The Pleiße is a right tributary of the Weiße Elster

Weiße Elster

The White Elster or Weisse Elster is a long river in central Europe, right tributary of the Saale. Its source is in the westernmost part of the Czech Republic, near Aš. After a few kilometres, it flows into eastern Germany...

 in Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, 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...

. It has its source southwest of Zwickau

Zwickau

Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...

 at Ebersbrunn

Lichtentanne

Lichtentanne is a municipality in the district Zwickau, in Saxony, Germany.-Famous people:*Ludwig Greiner, identified Gerlachovský Peak as the summit of the Carpathians...

, then flows through Werdau

Werdau

Werdau is a town in Germany, part of the Landkreis Zwickau in the administrative region of Chemnitz, the Free State of Saxony. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 8 km from Zwickau....

, Crimmitschau

Crimmitschau

Crimmitschau is a town in the district of Zwickau in the Free State of Saxony.-Geography:Crimmitschau lies on the River Pleiße in the northern foothills of the Erzgebirge.-Neighboring municipalities:...

, Altenburg

Altenburg

Altenburg is a town in the German federal state of Thuringia, 45 km south of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district.-Geography:...

, and other cities in Saxony and Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

, before meeting the Weiße Elster in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

.

The river naturally had a length of 115 km; however, south of Leipzig, it has been straightened, which shortened it to around 90 km.