333 as Krümsee (according to NLH information sheet 8) or Krummingehusen - Krummhausen, a village on a crooked street (after Reinstorf); Of course, it existed earlier.Originally the heap village was built on a natural hill, the houses were in addition to protection against flooding on Wurten. In order to be able to farm, the march had to be drained and dikes had to be built. It is assumed that the oldest dykes of the Elbmarsch around Krümse in the 10./11. Century emerged. It was followed successively more dike buildings, through which the Elbfeld should be protected.Of course, the dikes at that time were not comparable to today's buildings, because they were narrower and lower. For the structural conditions of the time, however, they represented a great achievement and offered above all the appropriate protection.
An indication that the dike system around the Elbfeld is older than the eastern Elbdeiche, provides the type of corridor distribution (at least before the land consolidation).From Rönne to Drage / Laßrönne, the areas were drained by an irregular system of ditches, the so-called block corridors were created. It is an old Saxon form of land acquisition; Erbhöfe were owned by the families who paid for it, who paid the tithes to rule.On the other hand, between Bleckede and Marschacht up to the bettors, the so-called strip corridor - long, regularly laid pieces - prevailed. They were areas of "rule" that had been divided into Dutch patterns. The restructuring - before that there was probably also block corridors (crooked ways can be concluded) - was certainly accompanied by dike and drainage systems to Holländerart. It can be established on the basis of documents to the time around 1258 (Johannsen, 1993). The block corridors and thus also the dikes around the Elbfeld (the "restructuring dikes" ended here) were therefore older.All in all, however, it was still a relatively open area with water bodies, reeds, reeds and wet grassland. All these were optimal conditions for the white stork, which is still here today in Krümse.Source:
samtgemeinde-elbmarsch.de/agenda21/kruemse.html