Vistula
Encyclopedia
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland
, at 1,047 km (651 miles) in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is 194424 km² (75,067.5 sq mi), of which 168699 km² (65,135 sq mi) lies within Poland (splitting the country in half).
The Vistula has its source at Barania Góra
in the south of Poland, 1220 meters above sea level
in the Silesian Beskids
(western part of Carpathian Mountains
) where it begins with the White Little Vistula (Biała Wisełka) and the Black Little Vistula (Czarna Wisełka). It then continues to flow over the vast Polish plains, passing several large Polish cities along its way, including Kraków
, Sandomierz
, Warsaw
, Płock, Włocławek, Toruń
, Bydgoszcz, Świecie
, Grudziądz
, Tczew
and Gdańsk
. It empties into the Vistula Lagoon
or directly into the Gdańsk Bay
of the Baltic Sea
with a delta
and several branches (Leniwka
, Przekop
, Śmiała Wisła, Martwa Wisła, Nogat
and Szkarpawa
).
in AD 77 in his Natural History. He uses Vistula (4.52, 4.89) with an alternative spelling, Vistillus (3.06). The Vistula River ran into the Mare Suebicum, which is today known as the Baltic Sea. The root of the name Vistula is Indo-European
ultimately from proto-Indo-European
. The diminutive
endings -ila, -ula, were used in many Indo-European language groups, including Latin (see Ursula
).
In writing about the Vistula River and its peoples, Ptolemy
uses the Greek spelling, "Ouistoula". Other ancient sources spell it "Istula". Pomponius Mela refers to the "Visula" (Book 3) and Ammianus Marcellinus to the "Bisula" (Book 22), both of which names lack the -t-. The definitive reference is probably Jordanes (Getica 5 & 17), who uses "Viscla". The Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith
refers to it as the "Wistla". 12th century Polish chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek called the river Vandalus from the Lithuanian "vanduo", meaning "water". Jan Długosz in his Annales seu cronicae incliti called the Vistula "White river": "a nationibus orientalibus Polonis vicinis, ab aquae condorem Alba aqua ... nominatur".
The Vistula river basin covers 194,424 km² (in Poland 168,700 km²); its average altitude rising to 270 m above sea level
. In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is located at heights of 100 to 200 m above sea level; over 3/4 of the river basin ranges from 100 – 300 m in altitude. The highest point of the river basin lies at 2655 m (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra mountains
). One of the features of the river basin of the Vistula is its asymmetry - in great measure resulting from the tilting direction of the Central-European Lowland toward the north-west, the direction of the flow of glacial waters, as well as considerable predisposition of its older base. The asymmetry of the river basin (right-hand to left-hand side) is 73-27%.
The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene
epoch, which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe.
, about 50 km from the mouth, splitting into two branches: the Leniwka (left) and the Nogat (right). In the city of Gdańsk the Head of the Leniwka branch separates again into the Szkarpawa branch, for the purpose of flood control closed to the east with a lock. The so-called Dead Wisła divides again into the Przegalinie branch flowing into Gdańsk Bay. Until the 14th century the Vistula was divided into a main eastern branch, the Elbląg Vistula, and the smaller western branch, the Gdańsk Vistula. Since 1371 the Vistula of Gdańsk is the river's main artery. After the flood in 1840 an additional branch formed called the Śmiała Wisła ("Bold Vistula"). In 1890 through 1895, additional waterworks were carried out up the Świbna.
Near Kwidzyń
the Vistula is divided at present into two separate branches that constitute the river delta
:
Right tributaries
Left tributaries
.jpg)
, it is highly likely most of the Vistula Delta region (which is below sea level) will be flooded due to the sea level rise caused by climate change by 2100.
, in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within the last 14,000 years, after complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring.
As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also located in the centre of Europe. Three principal geographical and geological land masses of the continent meet in her river basin: the lowland Eastern European shield, the area of uplands and low mountains of Western Europe, and the Alpine zone of high mountains to which both the Alps and the Carpathians belong. The Vistula begins in the Carpathian mountains. The run and character of the river was shaped by ice sheets flowing down from the Scandinavian Peninsula. The last ice sheet entered the area of Poland about 20,000 years ago. During periods of warmer weather, the ancient Vistula, "Pra-Wisła", searched for the shortest way to the sea - thousands of years ago it flowed into the North Sea somewhere at the latitude of contemporary Scotland. The climate of the Vistula valley, its plants, animals and its very character changed considerably during the process of glacial retreat.
The Vistula is navigable from the Baltic Sea to Bydgoszcz (where the Bydgoszcz Canal
joins the river). The Vistula can accommodate modest river vessels of CEMT class II. Further upstream the river depth lessens. Although a project was undertaken to increase the traffic-carrying capacity of the river upstream of Warsaw by building a number of locks in and around Kraków
, this project was not extended further, so that navigability of the Vistula remains limited. The potential of the river would increase considerably if a restoration of the East-West connection via the Narew
–Bug
–Mukhovets
–Pripyat
–Dnieper
waterways were considered. The shifting economic importance of parts of Europe may make this option more likely.
Protoslavic tribes (Lusatia and Przeworsk Culture) occupied large parts of the Vistula Basin in the first millennium BCE. Genetic analysis indicates that there has been an unbroken genetic continuity of the inhabitants over the last 3,500 years, which would suggest that Polish tribes lived here for a long time and successfully defended against distant invaders, such as Suebi
and Burgundians
. Even though the Romans do not appear to have had direct contact with the regions between Odra-Nysa Łużycka and the Bug, the Vistula Basin along with the lands of the Rhine, Danube
, Elbe
, and Oder
came to be called Magna Germania by Roman authors of the 1st century AD. Ptolemy, in the 2nd century AD, would describe the Vistula as the border between Germania
and Sarmatia
.
Tacitus is another source regarding information on the early inhabitants of the Vistula. However, he makes no secret that many of the tribes to the east of the Vistula were somewhat shrouded in mystery. For example, when describing the Venethi, Peucini and Fenni
he wrote that he was not sure if he should call them Germans, since they had settlements and they fought on foot, or rather Sarmatians
since they have some similar customs to them.
