The Großes Bruch is a wetland area, 45 kilometres long, in Germany, situated between Oschersleben in Saxony-Anhalt in the east and Hornburg (Lower Saxony) in the west. It was formed from a glacial valley. The lowland meadow landscape with numerous reed- and willow-fringed ditches is one to four kilometres wide and runs along the Großer Graben and Schiffgraben ditches between the river valleys of the Bode and Oker.
Until the region began to be drained in the Middle Ages it was impassable, e.g. "in order to get to Hamersleben Abbey from the south, one has to use a ferry from the place where, today, the Neudamm is located and the village of Wegersleben (later Neuwegersleben)." The oldest building in Neudamm, a residential tower built of rubble stone, is thus called in Low German dat ole Fährhus ("the old ferryman's house"), an adjacent field is de Fährbrai and the road from Schwanebeck dä ole Fährweg ("the old ferry way").
In 1130 a ferryman, Eulunardus, is supposed to have refused to ferry across the imperial count, Frederick II of Sommerschenburg, during a severe storm, and he was therefore killed in a fit of violent temper. Out of remorse for his actions, Frederick confessed his murder to Abbot Siegfried of Hamersleben Abbey, gave the monastery a hide of farmland, supported the family of the victim with money and ensured that Bishop Rudolf of Halberstadt was able to build a strong dyke in 1137. The residential tower was the customs post as the Low German name oppen Tolly recalls. Also, the place name "Neudamm" ("new dyke") implies to the crossing of a wetland. The Hessen Dyke, too, the metalled, western road through the Großes Bruch between Hessen and Mattierzoll recalls the construction of a medieval road that led through the Bruch and enabled grassland to be cultivated.
In the 20th century irreparable damage was caused by large-scale, intensive farming. In order to create farmland, the groundwater level was lowered, grassland ploughed up and chemical fertilizer employed. The result was a loss of animal and plant species. Several regions dried out; in others water accumulated. Increasing ecological understanding led in 1981 to the decision by the district council of Magdeburg, to place part of the Großes Bruch, some 786 hectares, under protection. At that time the Inner German Border between West and East Germany ran along the Großes Bruch.
After the Wende the entire Großes Bruch (6,000 hectares) was declared a protected landscape in order to conserve its fauna. The meadows are the residence and breeding areas of rare birds, including the Hen Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Eurasian Curlew, Short-eared Owl, Common Snipe and Corncrake. The Little Owl breeds in stands of pollarded willows.