The Brunau is a 10.3 kilometres (6.4 mi) stream in the district of Celle, on the Lüneburg Heath

Lüneburg Heath

The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...

 in North 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...

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Source and course

The Brunau rises in the vicinity of Nindorf

Nindorf (Bergen)

Nindorf is a village administered by the Lower Saxon town of Bergen in the northern part of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. It lies about northwest of Bergen on the B 3 federal road and currently has 225 inhabitants.- History :...

, flows initially northeast to south of Hetendorf. Here it swings east, runs past Bonstorf

Bonstorf

Bonstorf is a village in the parish of Hermannsburg in the north of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath in central Germany.Bonstorf lies about 3 km from Hermannsburg on the boundary with the district of Soltau-Fallingbostel and currently has about 530 inhabitants...

 to the north and then continues in a southeastern direction. North of the village of Baven the stream is dammed. Originally it powered a water mill here, the Backebergsmühle, a water-driven corn mill. The Brunau flows right under the building. Shortly before its mouth the Brunau merges with an old, now overgrown, meadow-irrigation channel. With this channel it discharges into the Örtze

Örtze

The Örtze is a river in the North German state of Lower Saxony, which rises north of Munster in the Große Heide and, after , joins the Aller southeast of Winsen.- Source and course :...

 near Baven north of Hermannsburg

Hermannsburg

Hermannsburg is a municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the River Örtze, approx. 15 kilometers east of Bergen and 30 kilometers north of Celle.-Division of the municipality:...

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Water quality

The Brunau derives its name from its brown (Low German

Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...

: bruun) water. Its quality however is Class II throughout: moderately polluted