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Oder River
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The Oder (known in Czech and Polish as Odra) is a river in Central Europe. It begins in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line. The river ultimately flows into the Szczecin Lagoon north of Szczecin and then into three branches (Dziwna, Swina and Peene) that empty into the Baltic Sea.
Oder is known by several names in different languages: (English and ; Czech, Slovak and ; ; Classical Latin: Viadrus, Viadua; Medieval Latin: Od(d)era).
Geography
The Oder is 854 km long: 112 in the Czech Republic, 742 in Poland (including 187 on the border between Germany and Poland) and is the second longest river in Poland (after the Vistula).
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
The Oder (known in Czech and Polish as Odra) is a river in Central Europe. It begins in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line. The river ultimately flows into the Szczecin Lagoon north of Szczecin and then into three branches (Dziwna, Swina and Peene) that empty into the Baltic Sea.
Names
The Oder is known by several names in different languages: (English and ; Czech, Slovak and ; ; Classical Latin: Viadrus, Viadua; Medieval Latin: Od(d)era).
Geography
The Oder is 854 km long: 112 in the Czech Republic, 742 in Poland (including 187 on the border between Germany and Poland) and is the second longest river in Poland (after the Vistula). It drains 118,861 km˛ of watershed, 106,056 of which are in Poland (89%), 7,217 in the Czech Republic (6%), and 5,587 in Germany (5%). Channels connect it to the Havel, Spree, Vistula system and Klodnica. It flows through Silesian, Opole, Lower Silesian, Lubusz, and West Pomeranian voivodeships of Poland and the states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.
The main branch empties into the Szczecin Lagoon near Police. The Szczecin Lagoon is bordered on the north by islands of Usedom (west) and Wolin (east). Between these two islands, there is only a narrow channel (Swina) going to the Bay of Pomerania, which forms a part of the Baltic Sea.
The largest city on the Oder River is Wroclaw.
Navigation
The Oder is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as to the town of Kozle, where the river connects to the Gliwicki Canal. The upstream part of the river is canalized and permits larger barges (up to CEMT Class IV) to navigate between the industrial sites around the Wroclaw area.
Further downstream the river is free flowing, passing the towns of Eisenhüttenstadt (where a canal connects the river to the Spree in Berlin) and Frankfurt (Oder). Downstream of Frankfurt the Warta River forms a navigable connection with Poznan and Bydgoszcz for smaller vessels. At Hohensaaten the Havel-Oder-Wasserstrasse connects with the Berlin waterways again.
Near its mouth the Oder reaches the city of Szczecin, a major maritime port. The river finally reaches the Baltic Sea through the Szczecin Lagoon and the river mouth at Swinoujscie. (Source: )
History
The river in Germania Magna was known to the Romans as the Viadrus or Viadua in Classical Latin, as it was a branch of the Amber Road from the Baltic Sea to the Roman Empire (see via). In German it was and is called the Oder, written in older records as Odera or Oddera in Medieval Latin documents and was mentioned in the Dagome iudex, which described territory of Duke Mieszko I ca. 990 and Oda von Haldensleben.
The Oder was an important trade route and towns in Germania were documented along with many tribes living between the rivers Albis, Viadrus and Vistula. Centuries later the Bavarian Geographer (ca. 845) specifies the following peoples: Silesians, Dadoshanie, Opolanians, Lupiglaa, and Golenshitse in Silesia and Wolinians and Pyrzycans in Western Pomerania. A document of the Bishopric of Prague (1086) mentions Zlasane, Trebovyane, Poborane, and Dedositze in Silesia.
In the 13th century, the first dams were built to protect agricultural lands.
The earliest important undertaking with a view of improving the waterway was due to the initiative of Frederick the Great, who recommended the diversion of the river into a new and straight channel in the swampy tract of land known as Oderbruch near Küstrin. The work was carried out in the years 1746-1753, a large tract of marshland being brought under cultivation, a considerable detour cut off and the main stream successfully confined to a canal.
In the late 1800s three additional alterations were made to the waterway.
- The canalization of the main stream at Breslau, and from the confluence of the Glatzer Neisse to the mouth of the Klodnitz Canal, a distance of over 50 miles. These engineering works were completed in 1896.
- During 1887-1891 the Oder-Spree Canal was made to connect the two rivers named.
- The deepening and regulation of the mouth and lower course of the stream.
After World War II, the Oder and the Lusatian Neisse formed the Oder-Neisse line, which was designated as the new border between Germany and Poland. The German populations east of these two rivers were expelled westwards.
Cities
Main section:
- Ostrava - Bohumín - Racibórz - Kedzierzyn-Kozle - Krapkowice - Opole - Brzeg - Olawa - Jelcz-Laskowice - Wroclaw - Brzeg Dolny - Scinawa - Szlichtyngowa - Glogów - Bytom Odrzanski - Nowa Sól - Krosno Odrzanskie - Eisenhüttenstadt - Frankfurt (Oder) - Slubice - Kostrzyn - Cedynia - Schwedt - Vierraden - Gartz - Gryfino - Szczecin - Police
Dziwna branch (between Wolin Island and mainland Poland):
- Wolin - Kamien Pomorski - Dziwnów
Swina branch (between Wolin and the Usedom islands):
- Swinoujscie
Szczecin Lagoon:
- Nowe Warpno - Ueckermünde
Peene branch (between Usedom Island and the German mainland):
- Usedom - Lassan - Wolgast
Eastern tributaries
- Ostravice - Olza - Ruda - Bierawka - Klodnica - Czarnka - Mala Panew - Stobrawa - Widawa - Jezierzyca - Barycz - Krzycki Rów - Obrzyca - Jablonna - Pliszka - Olobok - Gryzynka - Warta with the Notec - Mysla - Kurzyca - Stubia - Rurzyca - Tywa - Plonia - Ina - Gowienica
Western tributaries
- Opava - Psina - Cisek - Olszówka - Stradunia - Osobloga - Prószkowski Potok - Nysa Klodzka - Olawa - Sleza - Bystrzyca - Sredzka Woda - Cicha Woda - Kaczawa - Slepca - Zimnica - Debniak - Biala Woda - Czarna Struga - Slaska Ochla - Zimny Potok - Bóbr - Olcha - Racza - Lusatian Neisse - Gunica
See also
External links
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