Weser River
Encyclopedia
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in north-western Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Formed at Hann. Münden
Hann. Münden
Hann. Münden is the German official name of a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is located in the district of Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form the river Weser. It has 28,000 inhabitants...
by (the confluence of) the Fulda
Fulda River
The Fulda is a river in Hesse, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser . The Fulda is 218 km in length....
and Werra
Werra
The Werra is a river in central Germany, the right-source river of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After 293 km the Werra joins the river Fulda in the town of Hann. Münden, forming the Weser....
, it flows through Lower Saxony, then reaching the historic (Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
) port city of Bremen before emptying into the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
50 km further north at Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, which is also a seaport
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
. On the opposite (west) bank is the town of Nordenham
Nordenham
Nordenham is a town in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located at the mouth of the Weser river on the Butjadingen peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. The seaport city of Bremerhaven is located on the other side of the river...
at the foot of the Butjadingen Peninsula
Butjadingen
Butjadingen is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch districts, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and on the east by the Weser River. It forms the northern part of the...
; thus, the mouth of the river is located in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
. The Weser has an overall length of 452 km. Together with its Werra tributary
Werra
The Werra is a river in central Germany, the right-source river of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After 293 km the Werra joins the river Fulda in the town of Hann. Münden, forming the Weser....
, which originates in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, its length is 744 km.
Etymology
Linguistically, the name of both rivers, Weser and Werra, goes back to the same source, the differentiation being caused by the old linguistic border between UpperUpper German
Upper German is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy.-Family tree:Upper German can be generally classified as Alemannic or Austro-Bavarian...
und Lower German, which touched the region of Hannoversch Münden.
The name Weser parallels the names of other rivers such as the Wear
River Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
in England and the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
in Poland, all of which are ultimately derived from the root *weis- "to flow", which gave Old English/Old Frisian wāse "mud, ooze", Old Norse veisa "slime, stagnant pool", Dutch waas "lawn", Old Saxon waso "wet ground, mire", and Old High German wasal "rain".
Course
The Weser river is the longest German river to reach the sea the course of which lies entirely within the national territory.The top section of its course leads through a hilly region called the Weserbergland
Weserbergland
The Weser Uplands is a hill region in Germany The Weser Uplands (German: Weserbergland) is a hill region (Bergland = uplands, hills or hill region) in Germany The Weser Uplands (German: Weserbergland) is a hill region (Bergland = uplands, hills or hill region) in Germany (Lower Saxony, Hesse,...
. It extends from the confluence of the Fulda and the Werra to the Porta Westfalica
Porta Westfalica (gorge)
thumb|Weser watershedThe Porta Westfalica is a gorge and water gap, where the Weser river runs through the passage between the mountain chains of the Wiehengebirge in the west and the Wesergebirge in the east...
, where it runs through a gorge between two mountain chains, the Wiehengebirge
Wiehengebirge
The Wiehen Hills are a low mountain range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long finger away from the main upland area of the Lower Saxon Hills, beginning at the Weser River near Minden and terminating in the vicinity of Osnabrück.It is...
in the west and the Weserbergland
Weserbergland
The Weser Uplands is a hill region in Germany The Weser Uplands (German: Weserbergland) is a hill region (Bergland = uplands, hills or hill region) in Germany The Weser Uplands (German: Weserbergland) is a hill region (Bergland = uplands, hills or hill region) in Germany (Lower Saxony, Hesse,...
in the east.
Between Minden
Minden
Minden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
and the North Sea, it has largely been canalised
Ship canal
A ship canal is a canal especially constructed to carry ocean-going ships, as opposed to barges. Ship canals can be enlarged barge canals, canalized or channelized rivers, or canals especially constructed from the start to accommodate ships....
, permitting ships of up to 1,200 tons to navigate it. Eight hydroelectric dams are located along its length. It is linked to the Dortmund-Ems Canal
Dortmund-Ems Canal
The Dortmund–Ems Canal is a 269 km long canal in Germany between the inland port of the city of Dortmund and the sea port of Emden. The artificial southern part of the canal ends after 215 km at the lock of Herbrum near Meppen. From there, the route goes over a length of 45 km over...
via the Coastal Canal, and another canal links it at Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
to the Elbe River. A large reservoir on the Eder
Eder
The Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....
river, the main tributary of the Fulda, is used to regulate water levels on the Weser so as to ensure adequate depth for shipping throughout the year. The dam, built in 1914, was bombed and destroyed by British aircraft
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
in May 1943, causing massive destruction and approximately 70 deaths downstream, but was rebuilt within four months. Today, the Edersee
Edersee
The Edersee Dam is a hydroelectric dam constructed between 1908 to 1914 across the Eder river, near the small town of Waldeck in northern Hesse, Germany, it lies at the northern edge of the Kellerwald...
reservoir is a major summer resort area and provides substantial hydroelectricity.