The Vistula river used to be connected to the Dnieper River
, and thence to the Black Sea
via the Augustów Canal
, a technological marvel with numerous sluice
s contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first waterway in Central Europe
to provide a direct link between the two major rivers, the Vistula and the Neman
. It provided a link with the Black Sea
to the south through the Oginski Canal
, Dnieper River
, Berezina Canal, and Dvina River. The Baltic Sea–Vistula–Dnieper–Black Sea route with its rivers was one of the most ancient trade routes, the Amber Road
, on which amber and other items were traded from Northern Europe
to Greece
, Asia, Egypt
, and elsewhere.
The Vistula estuary was settled by Slavs in the 7th and 8th century. Based on archeological and linguistic findings, it has been postulated that these settlers moved northward along the Vistula river. This however contradicts another hypothesis supported by some researchers saying the Veleti
moved westward from the Vistula delta.
A number of West Slavic
Polish tribes
formed small dominions beginning in the 8th century, some of which coalesced later into larger ones. Among the tribes listed in the Bavarian Geographer
's 9th century document were the Vistulans
(Wiślanie) in southern Poland. Kraków
and Wiślica
were their main centres.
Many Polish legend
s are connected with the Vistula and the beginnings of Polish statehood. One of the most enduring is that about princess Wanda
co nie chciała Niemca (who rejected the German). According to the most popular variant, popularized by the 15th century historian Jan Długosz, Wanda, daughter of King Krak, became queen of the Poles upon her father's death. She refused to marry a German prince Rytigier (Rüdiger), who took offence and invaded Poland, but was repelled. Wanda however committed suicide
, drowning in the Vistula river, to ensure he would not invade her country again.
For hundreds of years the river was one of the main trading arteries of Poland, and the castles that line its banks were highly prized possessions. Salt
, timber
, grain
, and building stone were among goods shipped via that route between the 10th and 13th centuries.
In the 14th century the lower Vistula was controlled by the Teutonic Order
, invited in 1226 by Konrad I of Masovia
to help him fight the pagan Prussians on the border of his lands. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights captured the Gdańsk castle
and murdered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter. The Order had inherited Gniew
from Sambor II
, thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula. Many granaries and storehouses, built in the 14th century, line the banks of the Vistula. In the 15th century the city of Gdańsk
gained great importance in the Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. While at this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians, Gdańsk soon became a starting point for German settlement of the largely fallow Vistulan country.
Before its peak in 1618, trade increased by a factor of 20 from 1491. The tonnage of grain traded on the river in key years is telling: 1491 - 14.000; 1537 - 23.000; 1563 - 150.000; 1618 - 310.000.
In the 16th century most of the grain exported was leaving Poland through Gdańsk, which because of its location at the terminal point of the Vistula and its tributaries waterway and of its Baltic seaport trade role became the wealthiest, most highly developed (by far the largest center of crafts and manufacturing) and most autonomous of the Polish cities. Other towns were negatively affected by Gdańsk's near-monopoly in foreign trade. During the reign of Stephen Báthory Poland ruled two main Baltic Sea
ports: Gdańsk controlling the Vistula river trade and Riga
controlling the Western Dvina trade. Both cities were among the largest in the country. Around 70% the exports from Gdańsk were of grain.
Grain was also the largest export commodity of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The volume of traded grain can be considered a good and well-measured proxy for the economic growth of the Commonwealth.
The owner of a folwark
usually signed a contract
with the merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea. Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes, including the Vistula. The river had a relatively well-developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries
. Most river shipping travelled north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber.
In order to arrest recurrent flooding on the lower Vistula, the Prussian government in 1889-95 constructed an artificial channel about 12 km. east of Gdańsk (German name: Danzig) – known as the Vistula Cut (German: Weichseldurchstich; Polish: Przekop Wisły) – that acted as a huge sluice, diverting much of the Vistula flow directly into the Baltic
. As a result, the historic Vistula channel through Gdańsk lost much of its flow, and was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: Tote Weichsel; Polish: Martwa Wisła). German states got complete control of the region in 1795-1812 (see: Partitions of Poland
), as well as during the World Wars, in 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.
From 1867 to 1917, the Russian tsarist administration called the Kingdom of Poland
the Vistula Land
after the collapse of the January Uprising
(1863–1865).
Almost 75% of the territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin
of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was 180,300 km²), the Niemen (51,600 km²), the Odra (46,700 km²) and the Daugava (10,400 km²).
In 1920 the decisive battle
of the Polish–Soviet War Battle of Warsaw
(sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula), was fought as Red Army
forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky
approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and nearby Modlin Fortress
situated on the mouth of the Vistula.
, after the initial battles in Pomerelia
, the remains of the Polish Army of Pomerania withdrew to the southern bank of the Vistula. After defending Toruń
for several days, the army withdrew further south under pressure of the overall strained strategic situation, and took part in the main battle of Bzura.
The Auschwitz complex of concentration camps was located on the Vistula, at the confluence of the Vistula and the Soła rivers.
During World War II
prisoners of war from the Nazi Stalag XX-B
camp were assigned to cut ice blocks from the River Vistula. The ice would then be transported by truck to the local beer houses.
The 1944 Warsaw Uprising
was planned with the expectation that the Soviet forces, who had arrived in the course of their offensive and were waiting on the other side of the Vistula River in full force, would help in the battle for Warsaw. However the Soviets betrayed the Poles, stopping their advance at the Vistula and branding the insurgents as criminals in radio broadcasts.
In early 1945 came the Vistula–Oder Offensive, in which the Red Army
crossed the Vistula and drove the German Wehrmacht
back past the Oder river in Germany.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, at 1,047 km (651 miles) in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is 194424 km² (75,067.5 sq mi), of which 168699 km² (65,135 sq mi) lies within Poland (splitting the country in half).
The Vistula has its source at Barania Góra
Barania Góra
Barania Góra is a mountain in southern Poland. At a height of 1,220 metres , it is the second highest mountain in the Silesian Beskids, and the highest in the Polish part of Upper Silesia...
in the south of Poland, 1220 meters above sea level
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
in the Silesian Beskids
Silesian Beskids
Silesian Beskids is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic.Most of the range lies in Poland...
(western part of Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
) where it begins with the White Little Vistula (Biała Wisełka) and the Black Little Vistula (Czarna Wisełka). It then continues to flow over the vast Polish plains, passing several large Polish cities along its way, including Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Płock, Włocławek, Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, Bydgoszcz, Świecie
Swiecie
Świecie is a town in northern Poland with 25,968 inhabitants , situated in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ; it was previously in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship . It is the capital of Świecie County.-History:...
