Elbe
Elbe Elve | |
---|---|
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | |
Cities | |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Elbe Meadow |
• location | Giant Mountains, Czech Republic |
• coordinates | 50°46′32.59″N 15°32′10.14″E / 50.7757194°N 15.5361500°E |
• elevation | 1,386 m (4,547 ft) |
Mouth | North Sea |
• location | Germany |
• coordinates | 53°55′20″N 8°43′20″E / 53.92222°N 8.72222°E |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Length | 1,112 km (691 mi) |
Basin size | 148,268 km2 (57,247 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | mouth |
• average | 870 m3/s (31,000 cu ft/s) |
• minimum | 493 m3/s (17,400 cu ft/s) |
• maximum | 1,232 m3/s (43,500 cu ft/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | Děčín |
• average | 303 m3/s (10,700 cu ft/s) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left |
The Elbe (German:
The Elbe's major
The Elbe river basin, comprising the Elbe and its tributaries, has a catchment area of 148,268 square kilometres (57,247 sq mi), the twelfth largest in Europe. The basin spans four countries; however, it lies almost entirely just in two of them, Germany (65.5%) and the Czech Republic (33.7%, covering about two thirds of the state's territory). Marginally, the basin stretches also to Austria (0.6%) and Poland (0.2%). In the Elbe catchment area, inhabited by 24.4 million people, the biggest cities are Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Dresden and Leipzig.[1]
Etymology
First attested in Latin as Albis, the name Elbe means "river" or "river-bed" and is nothing more than the
Course
In the Czech Republic
The Elbe (Labe) rises on the slopes of Mt. Violík at an elevation of 1,386 metres (4,547 ft) in the Giant Mountains on the northwest borders of the Czech Republic. Of the numerous small streams whose waters compose the infant river. After plunging down the 30 metres (98 ft) of the Elbe Falls, the latter stream unites with the steeply torrential Bílé Labe, and thereafter the united stream of the Elbe pursues a southerly course, emerging from the mountain glens at Jaroměř, where it receives Úpa and Metuje.
Here the Elbe enters the vast vale named
At Mělník its stream is more than doubled in volume by the Vltava, a major river which winds northwards through Bohemia. Upstream from the confluence the Vltava is in fact much longer (434 kilometres (270 mi) against 294 kilometres (183 mi) of the Elbe so far), and has a greater discharge and a larger drainage basin. Nonetheless, for historical reasons the river retains the name Elbe, also because at the confluence point it is the Elbe that flows through the main, wider valley while the Vltava flows into the valley to meet the Elbe at almost a right angle, and thus appears to be the tributary river.
Some distance lower down, at Litoměřice, the waters of the Elbe are tinted by the reddish Ohře. Thus augmented, and swollen into a stream 140 metres (460 ft) wide, the Elbe carves a path through the basaltic mass of the České Středohoří, churning its way through a picturesque, deep, narrow and curved rocky gorge.
In Germany
Shortly after crossing the Czech-German frontier, and passing through the sandstone defiles of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the stream assumes a north-westerly direction, which on the whole it preserves right to the North Sea.
The river rolls through
At Magdeburg there is a viaduct, the Magdeburg Water Bridge, that carries a canal and its shipping traffic over the Elbe and its banks, allowing shipping traffic to pass under it unhindered.