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
in the southernmost part of the German Bight
German Bight
German Bight is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east . To the north and west it is limited by the Dogger Bank. The Bight contains the Frisian and Danish Islands. The Wadden Sea is approximately ten to...
. In the North Sea it splits up into two arms representing the ancient riverbed at the end of the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
. These sea-arms are called Alte Weser (old Weser) and Neue Weser (new Weser). They represent the major waterways for ships heading for the harbors of Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Nordenham
Nordenham
Nordenham is a town in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located at the mouth of the Weser river on the Butjadingen peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. The seaport city of Bremerhaven is located on the other side of the river...
and Bremen. The northernmost point of the Weser is marked by the Alte Weser lighthouse
Alte Weser (lighthouse)
The Alte Weser Lighthouse is located offshore from the estuary mouth of the river Weser in the German Bight, southern North Sea.It was built on sand between 1961 and 1964. The Alte Weser lighthouse took over duties and replaced the historical Roter Sand lighthouse on September 1, 1964...
. This lighthouse replaced the historic and famous Roter Sand lighthouse in 1964.
Tributaries
The largest tributary of the Weser is the AllerAller
The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...
, which joins south of Bremen. The tributaries of the Weser and the Werra (from source to mouth) are:
Left
- UlsterUlster RiverThe Ulster is a 56 km long river in Thuringia and Hesse, Germany, left tributary of the Werra. Its source is in the Rhön Mountains, near Ehrenberg. The Ulster flows generally north through the towns Hilders, Tann, Geisa and Unterbreizbach. It flows into the Werra in Philippsthal....
- Fulda, with EderEderThe Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....
- DiemelDiemelThe Diemel is a river in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, left tributary of the Weser. Its source is near Willingen, in Sauerland. The Diemel flows generally northeast through the towns Marsberg, Warburg and Trendelburg. It flows into the Weser in Bad Karlshafen. The total length of the...
- WerreWerreThe Werre is a river in the Detmold region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, left tributary of the Weser. Its source is near Horn-Bad Meinberg. The Werre flows generally north through the towns Detmold, Lage, Bad Salzuflen, Herford and Löhne. It flows into the Weser close to Bad Oeynhausen. The...
- Große AueGroße AueThe Große Aue is an long, southwestern, left tributary of the River Weser in northern North Rhine-Westphalia and central Lower Saxony in Germany.- Course :...
- HunteHunteThe Hunte is a 189 km long river in north-western Germany , left tributary of the Weser. It rises in the Wiehengebirge hills. In the Northern German Plain it flows through lake Dümmer. It flows generally northwards through the towns Bad Essen, Diepholz, Wildeshausen and Oldenburg. It flows...
Right
- Nesse
- AllerAllerThe Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...
- LesumLesumThe Lesum is a 10 km long river in northern Germany, right tributary of the Weser. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Wümme and Hamme, near Ritterhude, northwest of Bremen. It flows west and flows into the Weser in Bremen-Vegesack....
- It's a confluence of the rivers Wümme and HammeHammeHamme is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hamme proper and Moerzeke, Zogge and St-Anna as parttowns. On January 1, 2006, Hamme had a total population of 23,232. The total area is 40.21 km² which gives a population density...
.
Notable towns
Towns along the Weser, from the confluence of Werra and Fulda to the mouth, include: Hann. MündenHann. Münden
Hann. Münden is the German official name of a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is located in the district of Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form the river Weser. It has 28,000 inhabitants...
, Beverungen
Beverungen
Beverungen is a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Location :Beverungen lies in the Weser Uplands on the side of the Weser opposite Solling roughly 10 km south of Höxter. In parts of the eastern municipal area near the river, the town has a share of the Weser Valley,...
, Höxter, Holzminden
Holzminden
Holzminden is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden. It is located directly on the river Weser, which here is the border to North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:...
, Bodenwerder
Bodenwerder
Bodenwerder is a municipality in Holzminden district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It lies on the river Weser, upstream from Hamelin, at a point where the river has carved a gap in the hills...
, Hameln, Hessisch Oldendorf
Hessisch Oldendorf
Hessisch Oldendorf is a town in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Weser, approx. 10 km northwest of Hamelin. The adjective "Hessisch" is used since 1905, to distinguish it from other towns named Oldendorf. Hessisch Oldendorf was part of...
, Rinteln
Rinteln
Rinteln is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river above the Porta Westfalica. Population: 28,500.It is accessed by the A2 autobahn .-History:...