, Grudziądz
Grudziadz
Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...
, Tczew
Tczew
Tczew is a town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60,279 inhabitants . It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian Eastern Railway...
and Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
. It empties into the Vistula Lagoon
Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, Frisches Haff, is derived from an earlier form, Friesisches Haff. Both this term and the earlier Polish...
or directly into the Gdańsk Bay
Gdansk Bay
Gdańsk Bay or the Bay of Gdańsk or Danzig Bay is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland and is sometimes referred to as a gulf.-Geography:...
of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
with a delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
and several branches (Leniwka
Leniwka
The Leniwka is a river in northern Poland, one of the branches of the Vistula. It is long, and flows into Gdańsk Bay, forming the southern border of Ostrów Island and Sobieszewo Island.Towns and villages on the Leniwka:* Piekło* Biała Góra* Tczew...
, Przekop
Przekop
Przekop , located in Poland, is a branch of the Vistula river in its delta. It was artificially created in 1895 to link the Leniwka branch with Gdańsk Bay near the village of Świbno. Currently, the main current of the Vistula reaches the sea through Przekop...
, Śmiała Wisła, Martwa Wisła, Nogat
Nogat
-----------------The Nogat is a 62km long delta branch of the Vistula River and does not empty at Gdańsk Bay as the main river does.The Nogat has its origin near the city of Biała Góra as an anabranch of the Vistula River. Shortly after the river Liwa flows into the Nogat. Than the river passes...
and Szkarpawa
Szkarpawa
The Szkarpawa is a river, in the Vistula delta, one of the branches of Vistula. It flows in Poland to Gdańsk Bay....
).
Origins of the name Vistula
The name was first recorded by PlinyPliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
in AD 77 in his Natural History. He uses Vistula (4.52, 4.89) with an alternative spelling, Vistillus (3.06). The Vistula River ran into the Mare Suebicum, which is today known as the Baltic Sea. The root of the name Vistula is Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
ultimately from proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
. The diminutive
Diminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
endings -ila, -ula, were used in many Indo-European language groups, including Latin (see Ursula
Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula is a British Christian saint. Her feast day in the extraordinary form calendar of the Catholic Church is October 21...
).
In writing about the Vistula River and its peoples, Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
uses the Greek spelling, "Ouistoula". Other ancient sources spell it "Istula". Pomponius Mela refers to the "Visula" (Book 3) and Ammianus Marcellinus to the "Bisula" (Book 22), both of which names lack the -t-. The definitive reference is probably Jordanes (Getica 5 & 17), who uses "Viscla". The Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith
Widsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
refers to it as the "Wistla". 12th century Polish chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek called the river Vandalus from the Lithuanian "vanduo", meaning "water". Jan Długosz in his Annales seu cronicae incliti called the Vistula "White river": "a nationibus orientalibus Polonis vicinis, ab aquae condorem Alba aqua ... nominatur".
Geography
The reaches of the Vistula are composed of three stretches: upper, from its sources to the city of Sandomierz; centre, from Sandomierz to the mouth of Narew and Bug; and bottom, from mouth of Narew till Vistula's own delta at the Baltic.The Vistula river basin covers 194,424 km² (in Poland 168,700 km²); its average altitude rising to 270 m above sea level
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
. In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is located at heights of 100 to 200 m above sea level; over 3/4 of the river basin ranges from 100 – 300 m in altitude. The highest point of the river basin lies at 2655 m (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra mountains
Tatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
). One of the features of the river basin of the Vistula is its asymmetry - in great measure resulting from the tilting direction of the Central-European Lowland toward the north-west, the direction of the flow of glacial waters, as well as considerable predisposition of its older base. The asymmetry of the river basin (right-hand to left-hand side) is 73-27%.
The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
epoch, which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe.
Major cities and towns along Vistula tributaries
| Agglomeration | Tributary |
|---|---|
| Wisła (Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centering on the historic region known as Upper Silesia... ) |
river source |
| Ustroń Ustron Ustroń is a health resort town in Cieszyn Silesia, southern Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship , having previously been in Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship . It lies in the Silesian Beskids mountain range.... |
|
| Skoczów Skoczów Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.... |
Brennica |
| Strumień Strumien Strumień is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland, on the Vistula River.... |
Krajka |
| Goczałkowice-Zdrój | |
| Czechowice-Dziedzice Czechowice-Dziedzice Czechowice-Dziedzice is a town in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 34,867 inhabitants . It lies on the northeastern edge of the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia... |
Biała Biała Biała is a Polish word for white. It appears in many Polish toponyms:-Towns:* Biała, also called Biała Prudnicka, in Opole Voivodeship* Biała Piska, in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship* Biała Podlaska, in Lublin Voivodeship... |
| Brzeszcze Brzeszcze Brzeszcze is a town in Oświęcim County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, near Oświęcim.It was founded in the 15th century and was owned by many rich Polish citizens, such as Dominik Gherri, the physician of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. The inhabitants were mainly fishermen and... |
Vistula, Soła |
| Oświęcim Oswiecim Oświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.- History :... |
Soła |
| Zator Zator Zator is an old town on the Skawa river within Oświęcim County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. From 1975 to 1998 it belonged to the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Zator... |
Skawa Skawa Skawa is a river in southern Poland, a right tributary of the Vistula. It originates in the Western Carpathians , is 96 km long and drains 1,160 km². It passes several towns: Jordanów, Maków Podhalański, Sucha Beskidzka, Wadowice and Zator.... |
| Skawina Skawina Skawina is a town in southern Poland with 27,328 inhabitants .Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Kraków Voivodeship .- Twin Towns - Sister Cities :Skawina is twinned with:... |
Skawinka |
| Kraków Kraków Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life... (Cracow) |
Sanka, Rudawa, Prądnik, Dłubnia, Wilga (most are canalized streams) |
| Niepołomice | |
| Nowe Brzesko Nowe Brzesko Nowe Brzesko is a town in Proszowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Nowe Brzesko. It lies approximately south-east of Proszowice and east of the regional capital Kraków.The town has an approximate population of 1,700... |
|
| Nowy Korczyn Nowy Korczyn Nowy Korczyn is a village in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Nowy Korczyn. It lies approximately south of Busko-Zdrój and south of the regional capital Kielce. It is located close to the confluence of the Nida and... |
Nida |
