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the Degree Confluence Project
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Germany : Niedersachsen

0.9 km (0.5 miles) SSW of Sehlem-Evensen, Niedersachsen, Germany
Approx. altitude: 196 m (643 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 52°S 170°W

Accuracy: 4 m (13 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: View east #3: View south #4: View west #5: 360° panorama N-E-S-W-N (596 KB) #6: GPS display #7: Me at the spot, this view to NE shows Evensen and the widely noticeable wind turbines in the background #8: The confluence monument, placed 202 m SSW of the WGS84, and about 30 m S of the Potsdam degree confluence

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  52°N 10°E (visit #8)  

#1: View north - Bad Salzdetfurth can be seen in the distance

(visited by Gerhard Kaufmann)

28-Apr-2007 -- I had been invited to give a lecture in Hamburg, and of course this offered a perfect opportunity to visit a couple of Confluences on the way. I would have to drive a long way along the autobahn, passing Frankfurt, Kassel, and Hannover, until eventually reaching Hamburg after a distance of 560 km. So I checked the course of the autobahn and found out that I would come close to two Confluences which I could visit without losing too much time - the first of them being 52N 10E in southern Niedersachsen.

I left home in Mörlenbach at around 11:15 a.m. and arrived at the autobahn exit Bockenem, about 11 km east of the Confluence, after a rather uneventful driving of 3 ½ hours. In front of me I could see a very eye-catching group of 5 wind turbines. I continued via country roads that became gradually narrower, until I arrived at Evensen, the closest village to the point. When I passed the tiny village, I attracted some astonished looks, probably because of my car's number plate displaying a region code completely unfamiliar to the people here. The narrow lane left the village in southwestern direction until it made a right-angled bend towards northwest. This was the closest approach to the Confluence by car, so I left it here. Since I departed from home, I had driven nearly 380 km.

The GPS receiver showed a remaining distance of 400 m to the point. A good farm track leads nearly in the desired direction, slightly rising towards a forest-covered hill. Just before reaching the edge of the forest, the arrow on the GPS receiver swung to my left, and I continued along the forest's outskirts until the arrow again pointed to my left, now indicating a remaining distance of 40 m over a field. Luckily the field was not overgrown, although already harrowed (and possibly sowed), so I could freely walk on it. At 3:20 p.m. I finally circled in on the Confluence, the GPS receiver indicated an EPE of 4 m and an altitude of 196 m.

As one can see in the photos of the cardinal directions and in the panorama, this Confluence offers magnificent views (this would be different if the Confluence lay only 50 m to the South in the forest): to the North, the spa Bad Salzdetfurth with shaft towers of the name-giving salt mines can be spotted in the distance. Evensen and the group of 5 wind turbines are not far away to the Northeast. In the other directions, hills, fields, and forests can be seen, so all in all a very good representation of the surrounding Harz region.

As the previous visitors had mentioned, a confluence monument should be found not far away, and I assumed that it had been placed according to the local German "Potsdam" geodetic system, so I quickly set my GPS receiver to guide me to the point 52N 10E in the Potsdam system. Relative to the WGS84 confluence, the Potsdam confluence is located 174 m towards SSW, already in the forest. I had to stumble over a lot of fallen branches and other undergrowth, but finally located the spot a few meters east of the forest track that was the continuation of the farm track that I had walked on before. When I looked around, I could discover the monument another 30 m south of me and on the other side of the forest track (its position in WGS84 coordinates: 51°59'54.2"N 9°59'55.1"E, measured altitude 201 m). It was surrounded on three sides by a fence, and behind it was the post to carry the information board described by the previous visitors. This time, though, the board had been removed and was no longer there.

At around 4 p.m. I was back at my car again, and continued my way to Hamburg, but before getting there, I had still another confluence visit on my program: 53N 10E.


 All pictures
#1: View north - Bad Salzdetfurth can be seen in the distance
#2: View east
#3: View south
#4: View west
#5: 360° panorama N-E-S-W-N (596 KB)
#6: GPS display
#7: Me at the spot, this view to NE shows Evensen and the widely noticeable wind turbines in the background
#8: The confluence monument, placed 202 m SSW of the WGS84, and about 30 m S of the Potsdam degree confluence
ALL: All pictures on one page