| Weser | |
| Name Other: | Werser (Low German) |
| Name Etymology: |
|
| Map: | Weser Einzugsgebiet.png |
| Pushpin Map: | Germany |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | European context: mouth within Germany. |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Germany |
| Subdivision Type2: | States |
| Subdivision Type5: | Cities |
| Length: | 452km (281miles) [{{convert|744|km|mi|abbr=on}} if combined with the Werra] |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 327m3/s |
| Source1 Location: | Confluence of the Fulda and Werra Rivers in Hann. Münden |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 51.4214°N 9.6481°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 116m (381feet) |
| Mouth: | Wadden Sea of the North Sea |
| Mouth Location: | Between Bremerhaven and Nordenham |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 53.5356°N 8.5656°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0m (00feet) |
| River System: | Weser basin |
| Basin Size: | 46306km2 |
| Tributaries Left: | Diemel, Emmer, Werre, Große Aue, Hunte |
| Tributaries Right: | Aller, Lesum |
The Weser (pronounced as /de/) is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is 50km (30miles) further north against 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), is 744km (462miles) long and thus, the longest river entirely situated within Germany (the Main, however, is the longest if the Weser and Werra are not combined). The Weser itself is 452km (281miles) long. The Werra rises in Thuringia, the German state south of the main projection (tongue) of Lower Saxony.
"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 *waisōn "flow, ooze".[1] 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
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, west and the Weserbergland in the east.
Between Minden and the North Sea, humans have largely canalised the river up to a limit of 1,200-ton ships. Eight hydroelectric dams stand at the ends of adjacent weirstreams 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.
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:
List:
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 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, Bremerhaven.
The river features in the legend and folk tale the Pied Piper of Hamelin.