, Vlotho
Vlotho
Vlotho is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Vlotho is located along the Weser river, south of the Wiehengebirge, bordering on the Ravensberger Hügelland in the west, Lipperland in the south, and the Weserbergland in the east...
, Bad Oeynhausen
Bad Oeynhausen
Bad Oeynhausen is a spa town in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Geography :Bad Oeynhausen is located on the banks of the Weser river, which runs along the eastern edges of the town. Bad Oeynhausen has the world's highest carbonated, thermal saltwater fountain,...
, Porta Westfalica
Porta Westfalica
Porta Westfalica is a town in the district of Minden-Lübbecke, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name “Porta Westfalica” is Latin and means “gate to Westphalia”. Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of Westphalia...
, Minden
Minden
Minden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
, Petershagen
Petershagen
Petershagen is a town in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Petershagen is situated on the river Weser, approx...
, Nienburg
Nienburg
There are two towns named Nienburg in Germany.*Nienburg, Lower Saxony*Nienburg, Saxony-AnhaltThe Name Nienburg means "Neue Burg" ....
, Achim
Achim
Achim is a municipality and the largest town in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, approx. 17 km northwest of Verden, and 16 km southeast of Bremen. The mayor is Uwe Kellner.-Geography:Achim lies in a valley of the Weser...
, Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Brake
Brake (Unterweser)
Brake is the district seat of Wesermarsch district in the administrative region of Weser-Ems in Lower Saxony in northern Germany.-Geography:...
, Nordenham
Nordenham
Nordenham is a town in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located at the mouth of the Weser river on the Butjadingen peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. The seaport city of Bremerhaven is located on the other side of the river...
, Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
.
Origin of the name
- Dieter Berger: Geographische Namen in Deutschland. Duden-Verlag, Mannheim 1999.
- Hans Krahe: Sprache und Vorzeit. Quelle & Meyer, Heidelberg 1954. (Zur alteuropäischen Hydronomie.)
- Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Francke, Bern 1959.
Geology
- Karsten Meinke: Die Entwicklung der Weser im Nordwestdeutschen Flachland während des jüngeren Pleistozäns. Diss., Göttingen 1992. Mit Bodenprofilen der Weserstädte.
- Ludger Feldmann und Klaus-Dieter Meyer (Hrsg.): Quartär in Niedersachsen. Exkursionsführer zur Jubiläums-Hauptversammlung der Deutschen Quartärvereinigung in Hannover. DEUQUA-Exkursionsführer, Hannover 1998, S.89ff.
- Hans Heinrich Seedorf und Hans-Heinrich Meyer: Landeskunde Niedersachsen. Natur und Kulturgeschichte eines Bundeslandes. Band 1: Historische Grundlagen und naturräumliche Ausstattung. Wachtholz, Neumünster 1992, Seite 105ff.
- Ludger Feldmann: Das Quartär zwischen Harz und Allertal mit einem Beitrag zur Landschaftsgeschichte im Tertiär. Papierflieger, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 2002, Seite 133ff und passim.
Archaeology
- Bremer Archäologische Blätter, Beiheft 2/2000 zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung im Focke-Museum: Siedler, Söldner und Piraten, Chauken und Sachsen im Bremer Raum, © Der Landesarchäologe Bremen, ISSN 0068-0907.
- Bremer Archäologische Blätter, Beiheft 3/2004 zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung im Focke-Museum: Gefundene Vergangenheit, Archäologie des Mittelalters in Bremen, © Der Landesarchäologe Bremen, ISBN 3-7749-3233-6. (wg.Geschichte des Weserarms Balge)
History
- Georg Bessell: Geschichte Bremerhavens. Morisse, Bremerhaven 1927, 1989.
- Heinz Conradis: Der Kampf um die Weservertiefung in alter Zeit. In: Bremisches Jahrbuch. Bremen 41.1944.
- J. W. A. Hunichs: Practische Anleitung zum Deich-, Siel- und Schlengenbau. Erster Theil, von den Sielen. Bremen 1770.
- Die Kanalisierung der Mittelweser. Herausgegeben von der Mittelweser AG, Carl Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 1960.
- Kuratorium für Forschung im Küsteningenieurswesen: Die Küste. In: Archiv für Forschung und Technik an der Nord- und Ostsee. Boyens, Heide 51.1991.
Description
- Karl Löbe: Das Weserbuch. Niemeyer, Hameln 1968.
- Nils Aschenbeck, Wolf Dietmar Stock: Eine Flussfahrt von der Aller bis zur Nordsee. Atelier im Bauernhaus, Fischerhude 1998. ISBN 3-88132-350-3.