The Foam is a 142.5 km long river in Germany in Vorpommern. The two sources of the river lie in the northeastern part of the Mecklenburg Lake District about 25 km west of the town of Demmin. About 16 km north-west of Lake Kummerow at an altitude of 28 m above sea level, the river (this part is known as the Westpeene) flows into Lake Kummerow near the town of Neukalen after travelling south and then east for several kilometres.
This is still fed from the south by the Ostpeene – lit. East Foam). Already as the Foam, it rises from the northern end of Lake Kummerow and heads northeast towards Demmin. At its edge, it is fed by its two largest tributaries, first the right Dolenec and then the left Trebol.
The river turns east at Lošice and flows 55 km through Anklam before emptying into the Gulf of Szczecin near Uznojem Island.
Transport
The foam is designated as a waterway with an inland waterway classification of IV. From km 2.50 (confluence of the Malchiner Peenekanal with the Westpeene) to the confluence of the Richtgraben with the Peenestrom. The section of the estuary next to the Richtgraben is also a waterway. The responsibility lies with the Baltic Sea Waterways and Shipping Authority. Above Demmin up to Malchin, the Foam becomes a Class III inland waterway.
The depth of the navigation channel from the mouth to the north-eastern end of Lake Kummerow is 2.5 metres, from the mouth to the lake after km 2.50 it is two metres. As part of the reform of the Directorate of Waterways and Navigation carried out by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs in 2010 and the related change in the categorisation of the federal waterways, it was planned to reclassify the Foam as an ‚other waterway‘.
With a large cross-section and low gradient, it’s a popular waterway with slow flow velocity. Apart from a few culverts and dredging, there have been no hydrotechnical changes. Only three bridge crossings (the movable bridges at Anklam, Demmin and Loitz) interfere with navigation. At present, the bridges at Demmin are an insurmountable obstacle to higher watercraft.
