Rivers and Lakes

S1, E4: Water is the beginning of all life - including the wildlife of Germany. Beavers fell trees, otters play under water, kingfishers catch fish for their young. Lakes and rivers cover just 2.5% of the total area of the country. The episode Rivers and Lakes takes the viewer on a journey through the water world of Germany. In winter, the few ice-free surfaces are popular with waterfowl. Coots throng the source ponds of the River Havel, while above them white-tailed eagles gather for the hunt, as their prey swim openly beneath them. The coots stick together, swimming to and fro to make it difficult for the eagles to pick out one individual bird. But with each attack, the coots grow increasingly tired. In Spring, the ice melts and the lakes and rivers awake from their winter torpor. Germany has more than 800 rivers longer than 10km. They transport the life-giving liquid into all corners of the country. The water of the River Danube alone would be enough to fill Germany’s biggest body of water, Lake Constance, in 12 months. Every year, six times the volume of the lake falls in the form of precipitation: 800 litres per square metre. Otters and beavers had a very hard time in recent centuries. They were hunted mercilessly for their fur and eaten in periods of fasting. Today, both species are protected and their populations are recovering.