There are very arid continents on our planet, which include Africa and Australia. There are places on the continents deprived of water where you will not find liquid with special devices, and they are called deserts. But Europe does not suffer from a lack of life-giving moisture, on its territory a huge number of rivers, lakes and ponds. And with this abundance, Germany is still considered the first by the number of water bodies among all European countries. By the way, quite deservedly! 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 deepest
The full-fledged reservoirs of this state are concentrated in the west. All the major rivers of Germany, having both world-wide fame (such as the Elbe, Danube and the Rhine), and those that are less familiar to people far from history and geography (such as Emsu), end their journey in the waters of the Black Sea. Together, these channels make up almost a third of all waterways in Europe, and this says a lot! The largest rivers in Germany provide their waters for transport for the entire seven thousand kilometers.
Father of German lands
Germany's largest river is, of course, the Rhine. And if you translate the name of the water pride of the German people from the Celtic dialect, it means "current". Moreover, it is difficult to name the exclusively German river. It begins in the Alpine mountains of Switzerland, and it falls to the Germans after the unification of Lake Boden, which borders not only these countries, but also 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 out over different seasons of the year, the navigable Rhine always remains practically always, 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 German rivers were meticulously measured, and until 2010 it was believed that there were no errors. However, the Cologne scientist Bruno Kremer found out that world geography was the victim of a typo: 1230 was printed once as 1320, and then it was quoted by other sources. The date of the error has not been precisely established: Kremer himself determines it in 1960, the newspaper from his interview (Süddeutsche Zeitung) insists on the 30s of the same century. It is clear that you can’t calculate the river’s length to the nearest centimeter: even if it’s a little channel, it changes, it doesn’t lie on a perfectly flat surface, but it guarantees a maximum error of five (and not a hundred!) Kilometers.
However, nobody began to bring to a scientific scandal. The Rhine River Museum in Koblenz, without waiting for inspections and official updates, corrected the recorded data about the length of the ward river.
No less famous and important Danube
The pond begins in the south of the country, it also belongs to the category of "German River". On the map of Europe, however, it can be seen that there is only its source. 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 vessels. In summer, it “pleases” with abundant floods, and in winter - with shallow floods, 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, the waterway operates year-round.
Another international river
The "co-owners" of the reservoir are the 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 Baltic Sea. Quite a romantic detail: once the Oder was part of the Amber Road, along which stone was transported from the Baltic to Europe. However, all the rivers of Germany can boast of their own legends and interesting facts.
The Oder is almost entirely navigable, and this property retains 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, Elba, Klodnitsa and Havel. And, despite the active industrial use, they managed to keep the Oder rich in fish, organize reserves and national parks along the banks.
It would seem that not a very large river ...
Moselle does not belong to the majestic, industrially useful and world famous reservoirs. There are German rivers both larger and healthier. However, it is the Moselle that supplies moisture to a very popular valley in which the famous Moselle wine is produced. And thanks to this river, France, Luxembourg and Germany in the famous valley are engaged in almost exclusively grape growing and winemaking.
In addition, the river is very picturesque, and on its banks a huge number of old folk farms and small medieval towns have been preserved, where it is very interesting to wander through the ancient streets.
Magdeburg river over the river
However, the Germans did not have enough of all the wealth that the already existing rivers of Germany provide (the list of reservoirs will take at least three pages). It seemed very uncomfortable for them to travel along the winding banks of the Elbe, which, moreover, used to grind in the midst of shipping. Therefore, back in 1919, a river bridge was planned, calculated and worked out, which would connect the Central German Canal with the Elba-Havel Canal. However, two wars and the plight of Germany after World War II slowed down the implementation of the project by almost eighty years. However, in 1997, the Germans returned to this idea. In just six years, high-class specialists have 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!
Nevertheless, Germany is very gifted with fresh water - rivers and lakes are usually closely adjacent. So here: in the territory of the indicated country are two of the 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 with countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Next is Lake Muritz, which is four and a half times smaller than Boden, but entirely belongs to Germany. But there is also Tegernsee, Kummerover See and a dozen and a half small, but picturesque and attractive lakes in their own way.
So, the Bavarian Kochelsee may be curious to people who are interested in technology. Here is a rare hydroelectric power station, which, perhaps, is nowhere else to be found. It generates energy based on the difference in elevation between the Kochelsee and Walchensee lakes.