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The Elbe River is one of the major waterways of central Europe. It
originates in the North West Czech Republic before traversing much of
Germany and finally emptying into the North Sea.
Geography
Known as the Labe in the Czech Republic and Łaba in Poland, the river rises at an altitude of about 1400m. Of the numerous small streams whose waters compose the infant
river, the most important is the Bílé
Labe, or White Elbe. After plunging down the 37 miles of the Labsky´ vodopád, the latter
stream unites with the steep torrential Malé Labe, and thereafter the united stream of the Elbe pursues a southerly course, emerging from the mountain
glens at and continuing on to Pardubice, where it turns sharply to the west. At
Kolín some 27 miles further on, it bends
gradually towards the north-west.
A little above Brandy´s nad Labem it picks up the Jizera and at Mělník
it has its stream more than doubled in volume by the Vltava, a river which winds
northwards through Bohemia. Some miles lower down, at Litoměřice, the waters of the Elbe
are tinted by the reddish Ohře. Thus
augmented, and swollen into a stream 140m wide, the Elbe carves a path through the basaltic mass of the České
Středohoří, churning its way through a deep, narrow rocky gorge. Shortly after crossing the Czech-German frontier,
and passing through the sandstone defiles, the stream assumes a north-westerly direction, which on the whole it preserves right
to the North Sea.
The river roles rolls through Dresden and finally, beyond Meissen, enters on its long journey across the North German plain passing
along the former border of East Germany, touching Torgau, Wittenberg, Magdeburg, Wittenberge, and Hamburg on the way, and gathering into itself the waters of the Mulde
and Saale from the west, and those of the Schwarze Elster, Havel
and Elde from the east. Soon the Elbe reaches
Hamburg, and then passes through Holstein until it becomes merged in the North Sea off Cuxhaven.
Navigation
The Elbe has been navigable by commercial vessels since 1842, and provides important trade links as far inland as Prague. The river is linked by canals to the industrial
areas of Germany and to Berlin. The Elbe-Lübeck Canal also links the Elbe to the Baltic
Sea.
Etymology
Its name means 'river' (cf. Scandinavian
älv).
History The Elbe has long been an important delineator of European georgraphy. The Romans knew the river as the Albis; however, they only attempted once to move the
Eastern border of their Empire forward from the Rhine to the Elbe, and
this attempt failed in the Battle of the
Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, after which they never seriously tried again. In the middle ages it
formed the eastern limit of the Empire of Charlemagne. The rivers navigable
sections were also essential to the success of the Hanseatic League
and much trade was carried on its waters. In 1945 a section of the Elbe was made a section
of the border between East and West Germany.
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