Elbe
Elbe is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 51.82°, 12.84°
About Elbe
The Elbe (Czech: Labe) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Germany before flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 kilometres (68 miles) northwest of Hamburg. Its total length is 1,094 km (680 mi).
The Elbe's major tributaries include the rivers Vltava, Ohře, Saale, Havel, Mulde, and Schwarze Elster.
The Elbe river basin, comprising the Elbe and its tributaries, has a catchment area of 148,268 square kilometres (57,247 sq mi), the twelfth-largest in Europe. The basin spans four countries; however, it lies almost entirely within two of them: Germany (65.5%) and the Czech Republic (33.7%), covering about two-thirds of the basin's area. On its southeastern edge, the Elbe River Basin also comprises small parts of Austria (0.6%) and Poland (0.2%). The Elbe catchment area is inhabited by 24.4 million people; its biggest cities are Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Dresden and Leipzig.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Elbe (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Elbe in Depth
Course
The Elbe (Labe) rises on the slopes of Mt. Violík at an elevation of 1,386 metres (4,547 ft) in the Giant Mountains on the northwest border of the Czech Republic. After descending the 30 metres (98 ft) Elbe Falls, it is joined by the steep, fast-flowing Bílé Labe. The combined stream then flows south, emerging from the mountain valleys at Jaroměř, where it is joined by the Úpa and Metuje.
Here, the Elbe enters the vast vale named Polabí (meaning "land along the Elbe"), and continues southward through Hradec Králové (where Orlice flows in) and then to Pardubice, where it turns sharply to the west. At Kolín, some 43 kilometres (27 mi) further on, it bends gradually northwest. At the village of Káraný, a little above Brandýs nad Labem, the Jizera enters.
History
Ptolemy recorded the Elbe as Albis (Germanic for "river") in Germania Magna, with its source in the Asciburgis mountains (Giant Mountains), where the Germanic Vandalii then lived.
The Elbe has long served as an important delineator of European geography. The Romans knew the river as the Albis; however, they made only one serious attempt to move the border of their empire forward from the Rhine to the Elbe, and this attempt failed with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, after which they never seriously tried again. In the Middle Ages, the Elbe formed the eastern limit of the Empire of Charlemagne (King of the Franks from 769 to 814).
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Elbe (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Elbe: Key Facts
| Length | 1,094 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 711 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 148,268 km² |
| Source | Giant Mountains |
| Mouth | North Sea |
| Drainage system | Elbe Basin |
| Tributaries | Gottleuba, Müglitz, Weißeritz, Jahna, Döllnitz, Mulde, Saale, Ohre |
Facts from Wikidata Q1644 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Elbe: Quick Answers
- Where is Elbe?
- Elbe is located in Germany and Czechia, at 51.8236° N, 12.8354° E.
- Are there dams on the Elbe?
- No dam on the Elbe is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.