| Opatowiec Opatowiec Opatowiec is a village in Kazimierza County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Opatowiec. It lies on the Vistula, approximately east of Kazimierza Wielka and south of the regional capital Kielce... |
Dunajec |
| Szczucin Szczucin Szczucin is a town in Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Szczucin... |
|
| Połaniec | Czarna |
| Baranów Sandomierski Baranów Sandomierski Baranów Sandomierski is a small town in southern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodship, Tarnobrzeg County on the Vistula River, with 1,440 inhabitants .-Castle:... |
Babolówka |
| Tarnobrzeg Tarnobrzeg Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland, on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of December 31, 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship since 1999, it had previously been the capital of Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship... |
|
| Sandomierz Sandomierz Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction... |
Koprzywianka, Trześniówka, |
| Zawichost Zawichost Zawichost is a small town in Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland. It is located by the Vistula River in southern Poland, near Sandomierz.... |
|
| Annopol Annopol Annopol is a small town in south-eastern Poland with 2,679 inhabitants, in Kraśnik County. It has been situated in the Lublin Voivodeship previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship... |
Sanna Sanna The Sanna is a tributary of the Vistula in Poland. Its source is in the village of Wierzchowiska II in Lublin Voivodeship, Galicia. It flows westward through a rural area. Then, it turns northward for a few kilometers until flowing into the Vistula near the city of Annopol. It is about 50 km... |
| Józefów nad Wisłą | |
| Solec nad Wisłą | |
| Kazimierz Dolny Kazimierz Dolny Kazimierz Dolny is a small town in Central Poland, on the right bank of the Vistula river in Puławy County, Lublin Province.It is a considerable tourist attraction as one of the most beautifully situated little towns in Poland. It enjoyed its greatest prosperity in the 16th and the first half of... |
Bystra |
| Puławy | Kurówka |
| Dęblin Deblin Dęblin is a town, population 19,500 , at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants.... |
Wieprz |
| Magnuszew Magnuszew Magnuszew is a village in Kozienice County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Magnuszew. It lies approximately north-west of Kozienice and south-east of Warsaw.... |
|
| Wilga Wilga Wilga can refer to:* Wilga , a river in Poland* Wilga, Masovian Voivodeship * Wilga, Western Australia a town in Western Australia* Wilga a small tree of Australia* PZL-104 Wilga, a Polish plane... |
Wilga Wilga Wilga can refer to:* Wilga , a river in Poland* Wilga, Masovian Voivodeship * Wilga, Western Australia a town in Western Australia* Wilga a small tree of Australia* PZL-104 Wilga, a Polish plane... |
| Góra Kalwaria Góra Kalwaria Góra Kalwaria is a town on the Vistula River in the Mazovian Voivodship, Poland, about 25 km southeast of Warsaw. It has a population of about 11,000 . The town has significance for both Catholic Christians and Hasidic Jews... |
Czarna |
| Karczew Karczew Karczew is a town in Otwock County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 10,271 inhabitants .-References:... |
|
| Otwock Otwock Otwock is a town in central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 42,765 inhabitants . It is situated on the right bank of Vistula River below the mouth of Swider River. Otwock is home to a unique architectural style called Swidermajer.... , Józefów Józefów Józefów is a very common placename in Poland.Towns:* Józefów in Masovian Voivodeship, near Warsaw*Józefów, Biłgoraj County in Lublin Voivodeship Villages:... |
Świder Świder Świder is a river in Masovia, Poland. It is a tributary to the Vistula.... |
| Konstancin-Jeziorna Konstancin-Jeziorna Konstancin-Jeziorna is a town in Piaseczno County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 16,963 inhabitants . It is located about 20 km south of downtown Warsaw and is a part of the metropolitan area of that city.... |
Jeziorka |
| Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most... |
Żerań canal (incl. several smaller streams) |
| Łomianki | |
| Legionowo Legionowo Legionowo is a town in Masovia . According to the 2004 Census estimate the town has a total population of 50,759.Legionowo is located ca. 23 km to the north-east of the center of Warsaw and only 7 km to the south of Zegrze Reservoir , near the Warsaw-Gdańsk railroad and Warsaw-Suwałki... |
|
| Modlin | Narew Narew The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river... |
| Zakroczym Zakroczym Zakroczym is a small town in the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located at around . The Vistula River flows through the town.... |
|
| Czerwińsk nad Wisłą | |
| Wyszogród Wyszogród Wyszogród is a town in Poland, in Masovian Voivodship, in Płock County, by the Vistula River. The population of Wyszogród was 2,793 in 2004.-History:... |
Bzura Bzura Bzura is a river in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river , with a length of 166 kilometres and the basin area of 7,788 km2.-Towns and townships:*Zgierz*Aleksandrów Łódzki*Ozorków*Łęczyca*Łowicz*Sochaczew... |
| Płock | Słupianka, Rosica, Brzeźnica, Skrwa Lewa, Skrwa Prawa |
| Dobrzyń nad Wisłą | |
| Włocławek | Zgłowiączka |
| Nieszawa Nieszawa Nieszawa is a town and a commune in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. As of June 30, 2004, the town has a population of 2,047 people.... |
Mień |
| Ciechocinek Ciechocinek Ciechocinek is a spa town in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located on the Vistula River about east of Aleksandrów Kujawski and south-east of the city of Toruń.Ciechocinek is known for its unique 'saline graduation towers'.... |
|
| Toruń Torun Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.... |
Drwęca Drweca The Drwęca is a river in northern Poland and a tributary of the Vistula river near Toruń, forming a part of the city's administrative boundary. It has a length of 207 km and a basin area of 5,344 km², all in Poland.Towns:... , Bacha |
| Solec Kujawski Solec Kujawski Solec Kujawski is a town with 15,505 inhabitants and an area of 176 km², situated 14 kilometres southeast of Bydgoszcz in Poland at . Solec Kujawski belongs to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship... |
|
| Bydgoszcz | Brda Brda River The Brda is a river in northwestern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. It is the country's 15th longest river, with a total length of 238 km and a catchment area of 4,627 km².-Navigation:... (canalized) |
| Chełmno | |
| Świecie Swiecie Świecie is a town in northern Poland with 25,968 inhabitants , situated in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ; it was previously in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship . It is the capital of Świecie County.-History:... |
Wda Wda The Wda is a river in northern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river , with a length of 198 kilometres and a basin area of 2,325 km²... |
| Grudziądz Grudziadz Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:... |
|
| Nowe Nowe Nowe is a town in Świecie County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 6,270 inhabitants .... |
|
| Gniew Gniew Gniew is a town situated on the left bank of the Vistula River, in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located at around .-History:The first recorded mentions of Gniew appear in written documents from the first half of the 13th century, one of which refers to the region as Terra Gymeu... |
Wierzyca |
Delta of the Vistula River
The river forms a wide delta called the Żuławy around the town of Biała Góra near SztumSztum
Sztum is a town in northern Poland, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of Sztum County, with some 10,141 inhabitants .-History:...