From the
The Northern Elbe passes the
Towns and cities
Town | Population |
---|---|
Špindlerův Mlýn | 979 |
Vrchlabí | 11,968 |
Dvůr Králové nad Labem | 15,170 |
Jaroměř | 12,260 |
Smiřice | 2,969 |
Hradec Králové | 90,596 |
Pardubice | 88,520 |
Kolín | 32,046 |
Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav | 18,755 |
Mělník | 19,472 |
Štětí | 8,438 |
Roudnice nad Labem | 12,506 |
Litoměřice | 22,950 |
Lovosice | 8,605 |
Ústí nad Labem | 90,378 |
Děčín | 47,029 |
Bad Schandau | 3,423 |
Königstein | 2,085 |
Pirna | 38,361 |
Heidenau | 16,540 |
Dresden | 555,351 |
Radebeul | 33,743 |
Coswig (Saxony) | 20,462 |
Meissen | 28,080 |
Riesa | 28,850 |
Strehla | 3,651 |
Belgern-Schildau | 7,579 |
Torgau | 19,625 |
Wittenberg | 44,984 |
Coswig (Saxony-Anhalt) | 11,494 |
Dessau-Roßlau | 78,731 |
Aken (Elbe) | 7,363 |
Barby | 8,173 |
Schönebeck | 30,067 |
Magdeburg | 236,188 |
Tangermünde | 10,350 |
Wittenberge | 16,682 |
Dömitz | 2,991 |
Hitzacker | 5,020 |
Bleckede | 9,613 |
Boizenburg | 10,689 |
Lauenburg | 11,644 |
Geesthacht | 31,539 |
Hamburg | 1,906,411 |
Wedel | 34,151 |
Stade | 47,579 |
Glückstadt | 10,719 |
Brunsbüttel | 12,381 |
Otterndorf | 7,443 |
Cuxhaven | 48,318 |
The Elbe has always been navigable by commercial vessels,
By the Treaty of Versailles the navigation on the Elbe became subject to the International Commission of the Elbe, seated in Dresden.[4] The statute of the commission was signed in Dresden on 22 February 1922.[5] Following articles 363 and 364 of the Treaty of Versailles, Czechoslovakia was entitled to lease its own harbour basin, Moldauhafen in Hamburg. The contract of lease with Germany, and supervised by the United Kingdom, was signed on 14 February 1929, ending in 2028. Since 1993 the Czech Republic holds the former Czechoslovak legal position.
Before Germany was reunited, waterway transport in Western Germany was hindered by the fact that inland navigation to Hamburg had to pass through the German Democratic Republic. The Elbe-Seitenkanal (Elbe Lateral Canal) was built between the West German section of the Mittellandkanal and the Lower Elbe to restore this connection. When the two nations were reunited, works were begun to improve and restore the original links: the Magdeburg Water Bridge now allows large barges to cross the Elbe without having to enter the river. The often low water levels of the Elbe no longer hinder navigation to Berlin.[6]
Islands
Headwaters
Upper reaches
- Pillnitzer Elbinsel – in Dresden's southern quarter of Pillnitz in the Dresden Basin
- Meißen
Middle Elbe
- Rotehorninsel – in Magdeburg
- Steinkopfinsel – in Magdeburg
Between Northern and Southern Elbe (Norderelbe/Süderelbe)
- Wilhelmsburg, including the islands Veddel, Georgswerder, Kleiner Grasbrook, Steinwerder, Peute and several more – in Hamburg's borough of Mitte (centre)
- Kaltehofe (also "Kalte Hofe") – in Hamburg's borough of Mitte
- Finkenwerder – in Hamburg's borough of Mitte
Lower Elbe
- Schweinesand – south of Blankenese (Hamburg)
- Neßsand – south of Tinsdal
- Hahnöfersand – north of Jork
- Schulau
- Lühesand – east of Stade
- Bisterhorster Sand – west of Wedel
- Pagensand – west of Seestermühe
- Schwarztonnensand – east of Drochtersen
- Rhinplate – west of Glückstadt
Outer Elbe (estuary)
- exclave– in Hamburg's borough of Mitte
- Scharhörn – an exclave Hamburg's borough of Mitte
- Nigehörn – an exclave Hamburg's borough of Mitte
Former islands
Ferries
The Elbe is crossed by many ferries, both passenger and car carrying. In downstream order, these include:[7]
- Dolní Žleb Ferry, at Dolní Žleb part of Děčín
- Rathen Ferry, at Rathen
- Pillnitz Kleinzschachwitz Ferry, in the eastern suburbs of Dresden
- Laubegast Niederpoyritz Ferry, in Dresden
- Johannstadt Neustadt Ferry, in Dresden
- Belgern Ottersitz Ferry, between Belgern and Ottersitz
- Dommitzsch Prettin Ferry, between Dommitzsch and Prettin
- Mauken Pretzsch Ferry, between Mauken and Pretzsch
