The Modau River is an average German river in the lower mountain area of Odenwald south of Frankfurt, she is 44 kilometres long and flows into the Rhein River at Stockstadt. Her sister is called Gersprenz. They were both born on the mountain of Neunkirchner Höhe (605 m), and the sources are situated only one kilometre from each other. Gesprenz also ends in Stockstadt, but at the shore of the Main River, which may be a unique river story worldwide. Modau was highly industrialized and channeled, having around 70 mills along her way. Only two percent of her shores are not manmade, and migratory fishes face 100 obstacles in Modau and her tributaries on their way upstream. Because some barriers cannot be crossed, six brook trout stocks rarely come into contact with each other. Nevertheless, the beaver decided to come back a few years ago. Modau is one of 15.000 small and medium-sized rivers in Germany; she teaches us beauty and a life full of senses and shows, at the same time being a mirror, colleague, and a strong voice herself, all the harsh environmental consequences of our life and industry style – pollution, space consumption, the use of fertilizers, the mistreatment and destruction of woods on the shore. She just reflected after a meditation on a stone that today rivers need “a second sea” to shed in. Humans have to form this sea on land by giving space to rivers, to hold and welcome them with our deep and best minds.