, about 50 km from the mouth, splitting into two branches: the Leniwka (left) and the Nogat (right). In the city of Gdańsk the Head of the Leniwka branch separates again into the Szkarpawa branch, for the purpose of flood control closed to the east with a lock. The so-called Dead Wisła divides again into the Przegalinie branch flowing into Gdańsk Bay. Until the 14th century the Vistula was divided into a main eastern branch, the Elbląg Vistula, and the smaller western branch, the Gdańsk Vistula. Since 1371 the Vistula of Gdańsk is the river's main artery. After the flood in 1840 an additional branch formed called the Śmiała Wisła ("Bold Vistula"). In 1890 through 1895, additional waterworks were carried out up the Świbna.
Near Kwidzyń
Kwidzyn
Kwidzyn is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa river, with 40,008 inhabitants . It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in the Elbląg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kwidzyn County.-History:...
the Vistula is divided at present into two separate branches that constitute the river delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
:
| Nogat Nogat -----------------The Nogat is a 62km long delta branch of the Vistula River and does not empty at Gdańsk Bay as the main river does.The Nogat has its origin near the city of Biała Góra as an anabranch of the Vistula River. Shortly after the river Liwa flows into the Nogat. Than the river passes... |
Leniwka Leniwka The Leniwka is a river in northern Poland, one of the branches of the Vistula. It is long, and flows into Gdańsk Bay, forming the southern border of Ostrów Island and Sobieszewo Island.Towns and villages on the Leniwka:* Piekło* Biała Góra* Tczew... |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Town | Tributaries | Remarks | Town | Tributaries | Remarks |
| Sztum Sztum Sztum is a town in northern Poland, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of Sztum County, with some 10,141 inhabitants .-History:... |
Tczew Tczew Tczew is a town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60,279 inhabitants . It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian Eastern Railway... |
||||
| Malbork Malbork Malbork is a town in northern Poland in the Żuławy region , with 38,478 inhabitants . Situated in the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously assigned to Elbląg Voivodeship... |
Gdańsk Gdansk Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the... |
Motława, Radunia Radunia The Radunia is a small river in Kashubia which issues from a lake and falls into the Motława near Gdansk .A part of its water is conveyed into the city via the 13.5 km long Kanał Raduni / Radaunekanal or New Radaune or Radunia Channel, a canal built in 14th century by Teutonic Knights,... , Potok Oliwski |
in the city the river divides into several separate branches that reach the Baltic Sea at different points, the main branch reaches the sea at Westerplatte Westerplatte Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula , in the Gdańsk harbour channel... |
||
| Elbląg Elblag Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship... |
Elbląg Elblag River The Elbląg is a river in northwest Poland connecting Lake Drużno with the Vistula Lagoon. The city of Elbląg is situated on the river.Tributaries include:*Fiszewka*Kumiela*Tina... |
shortly before reaching Vistula Bay | |||
Tributaries
List of right and left tributaries with a nearby city, from source to mouth:Right tributaries
- Brennica - SkoczówSkoczówSkoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
- Iłownica
- Biała - Czechowice-DziedziceCzechowice-DziedziceCzechowice-Dziedzice is a town in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 34,867 inhabitants . It lies on the northeastern edge of the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia...
- Soła
- SkawaSkawaSkawa is a river in southern Poland, a right tributary of the Vistula. It originates in the Western Carpathians , is 96 km long and drains 1,160 km². It passes several towns: Jordanów, Maków Podhalański, Sucha Beskidzka, Wadowice and Zator....
- ZatorZatorZator is an old town on the Skawa river within Oświęcim County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. From 1975 to 1998 it belonged to the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Zator... - Skawinka - SkawinaSkawinaSkawina is a town in southern Poland with 27,328 inhabitants .Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Kraków Voivodeship .- Twin Towns - Sister Cities :Skawina is twinned with:...
- Wilga - Kraków
- Drwinka
- RabaRaba RiverThe Raba is a river in the south of Poland, right tributary to the river Vistula. Its source is in the Beskids, between the towns of Rabka-Zdrój and Nowy Targ. It flows to the north and then to the northeast. Towns along the river Raba include Rabka-Zdrój, Mszana Dolna, Myślenice and Dobczyce.-See...
- Gróbka
- Uszwica
- Kisielina
- Dunajec
- Breń
- Brnik
- Wisłoka
- Babulówka - Baranów SandomierskiBaranów SandomierskiBaranów Sandomierski is a small town in southern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodship, Tarnobrzeg County on the Vistula River, with 1,440 inhabitants .-Castle:...
- Trzesniówka - SandomierzSandomierzSandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
- Łęg - SandomierzSandomierzSandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
- SanSan RiverThe San is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the Vistula River, with a length of 433 km and a basin area of 16,861 km2...
- SannaSannaThe Sanna is a tributary of the Vistula in Poland. Its source is in the village of Wierzchowiska II in Lublin Voivodeship, Galicia. It flows westward through a rural area. Then, it turns northward for a few kilometers until flowing into the Vistula near the city of Annopol. It is about 50 km...
- AnnopolAnnopolAnnopol is a small town in south-eastern Poland with 2,679 inhabitants, in Kraśnik County. It has been situated in the Lublin Voivodeship previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship... - Wyżnica - JózefówJózefówJózefów is a very common placename in Poland.Towns:* Józefów in Masovian Voivodeship, near Warsaw*Józefów, Biłgoraj County in Lublin Voivodeship Villages:...
- Chodelka
- Bystra - Kazimierz DolnyKazimierz DolnyKazimierz Dolny is a small town in Central Poland, on the right bank of the Vistula river in Puławy County, Lublin Province.It is a considerable tourist attraction as one of the most beautifully situated little towns in Poland. It enjoyed its greatest prosperity in the 16th and the first half of...
