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the Degree Confluence Project
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Germany : Niedersachsen

1.1 km (0.7 miles) W of Waddewitz-Zebelin, Niedersachsen, Germany
Approx. altitude: 60 m (196 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 53°S 169°W

Accuracy: 8 m (26 ft)
Quality: good

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

#2: Looking North #3: Looking East #4: Looking South #5: Looking West #6: Maps & GPS #7: Through the fields #8: Through the wood #9: Asparagus #10: Elbe ferry #11: Former border between West and East Germany

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  53°N 11°E (visit #5) (secondary) 

#1: The confluence of 53° North and 11° East

(visited by Henk Pouwels)

03-Sep-2013 -- This CP is second in a row visited in September 2013: 53N-12E, 53N-11E (this one), 52N-11E, 52N-10E, 52N-09E and 52N-08E.

Leaving 53N-12E heading south via L101, L10 and L3 to Havelberg (25 km). Just after Havelberg turn right, direction Hansestadt Werben. Cross the river Elbe by a ferry. This ferry is powered by the flow of the river. A long cable connected to the ferry is anchored up stream and kept above the water by floats. By changing the angle of the ferry related to the current the water pushes the ferry to the other side. Google translates the Dutch name “gierpont” to “flying bridge”.

The road is paved with cobblestones, not really what you expect. Following this L2 and B190 brings me after 80 km to camping Fuhrenkamp in Dumme, only 15 km from the CP. Next morning, after packing my tent, I drove to Dumme (also called Bergen) then to Clenze and continued north via the K18 to the CP. Just south of the CP is a small road to the right which brings the car to 315 m of the CP. Walking through the fields via an agricultural trail, turning right at the seam of the wood for 30 m a faint trail into the wood leads straight to the CP. A much easier access compared to visit #3.

About the CP: just trees all around, nothing interesting.

Returning to the car I looked at the asparagus plants. Harvesting asparagus comes to a stop in mid June to give the plants the possibility to grow and collect strength for the next season. Even in September new asparagus peep out the ground.

Leaving this CP I returned to Dumme and continued south to 52N-11E. About 2 km after Dumme a billboard drew my attention. It translates into “Here were Germany and Europe divided until the 19th of June 1990 at 11:00 hour.”>/p>

I realised I was more or less following the former border between West and East Germany. The text of the information board translates (freely) into “Attention Brook Centre Border. The centre line of the brook as border. Up to 1989 the centre of the Harper Millbrook was the former internal German border. During the German division the members of the German customs authorities standing at the Lower Saxony side faced the soldiers of the DDR border troops at the other side. The DDR border fence was raised parallel to the brook at higher land. The customs authorities ran directly along the creek. Due to the inaccessibility oak planks were laid on the boggiest points. Nowadays these wooden planks are sunken in the swamp and rotted”.

More about the Iron Curtain in the narrative of my next visit, which is 52N-11E. Sometimes the roads are still paved with cobblestones.

The co-ordinate of this crossing is 52.87452°N 10.96769°E.

 All pictures
#1: The confluence of 53° North and 11° East
#2: Looking North
#3: Looking East
#4: Looking South
#5: Looking West
#6: Maps & GPS
#7: Through the fields
#8: Through the wood
#9: Asparagus
#10: Elbe ferry
#11: Former border between West and East Germany
ALL: All pictures on one page