Brückenmühlen Weir Themar

The Werrawehr at Themar is not only an eye-catcher, or a beautiful picture in the immediate vicinity of the old city wall. A fish ladder has been installed that allows our watery friends to pass upstream. From Themar the upper Werra is navigable with kayaks or canoes if the water level is sufficient. The tour leads through an ecologically particularly sensitive river area, which is to be restored by extensive renaturation measures as natural fish waters.

Near-natural, walkable rivers are important prerequisites for maintaining biological diversity in our streams and rivers.

For many water-dwelling animal species such as fish and microorganisms, migrations are part of their natural behavior and are part of their life cycle.
Weirs and other transverse structures therefore usually represent insurmountable obstacles.

In the last few centuries, the use of hydropower by mills was very pronounced. So was the natural networking of the flowing waters through the
Construction of a large number of impassable transverse structures and barrages severely impaired.

The continuity of the Werra was also interrupted at the bridge mill weir. At the historical mill location (formerly oil, tan and fulling mill, then
Electricity generation) was discontinued in the 1960s and the mill ditch was backfilled.

The optimal variant for creating the continuity - a demolition of the weir - was due to the resulting lowering of the groundwater level in the immediate vicinity
Proximity to the buildings is not possible. The establishment of the passability could only take place here by the construction of a fish pass.

Source: tlubn.thueringen.de/fileadmin/00_tlubn/Wasser/Fluesse_und_Baeche/Dokumente/Flussgebietsmanagement/modellprojekte/vernetzung/brosch__re_themar.pdf

The weir dates back to a former mill, which still dominates the landscape on the other side of the Werra. After the mill was abandoned, people thought about renaturalizing the Werra, but this would have caused lasting damage to the town of Themar and the town wall. A natural-looking fish ladder was therefore built, which would also enable microorganisms to migrate. In any case, the weir system offers a particularly acoustic spectacle, especially since you can get up close and personal with the river and the fish ladder.