- Kurówka - Puławy
- Wieprz - DęblinDeblinDęblin is a town, population 19,500 , at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants....
- Okrzejka
- Promnik
- Wilga - WilgaWilga, Masovian VoivodeshipWilga is a village in Garwolin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Wilga. It lies approximately west of Garwolin and south-east of Warsaw....
- ŚwiderŚwiderŚwider is a river in Masovia, Poland. It is a tributary to the Vistula....
- OtwockOtwockOtwock is a town in central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 42,765 inhabitants . It is situated on the right bank of Vistula River below the mouth of Swider River. Otwock is home to a unique architectural style called Swidermajer....
, JózefówJózefówJózefów is a very common placename in Poland.Towns:* Józefów in Masovian Voivodeship, near Warsaw*Józefów, Biłgoraj County in Lublin Voivodeship Villages:... - Kanał Żerański - WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
- NarewNarewThe Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
- Nowy Dwór MazowieckiNowy Dwór MazowieckiNowy Dwór Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with ca. 42500 inhabitants . It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship ; previously, it was in Warszawa Voivodeship... - Mołtawa
- Słupianka - Płock
- Rosica - Płock
- Brzeźnica - Płock
- Skrwa Prawa - Płock
- Mień - NieszawaNieszawaNieszawa is a town and a commune in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. As of June 30, 2004, the town has a population of 2,047 people....
- DrwęcaDrwecaThe Drwęca is a river in northern Poland and a tributary of the Vistula river near Toruń, forming a part of the city's administrative boundary. It has a length of 207 km and a basin area of 5,344 km², all in Poland.Towns:...
- ToruńTorunToruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.... - Bacha - Toruń
- Struga
- Osa - GrudziądzGrudziadzGrudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...
- Liwa
Left tributaries
- Krajka - StrumieńStrumienStrumień is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland, on the Vistula River....
- Pszczynka
- Gostynia
- PrzemszaPrzemszaPrzemsza is a river in the south of Poland, a tributary of the Vistula.It originates at the confluence of the Black Przemsza and White Przemsza between the cities of Mysłowice and Jaworzno, and flows about southwards along the towns of Imielin and Chełmek to its mouth northeast of...
- Chełmek - Chech
- Rudno
- Sanka - Kraków
- Rudawa - Kraków
- Prądnik - Kraków
- Dłubnia - Kraków
- Roporek - Nowe BrzeskoNowe BrzeskoNowe Brzesko is a town in Proszowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Nowe Brzesko. It lies approximately south-east of Proszowice and east of the regional capital Kraków.The town has an approximate population of 1,700...
- Szreniawa
- Nidzica
- Nida - Nowy KorczynNowy KorczynNowy Korczyn is a village in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Nowy Korczyn. It lies approximately south of Busko-Zdrój and south of the regional capital Kielce. It is located close to the confluence of the Nida and...
- Strumień
- Czarna - Połaniec
- Koprzywianka - SandomierzSandomierzSandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
- Opatówka
- KamiennaKamiennaKamienna may refer to the following places in Poland:*Kamienna, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Kamienna, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship *Kamienna, Kutno County in Łódź Voivodeship...
- Krępianka - Solec nad Wisłą
- Iłżanka
- Zwoleńka
- Plewka - JanowiecJanowiecJanowiec is a village in Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Janowiec. It lies approximately south-west of Puławy and west of the regional capital Lublin. The village has a population of 1,000.It received its town charter in 1537, but...
- Zagożdzonka - KozieniceKozieniceKozienice is a town in central Poland with 21,500 inhabitants . It is the capital of Kozienice County .-Description:...
- RadomkaRadomkaThe Radomka is a river in central Poland and a left tributary of the Vistula river. It has a length of 98 km and a basin area of over 2000 km² . The river has its source in forests 4 km south from Przysucha...
- Pilica - WarkaWarkaWarka is a town in central Poland, located on the left bank of the Pilica river , with 11,035 inhabitants . It has been situated in Grójec County, in the Masovian Voivodeship, since 1999; previously it was in the Radom Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998.Warka obtained its city charter in 1321...
- Czarna - Góra KalwariaGóra KalwariaGóra Kalwaria is a town on the Vistula River in the Mazovian Voivodship, Poland, about 25 km southeast of Warsaw. It has a population of about 11,000 . The town has significance for both Catholic Christians and Hasidic Jews...
- Jeziorka - Konstancin-JeziornaKonstancin-JeziornaKonstancin-Jeziorna is a town in Piaseczno County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 16,963 inhabitants . It is located about 20 km south of downtown Warsaw and is a part of the metropolitan area of that city....
- BzuraBzuraBzura is a river in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river , with a length of 166 kilometres and the basin area of 7,788 km2.-Towns and townships:*Zgierz*Aleksandrów Łódzki*Ozorków*Łęczyca*Łowicz*Sochaczew...
- WyszogródWyszogródWyszogród is a town in Poland, in Masovian Voivodship, in Płock County, by the Vistula River. The population of Wyszogród was 2,793 in 2004.-History:... - Skrwa Lewa - Płock
- Zgłowiączka - Włocławek
- Tążyna
- Zielona
- BrdaBrda RiverThe Brda is a river in northwestern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. It is the country's 15th longest river, with a total length of 238 km and a catchment area of 4,627 km².-Navigation:...
- Bydgoszcz - WdaWdaThe Wda is a river in northern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river , with a length of 198 kilometres and a basin area of 2,325 km²...
- ŚwiecieSwiecieŚwiecie is a town in northern Poland with 25,968 inhabitants , situated in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ; it was previously in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship . It is the capital of Świecie County.-History:... - WierzycaWierzycaWierzyca is a river of Poland....
- GniewGniewGniew is a town situated on the left bank of the Vistula River, in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located at around .-History:The first recorded mentions of Gniew appear in written documents from the first half of the 13th century, one of which refers to the region as Terra Gymeu... - Motława - GdańskGdanskGdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
- RaduniaRaduniaThe Radunia is a small river in Kashubia which issues from a lake and falls into the Motława near Gdansk .A part of its water is conveyed into the city via the 13.5 km long Kanał Raduni / Radaunekanal or New Radaune or Radunia Channel, a canal built in 14th century by Teutonic Knights,...
