Weser
Weser 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
- 51.93°, 9.51°
About Weser
The Weser (pronounced [ˈveːzɐ] ) is the longest river wholly in Germany. The Weser flows from the Thuringian Forest to the North Sea, where it flows into the sea near Bremerhaven.
The Weser begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is 50 km (31 mi) further north opposite the ports of Bremerhaven and Nordenham. The latter is on the Butjadingen Peninsula. It then merges into the North Sea via two highly saline, estuarine mouths.
It connects to the canal network running east–west across the North German Plain.
The river, when combined with the Werra (a dialectal form of Weser), is 744 km (462 mi) long and thus, the longest river entirely situated within Germany (the Main, however, is the longest if the Weser-Werra are considered separate). The Weser itself is 452 km (281 mi) long. The Werra rises in Thuringia, the German state south of the main projection (tongue) of Lower Saxony.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Weser (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Weser in Depth
Course
The Weser starts at the confluence of the Fulda and the Werra. It then runs down to the Porta Westfalica between two high hill ranges, the Wiehengebirge in the west and the Weserbergland in the east.
Between Minden and the North Sea, the river has been largely canalised up to a limit of 1,200-ton ships. Eight hydroelectric dams stand at the ends of adjacent weir streams that make up the river. The navigation is linked west to the Dortmund–Ems Canal via the Coastal Canal. It is linked east at Bremerhaven to the Elbe.
A large reservoir, the Edersee, on the Eder, the main tributary of the Fulda, is used to allow enough water depth for shipping year-round.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Weser (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Weser: Key Facts
| Length | 451 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 327 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 47,960 km² |
| Source | Fulda |
| Mouth | North Sea |
| Drainage system | Weser Basin |
| Tributaries | Diemel, Hamel, Aller, Lesum, Drepte, Lune, Geeste, Emmer |
Facts from Wikidata Q1650 (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
Weser: Quick Answers
- Where is Weser?
- Weser is located in Germany, at 51.9329° N, 9.5118° E.
- Are there dams on the Weser?
- No dam on the Weser is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.