The Weser () 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 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),Vgl. Hans Krahe: Unsere ältesten Flußnamen, Wiesbaden 1964, Pages 101 and 24. is 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 long. The Werra rises in Thuringia, the German state south of the main projection (tongue) of Lower Saxony.
Etymology "Weser" and "Werra" are the same words in different dialects. The difference reflects the old linguistic border between Central and Low German, passing through Hannoversch Münden.
The name likely derives from the Old Germanic "flow, ooze". It is cognate with the Wear in England and Vistula (Polish Wisła, German Weichsel) in Poland, all of which are derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "to flow", which also gives rise to Old English/Old Frisian "mud, ooze", Old Norse "slime, stagnant pool", Dutch "haze; soggy land" (see Waasland), Old Saxon "wet ground, mire", Old High German "rain", and French "mud, sludge".
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. The dam, built in 1914, was bombed and severely damaged by British aircraft in May 1943, causing great destruction and about 70 deaths downstream. It was rebuilt within four months. The reservoir is a major summer resort area. Turbines driven by its sluices provide electricity.
The Weser enters the North Sea in the southernmost part of the German Bight. In the sea it splits into two arms –the riverbed at the end of the last ice age. These sea arms are called Alte Weser (old Weser) and Neue Weser (new Weser). They are the waterways for ships heading for the ports of Bremerhaven, Nordenham, and Bremen. The Alte Weser Lighthouse marks the northernmost point of the Weser. This replaced the Roter Sand Lighthouse in 1964.
Weser deepening Since the 19th century, the Weser has been deepened twelve times by humans. This caused severe ecological damage to the river.
With each deepening, the tides were altered by the faster inflow of North Sea tides. This increases the risk of flooding along the river.
Tributaries The largest tributary of the Weser is the Aller, which joins south of Bremen. Tributaries of the Weser and the Werra (from source to mouth) are:
Modes of the list: Listed upstream, but sides seen with the flow Distances ("km …") from the hydrographical limit towards the sea "II", "III"and "IV" mark distances of secondary/tertiary tributaries from the confluence with the Weser etc. After the names, lengths and basin sizes are given. Lengths with longer affluents are given behind the slash lengths including an upper course with another name with "or"
List: km 19, right: Geeste (in Bremerhaven), 42.5 km, 338 km2 km 33, right: Lune, 43 km, 383 km2 km 35.9, right: Drepte, 37.6 km, 101 km2 km 52.8, left: Hunte, 189 km, 2.785 km2 II: km 125.7: Lake Dümmer km 67.6, right: Lesum, 9.9 or 131.5, 2,188 km2 II: km 9.9, right Hamme, 48.5 km, 549 km2 ↑ main stream: Wümme, 118 / 120, 1,585 km2 km 72.5, left: Ochtum, 25.6 or 45 km, 917 km2 II: km 25.6: left Hache, 33 km, 118 km2 km 125.6, right: Aller, 260 km, 15,744 km2 II: km 63.6, left: Leine, 278 km, 5,617 km2, stronger than river Aller above III: km 112.7, right: Innerste, 99.7 km, 1,264 km2 III: km 192.8, right: Rhume, 44 km, 1,193 km2, stronger than river Leine above IV: km 15.6, right: Oder, 56 km, 385 km2, headwater of the strongest waterway of Aller system II: km 97.3, right: Örtze, 62 / 70 km, 760 km2 II: km 140.7, left: Oker, 218 km, 1822 km2, stronger than river Aller above km 184.6, right: Steinhuder Meerbach ↑ km II: 29 lake Steinhuder Meer km 188.7, left: Große Aue, 84.5 km, 1,522 km2 km 261.3, left: Werre, 71.9 km, 1485 km2 II: km 12.7, left: Else, 34.6 km, 416 km2, branch of the Hase, an affluent of Ems km 287.7, left: Exter, 26.1 km, 109 km2 km 323.3, left: Emmer, 61.8 km, 535 km2 km 387.5, left: Nethe, 50.4 km, 460 km2 km 406.5, left: Diemel, 110.5 km, 1,762 km2 km 451.5, left: Fulda, 220.4 km, 6.947 km2 II: km 45.3, left: Eder, 176.1 km, 3,361 km2, headwater of the strongest waterway of Weser system III: km 17.1, left: Schwalm, 97.1 km, 1.299 km2 ↑ III: km 49.4–70.5: Edersee reservoir II: 120.1, right: Haune, 66.5 km, 500 km2 ↑ main stream above km 451.5: Werra, 299.6 km, 5.497 km2 km 566.5, right: Hörsel, 55.2 or 64.3, 784 km2 km 9.8, right: Nesse, 54.5 km, 426 km2 km 513.1, left: Ulster, 57.2 km, 421 km2 km 604.4, right: Schleuse, 34.2 km, 283 km2
Notable towns Main towns along the Weser are (from the head of the river to its mouth): Hann. Münden, Beverungen, Höxter, Holzminden, Bodenwerder, Hamelin, Hessisch Oldendorf, Rinteln, Vlotho, Bad Oeynhausen, Porta Westfalica, Minden, Petershagen, Nienburg, Achim, Bremen, Brake, Nordenham, and Bremerhaven.
Popular culture The river features in the legend and folk tale the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
References
Etymology 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, page 89ff. Hans Heinrich Seedorf und Hans-Heinrich Meyer: Landeskunde Niedersachsen. Natur und Kulturgeschichte eines Bundeslandes. Volume 1: Historische Grundlagen und naturräumliche Ausstattung. Wachtholz, Neumünster 1992, page 105ff. Ludger Feldmann: Das Quartär zwischen Harz und Allertal mit einem Beitrag zur Landschaftsgeschichte im Tertiär. Papierflieger, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 2002, page 133ff and others.
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, . Bremer Archäologische Blätter, Beiheft 3/2004 zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung im Focke-Museum: Gefundene Vergangenheit, Archäologie des Mittelalters in Bremen, Der Landesarchäologe Bremen, . (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. Published by the 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. .