- Gdańsk
Global warming and the flooding of the Vistula delta
According to flood studies carried out by Professor Zbigniew Pruszak, who is the co-author of the scientific paper Implications of SLR and further studies carried out by scientists attending Poland’s Final International ASTRA Conference, and predictions stated by climate scientists at the climate change pre-summit in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, it is highly likely most of the Vistula Delta region (which is below sea level) will be flooded due to the sea level rise caused by climate change by 2100.
Geological history
The history of the River Vistula and her valley spans over 2 million years. The river is connected to the geological period called the QuaternaryQuaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
, in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within the last 14,000 years, after complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring.
As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also located in the centre of Europe. Three principal geographical and geological land masses of the continent meet in her river basin: the lowland Eastern European shield, the area of uplands and low mountains of Western Europe, and the Alpine zone of high mountains to which both the Alps and the Carpathians belong. The Vistula begins in the Carpathian mountains. The run and character of the river was shaped by ice sheets flowing down from the Scandinavian Peninsula. The last ice sheet entered the area of Poland about 20,000 years ago. During periods of warmer weather, the ancient Vistula, "Pra-Wisła", searched for the shortest way to the sea - thousands of years ago it flowed into the North Sea somewhere at the latitude of contemporary Scotland. The climate of the Vistula valley, its plants, animals and its very character changed considerably during the process of glacial retreat.
Navigation
Bydgoszcz Canal
Bydgoszcz Canal - a canal, 24.7 km long, between the cities of Bydgoszcz and Nakło in Poland, connecting Vistula river with Oder river, through Brda and Noteć rivers . The level difference along the canal is regulated with usage of 6 locks...
joins the river). The Vistula can accommodate modest river vessels of CEMT class II. Further upstream the river depth lessens. Although a project was undertaken to increase the traffic-carrying capacity of the river upstream of Warsaw by building a number of locks in and around Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, this project was not extended further, so that navigability of the Vistula remains limited. The potential of the river would increase considerably if a restoration of the East-West connection via the Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
–Bug
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
–Mukhovets
Mukhavets River
Mukhavets , ; ) is a river in western Belarus, a tributary to the Bug River.The river rises in Pruzhany, Belarus where the Mukha river and the Viets canal are converging, flows in the south-western Belarus and empties into the Bug River in Brest....
–Pripyat
Pripyat River
The Pripyat River or Prypiat River is a river in Eastern Europe, approximately long. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine again, draining into the Dnieper....
–Dnieper
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
waterways were considered. The shifting economic importance of parts of Europe may make this option more likely.
Ancient settlements
Suebi
The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
and Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
. Even though the Romans do not appear to have had direct contact with the regions between Odra-Nysa Łużycka and the Bug, the Vistula Basin along with the lands of the Rhine, Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, and Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
came to be called Magna Germania by Roman authors of the 1st century AD. Ptolemy, in the 2nd century AD, would describe the Vistula as the border between Germania
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
and Sarmatia
Sarmatia
Sarmatia or Sarmatian can refer to:* the land of Sarmatians, western Scythia as described by many classical authors, such as Herodotus in the 5th century BC* Sarmatian languages, part of Scythian languages...
.
Tacitus is another source regarding information on the early inhabitants of the Vistula. However, he makes no secret that many of the tribes to the east of the Vistula were somewhat shrouded in mystery. For example, when describing the Venethi, Peucini and Fenni
Fenni
The Fenni were an ancient people of northeastern Europe first described by Cornelius Tacitus in Germania in AD 98.- Ancient accounts :The Fenni are first mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in Germania in 98 A.D...
he wrote that he was not sure if he should call them Germans, since they had settlements and they fought on foot, or rather Sarmatians
Sarmatians
The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
since they have some similar customs to them.
The Vistula river used to be connected to the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
, and thence to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
via the Augustów Canal
Augustów Canal
The Augustów Canal is a cross-border canal built in the 19th century in the present-day Podlaskie Voivodeship of northeastern Poland and the Hrodna Voblast of north-western Belarus...
, a technological marvel with numerous sluice
Sluice
A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill...
s contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first waterway in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
to provide a direct link between the two major rivers, the Vistula and the Neman
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
. It provided a link with the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
to the south through the Oginski Canal
Oginski Canal
The Oginski Canal is a canal in Belarus which connects Yaselda River and Shchara River of length 54 km. Its construction was started in 1765 by count Michał Kazimierz Ogiński, hence the name....
, Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
, Berezina Canal, and Dvina River. The Baltic Sea–Vistula–Dnieper–Black Sea route with its rivers was one of the most ancient trade routes, the Amber Road
Amber Road
The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber. As one of the waterways and ancient highways, for centuries the road led from Europe to Asia and back, and from northern Africa to the Baltic Sea....
, on which amber and other items were traded from Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Asia, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and elsewhere.
Veleti
The Veleti or Wilzi were a group of medieval Lechites tribes within the territory of modern northeastern Germany; see Polabian Slavs. In common with other Slavic groups between the Elbe and Oder Rivers, they were often described by Germanic sources as Wends. In the late 10th century, they were...
moved westward from the Vistula delta.
A number of West Slavic
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. They include Poles , Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Sorbs and the historical Polabians. The northern or Lechitic group includes, along with Polish, the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages...
Polish tribes
Polish tribes
Polish tribes - a term used sometimes to describe the tribes of West Slavs that lived in the territories that became Polish from around the mid-7th century to the creation of Polish state by the Piast dynasty...
formed small dominions beginning in the 8th century, some of which coalesced later into larger ones. Among the tribes listed in the Bavarian Geographer
Bavarian Geographer
The Bavarian Geographer is a conventional name given by Jan Potocki in 1796 to the author of an anonymous medieval document Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii ....
's 9th century document were the Vistulans
Vistulans
Vistulans were an early medieval West Slavic tribe inhabiting the land of modern Lesser Poland.From the 1st century and possibly earlier, the Vistulans , were part of the Carpian Tribe, which got its name from the area that they lived in, which was beside the Carpathian Mountain Range...
(Wiślanie) in southern Poland. Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and Wiślica
Wislica
Wiślica is a village in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Wiślica. It lies on the Nida River, approximately south of Busko-Zdrój and south of the regional capital Kielce...
were their main centres.
