The
Eder is a 177 km long
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, and a tributary of the
Fulda RiverThe Fulda is a river in Hesse, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser . The Fulda River is 218 km in length....
. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian
TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
as the
Adrana in the territory of the
ChattiThe Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
.
The river rises from the
Ederkopf mountain in western
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost and—in terms of population and economic output—the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km²...
near the springs of the
LahnThe Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
and
SiegThe Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany named after the Sigambrer. It is a right tributary of the Rhine and 153 kilometres in length....
rivers. Unlike the Lahn and Sieg, that are both tributaries of the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
, the Eder flows east and north and into the river Fulda at
EdermündeEdermünde is a community in northern Hesse, Germany.- Location :Edermünde lies in the north of the Schwalm-Eder district not far southwest of Kassel. This is where the river Eder empties into the river Fulda...
, south of
KasselKassel Kassel Kassel and of the district (Kreis) of the same name...
.
The
Eder is a 177 km long
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, and a tributary of the
Fulda RiverThe Fulda is a river in Hesse, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser . The Fulda River is 218 km in length....
. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian
TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
as the
Adrana in the territory of the
ChattiThe Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
.
The river rises from the
Ederkopf mountain in western
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost and—in terms of population and economic output—the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km²...
near the springs of the
LahnThe Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
and
SiegThe Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany named after the Sigambrer. It is a right tributary of the Rhine and 153 kilometres in length....
rivers. Unlike the Lahn and Sieg, that are both tributaries of the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
, the Eder flows east and north and into the river Fulda at
EdermündeEdermünde is a community in northern Hesse, Germany.- Location :Edermünde lies in the north of the Schwalm-Eder district not far southwest of Kassel. This is where the river Eder empties into the river Fulda...
, south of
KasselKassel Kassel Kassel and of the district (Kreis) of the same name...
. At
Hannoversch MündenHann. Münden is the German official name of a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. The city is located in the district of Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form of the river Weser. It has 28,000 inhabitants...
, the Fulda joins with the
WerraThe Werra is a river in central Germany, the right source river of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After 293 km the Werra joins the Fulda River in Hann. Münden, forming the Weser....
to form the Weser river which flows into the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
north of Bremen. Towns along the course of the Eder include
Battenberg- Location :The middle centre of Battenberg lies in the Ederbergland, or Eder Highland, to which the Burgwald abutting the town to the east also belongs, on the southern edge of the Sauerland and the Rothaargebirge...
,
FrankenbergFrankenberg an der Eder is a town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany.The mountain at a ford over the Eder north of the Burgwald range was for a long time a fortified place, playing an especially important rôle under the Franks in the Saxon Wars...
,
Waldeck-Places:* Waldeck Castle, a medieval fortress/castle in Germany* Waldeck, Hesse, a town in Hesse* Waldeck or Waldeck-Pyrmont, a principality in the German Empire and German Confederation, and a state in the Weimar Republic, named after the above castle and town* Waldeck, Bavaria, a village in the...
and
FritzlarFritzlar is a small German town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, 160 km north of Frankfurt, with a storied history...
.
A rock-and-concrete dam (47 m high, 400 m long) completed in 1914 near the small town of Waldeck created the large
EderseeThe Edersee is a large reservoir created by the construction, from 1908 to 1914, of a rock and concrete dam across the Eder river, near the small town of Waldeck in northern Hesse, Germany, to generate hydropower and regulate water levels for shipping on the Weser river...
reservoir, which is 27 km long and has a holding capacity of 200 million m³ of water. It is used to generate hydro-electricity and to regulate water levels for shipping on the Weser river.
The dam was destroyed by British
Avro LancasterThe Avro Lancaster was a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF and squadrons from other...
bombers of the
RAFThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
's
617 SquadronNo. 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. It currently operates the Tornado GR4 in the ground attack and reconnaissance role...
on 17 May 1943 (
Operation ChastiseOperation Chastise was the official name for the attacks on German dams on 16/17 May 1943 in the Second World War using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by " Dr. Barnes Wallis ". The attack was carried out by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the...
). The bombers were equipped with special
Barnes WallisSir Barnes Neville Wallis, CBE FRS, RDI, FRAeS , was an English scientist, engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the RAF in Operation Chastise to attack the Möhne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr area in May 1943, during World War II...
bouncing bombA bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target such as across water to avoid torpedo nets. Unlike skip bombing, which uses conventional bombs as during the March 1943 Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the British, Germans, and Soviets developed World War II bombs specifically for...
s. On the same night, the nearby
Möhne ReservoirThe Möhne Reservoir is an artificial lake in North Rhine-Westphalia, some 45 km east of Dortmund. The dam was built between 1908 and 1913 to help control floods, regulate water levels on the Ruhr river downstream, and generate hydropower. Today, the lake is also a tourist attraction...
dam was also attacked, causing enormous destruction and loss of life downstream (the great majority of drowning victims were Ukrainian POWs in a labor camp just below the dam). The story of the raid was made into a film called
The Dam BustersThe Dam Busters is a British war film, set during the Second World War, and based on the true story of the RAF's 617 Squadron, the development of the "bouncing bomb", and Operation Chastise, the attack on the Ruhr dams in Germany. It stars Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis and Richard Todd as Wing...
.
The dam was rebuilt the same year, and the lake today is a major summertime recreation facility, particularly popular with Dutch campers.