On our planet there are very arid continents, which include Africa and Australia. On the continents deprived of water, there are places where liquid cannot be found even with special devices, and they are called deserts. But Europe does not suffer from a lack of life-giving moisture; there are a huge number of rivers, lakes and ponds on its territory. And with this abundance, Germany is still considered the first in terms of the number of reservoirs among all European countries. By the way, well deserved! The rivers of Germany enrich its territory even in the most secluded corners. There are more than seven hundred of them, which is very, very much for such a small country.
The most full-flowing
Full-fledged reservoirs of this state are concentrated in the west. All the major rivers of Germany, which are both world famous (like the Elbe, Danube and Rhine), and those that are less familiar to people far from history and land use (such as the Emsu), end their journey in the waters of the Black Sea. Together, these streamsmake up almost a third of all waterways in Europe, and this says a lot! The largest rivers in Germany provide their waters for transport communication for as much as seven thousand kilometers.
Father of German lands
The largest river in Germany is, of course, the Rhine. And if we translate the name of the water pride of the German people from the Celtic dialect, it means "flow". At the same time, it is difficult to call the river exclusively German. It begins in the Alpine mountains of Switzerland, and gets to the Germans after the unification of Lake Boden, which borders not only with these countries, but also with Austria. The Rhine is fed by a huge number of tributaries. They, in turn, are fed in two ways: from the Alps and from the Central German rivers. Since the filling with springs is spread over different seasons, the Rhine is actually always navigable, which significantly increases its value not as a source of water, but as a transport route.
Geographic paradox
For a long time it was believed that the length of the Rhine is 1320 km. All rivers in Germany were meticulously measured, and until 2010 it was believed that there were no errors. However, the Cologne scholar Bruno Kremer found out that world geography was the victim of a misprint: 1230 was once printed as 1320, and then quoted by other sources. The date of occurrence of the error is not exactly established: Kremer himself defines it as 1960, the newspaper from his interview (Süddeutsche Zeitung) insists on the 30s of the same century. It is clear that to the nearest centimeteryou can’t calculate the length of the river: the channel, even if little by little, but changes, it does not lie on a perfectly flat surface, but it vouches for a maximum error of five (not a hundred!) Kilometers.
However, no one began to bring up a scientific scandal. The Rhine River Museum in Koblenz, without waiting for checks and official clarifications, corrected the recorded data on the length of the protected river.
No less famous and important Danube
The reservoir begins in the south of the country, it also belongs to the category of "rivers of Germany". On the map of Europe, however, it is clear that only its source is located here. And then the channel runs through the territories and outlines the borders of as many as ten European countries. Unlike the Rhine, the Danube sometimes creates problems for river boats. In summer, it "pleases" with abundant floods, and in winter - with shallowing, since it remains only on recharge from underground sources located at the bottom of the channel. However, the Danube is navigable for at least 10 months a year, and if the winter is warm, then the waterway operates all year round.
Another international river
The "co-owners" of the reservoir are fraternal countries - Poland and the Czech Republic. Moreover, the Oder begins precisely on the territory of the latter, in the Sudeten Mountains, and ends in the B altic Sea. Quite a romantic detail: once the Oder was part of the Amber Route, along which the stone was transported from the B altic to Europe. However, all the rivers of Germany can boast of their own legends and interesting facts.
The Oder is almost entirely navigable, andretains this property two-thirds (or even more) of all days of the year. At the same time, locks and canals allow you to go from it to many other rivers: the Vistula, Spree, Elbe, Klodnica and Havel. And, despite the active industrial use, the Oder managed to keep rich in fish, organize nature reserves and national parks along the banks.
It would seem that not a very large river…
Moselle is not one of the majestic, industrially useful and world famous reservoirs. There are rivers in Germany that are both larger and more useful. However, it is the Moselle that supplies moisture to a very popular valley in which the famous Moselle wine is produced. And thanks to just this river, France, Luxembourg and Germany in the famous valley are almost exclusively engaged in growing grapes and winemaking.
In addition, the river is very picturesque, and on its banks a huge number of old manors and small medieval towns have been preserved, where it is very curious to wander along the ancient streets.
Magdeburg river over the river
However, the Germans were not satisfied with all the we alth provided by the existing rivers of Germany (the list of reservoirs will take at least three pages). It seemed very inconvenient for them to travel along the winding banks of the Elbe, which, moreover, was in the habit of shallowing in the midst of navigation. Therefore, back in 1919, a bridge-river was planned, calculated and engineered, which would connect the Middle German Canal with the Elbe-Havel Canal. However, two warsthe plight of Germany after World War II h alted the project for nearly eighty years. However, in 1997 the Germans returned to this idea. In just six years, highly qualified specialists managed to build a bridge with a river on it. He connected the Berlin inland port with the ports of the Rhine.
But there are still lakes
Germany is still very endowed with fresh water - rivers and lakes usually closely coexist. So it is here: on the territory of this country there are two largest reservoirs. The largest is Lake Constance. It is so large for Europe that it is nicknamed the Swabian (German, German) Sea. However, it should be noted that this lake borders countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Next comes Lake Müritz, which is four and a half times smaller than Boden, but entirely belongs to Germany. But there are also Tegernsee, Kummerower See and a dozen small, but picturesque and attractive lakes in their own way.
So, the Bavarian Kochelsee can be interesting for people who are interested in technology. Here is located the rarest hydroelectric power station, which, perhaps, cannot be found anywhere else. It generates energy based on the difference in altitude between the Kochelsee and Walchensee lakes.