Many Polish legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
s are connected with the Vistula and the beginnings of Polish statehood. One of the most enduring is that about princess Wanda
Princess Wanda
Princess Wanda was the legendary daughter of Krakus, legendary founder of Kraków. Upon her father's death, she became queen of the Poles, but committed suicide to avoid an unwanted marriage....
co nie chciała Niemca (who rejected the German). According to the most popular variant, popularized by the 15th century historian Jan Długosz, Wanda, daughter of King Krak, became queen of the Poles upon her father's death. She refused to marry a German prince Rytigier (Rüdiger), who took offence and invaded Poland, but was repelled. Wanda however committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, drowning in the Vistula river, to ensure he would not invade her country again.
Main trading artery
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
, and building stone were among goods shipped via that route between the 10th and 13th centuries.
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
, invited in 1226 by Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia , from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia from 1194 until his death and High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232.-Life:...
to help him fight the pagan Prussians on the border of his lands. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights captured the Gdańsk castle
Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdansk)
The city of Danzig was captured by the State of the Teutonic Order on 13 November 1308, resulting in a massacre of its inhabitants and marking the beginning of tensions between Poland and the Teutonic Order. Originally the knights moved into the fortress as an ally of Poland against the...
and murdered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter. The Order had inherited Gniew
Gniew
Gniew is a town situated on the left bank of the Vistula River, in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located at around .-History:The first recorded mentions of Gniew appear in written documents from the first half of the 13th century, one of which refers to the region as Terra Gymeu...
from Sambor II
Sambor II, Duke of Pomerania
Sambor II of Tczew was a duke of Pomerania and prince of Lubiszewo Tczewskie.Sambor was a son of Mestwin I, Duke of Pomerania, and member of the Samborides. He was married to Mechtild of Mecklenburg. His daughter, Margaret Sambiria, became Queen of Denmark in 1248 by marriage with Christopher I of...
, thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula. Many granaries and storehouses, built in the 14th century, line the banks of the Vistula. In the 15th century the city of Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
gained great importance in the Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. While at this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians, Gdańsk soon became a starting point for German settlement of the largely fallow Vistulan country.
Before its peak in 1618, trade increased by a factor of 20 from 1491. The tonnage of grain traded on the river in key years is telling: 1491 - 14.000; 1537 - 23.000; 1563 - 150.000; 1618 - 310.000.
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
ports: Gdańsk controlling the Vistula river trade and Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
controlling the Western Dvina trade. Both cities were among the largest in the country. Around 70% the exports from Gdańsk were of grain.
Grain was also the largest export commodity of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The volume of traded grain can be considered a good and well-measured proxy for the economic growth of the Commonwealth.
Folwark
Folwark is a Polish word for a primarily serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise , often very large. Folwarks were operated in the Crown of Poland from the 14th century and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 15th century, from the second half of the 16th century in the joint...
usually signed a contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
with the merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea. Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes, including the Vistula. The river had a relatively well-developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries
Granary
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
. Most river shipping travelled north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber.
In order to arrest recurrent flooding on the lower Vistula, the Prussian government in 1889-95 constructed an artificial channel about 12 km. east of Gdańsk (German name: Danzig) – known as the Vistula Cut (German: Weichseldurchstich; Polish: Przekop Wisły) – that acted as a huge sluice, diverting much of the Vistula flow directly into the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. As a result, the historic Vistula channel through Gdańsk lost much of its flow, and was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: Tote Weichsel; Polish: Martwa Wisła). German states got complete control of the region in 1795-1812 (see: Partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
), as well as during the World Wars, in 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
the Vistula Land
Vistula land
Vistula Land or Vistula Country was the name applied to the lands of the Kingdom of Poland following the defeats of the November Uprising and January Uprising as it was increasingly stripped of autonomy and incorporated into Imperial Russia...
after the collapse of the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
(1863–1865).
Almost 75% of the territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was 180,300 km²), the Niemen (51,600 km²), the Odra (46,700 km²) and the Daugava (10,400 km²).
In 1920 the decisive battle
Battle
Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...
of the Polish–Soviet War Battle of Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...
(sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula), was fought as Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander in chief of the Red Army , and one of the most prominent victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.-Early life:...
approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and nearby Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress is one of the biggest 19th century fortresses in Poland. It is located the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, some 50 kilometres north of Warsaw...
situated on the mouth of the Vistula.
World War II
The Polish September campaign included battles over control of the mouth of the Vistula, and of the city of Gdańsk, so close to the river delta. During the Invasion of Poland (1939)Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
, after the initial battles in Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
, the remains of the Polish Army of Pomerania withdrew to the southern bank of the Vistula. After defending Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
for several days, the army withdrew further south under pressure of the overall strained strategic situation, and took part in the main battle of Bzura.
The Auschwitz complex of concentration camps was located on the Vistula, at the confluence of the Vistula and the Soła rivers.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
prisoners of war from the Nazi Stalag XX-B
Stalag XX-B
Marienburg Stalag XXB or Stalag 20B Marienburg Danzig was a Nazi POW camp. Located near Marienburg, it was originally a hutted and tented camp with double boundary fence and had watchtowers. British, Poles and Serbs were held here in 1940. An administration block including a hospital was erected...
camp were assigned to cut ice blocks from the River Vistula. The ice would then be transported by truck to the local beer houses.
The 1944 Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
was planned with the expectation that the Soviet forces, who had arrived in the course of their offensive and were waiting on the other side of the Vistula River in full force, would help in the battle for Warsaw. However the Soviets betrayed the Poles, stopping their advance at the Vistula and branding the insurgents as criminals in radio broadcasts.
In early 1945 came the Vistula–Oder Offensive, in which the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
crossed the Vistula and drove the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
back past the Oder river in Germany.
See also
- Rivers of Poland
- Geography of PolandGeography of PolandPoland is a country in Central Europe with an area of 312,679 square kilometres , and mostly temperate climate. Generally speaking, Poland is an almost unbroken plain reaching from the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Carpathian Mountains in the south...
- Vistula LagoonVistula LagoonThe Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, Frisches Haff, is derived from an earlier form, Friesisches Haff. Both this term and the earlier Polish...
- Vistula SpitVistula SpitThe Vistula Spit is a spit, or peninsular stretch of land, which separates Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay in the Baltic Sea. The border between Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia, bisects it, politically dividing the spit in half between the two countries. The westernmost point...