- Wartenburg and Elster
- Coswig
- Tochheim Ferry, between Tochheim and Alt Tochheim near Breitenhagen
- Ronney Barby Ferry, between Barby and Walternienburg
- Westerhüsen Ferry, at Westerhüsen near Magdeburg
- Schartau Rogätz Ferry, between Schartau and Rogätz
- Ferchland Grieben Ferry, between Ferchland and Grieben
- Sandau Büttnershof Ferry, between Sandau and Büttnershof
- Räbel Havelberg Ferry, between Räbel and Havelberg
- Lenzen and Pevestorf
- Neu Darchau Darchau Ferry, between Darchau and Neu Darchau
- Bleckede Ferry , between Bleckede and Neu Bleckede
- Zollenspieker Ferry, between Kirchwerder a part of the Bergedorf borough of Hamburg, and Hoopte, part of the town Winsen (Luhe), in the state of Lower Saxony, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-east of Hamburg centre
- Ferries in the HADAG[8]
- Wischhafen Glückstadt Ferry , between Wischhafen and Glückstadt to the west of Hamburg
- Brunsbüttel Cuxhaven Ferry , between Brunsbüttel and Cuxhaven at the mouth of the river (out of service as of October 2022).
Many of these ferries are traditional reaction ferries, a type of cable ferry that uses the current flow of the river to provide propulsion.
Prehistory
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (November 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Humans first lived in the northern Elbe region before about 200,000 years ago, during the Middle Paleolithic.
History
The Elbe has long served as an important delineator of European geography. The
From the early 6th century
The Elbe delineated the western parts of Germany from the eastern so-called
On 10 April 1945,
In 1945, as
During the 1970s the Soviet Union stated that Adolf Hitler's ashes had been scattered in the Elbe following disinterment from their original burial-site.[9][10]
See also
- 2002 European floods – Major European floods in August 2002
- 2006 European floods – Floods affecting Eastern Europe
- 2013 European floods – May-June floods in central Europe caused by heavy rainfall
- Saxon Elbeland – Region of the Upper Elbe in Germany
- Saxon Switzerland – Hilly natural area in Saxony, Germany
- List of waterbodies in Saxony-Anhalt
References
- ^ a b c "Elbe River basin" (PDF). International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe River. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
- ^ Orel, Vladimir. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2003: 13
- ^ Ellmers, Detlev (1991). Brachmann, Hansjürgen (ed.). "Die Rolle der Binnenschiffahrt für die Entwicklung der mittelalterlichen Städte" [The role of inland shipping in the development of mediaeval cities]. Monum. Ger. Hist. Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt. 4 (425). Berlin: Akademie Verlag: 137–147.
- Saxony, and the United Kingdom each, with Czecholosvakia and the German states being those, whose territory was crossed by the Elbe and thus competent for maintaining navigation installations. Cf. Der Große Brockhaus: Handbuch des Wissens in zwanzig Bänden: 21 vols., completely revised ed., Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 151928–1935, vol. 5 (1930): Fünfter Band Doc–Ez, article: 'Elbe', pp. 400seqq., here p. 402. No ISBN.
- ^ Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 26, 220–247.
- ^ NoorderSoft Waterways Database
- ^ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
- ^ "Public transport operators co-operating in the HVV partnership". Archived from the original on 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Hans Meissner, Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich, 260–277
- ^ Maxim Tkachenko (11 December 2009). "Official: KGB chief ordered Hitler's remains destroyed". CNN. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
Bibliography
- Rada, Uwe (2013). Die Elbe. Europas Geschichte im Fluss (in German). Munich: Siedler. ISBN 978-3-88680-995-0.
External links
- Geographic data related to Elbe at OpenStreetMap