Oder

The Oder [ˈʔoːdɐ] (Polish Odra ([ˈɔ.dra]), Czech Odra, Lower Sorbian Odra, Upper Sorbian Wódra, Silesian Ude) is a Central European river that rises in the Czech Republic, flows through Poland and forms part of the border between Poland and Germany. It flows into the Baltic Sea through the Szczecin Lagoon and around the islands of Usedom and Wolin. The Oder as a border river is a result of the Second World War. The Oder is 866 kilometres long (898 kilometres to Świnoujście (Swinoujscie)).

Its tributaries include the Lausitzer Neiße and the Warta, which as the longest tributary extends the length of the river system to 1045 kilometres. The mean discharge at the mouth into the Szczecin Lagoon is 574 m³/s, making the Oder the fifth largest river in Germany after the Rhine, Danube, Inn and Elbe. Its catchment area is bordered in the west and southwest by that of the Elbe, in the east by that of the Vistula and in the south by that of the Danube.

History

The Odra Spring is located in the Czech Republic one and a half kilometres northwest of Kozlov at Fidlův kopec (Fiedelhübel) in the Moravian Odra Mountains. The first 31 kilometres of its course run through the Libavá military training area. From its border, from the confluence of the Budišovka to Ostrava, it forms the historical provincial border between Silesia (on the left) and Moravia (on the right). At Bohumín, the river crosses the border between the Czech Republic and Poland at the confluence of the Olsa at 195 m above sea level. The river course on Czech territory has a length of 131 kilometres and covers a catchment area of 10,288 square kilometres.

On its further course the Oder flows through Silesia and its capital Wrocław. From the mouth of the river Neisse at Ratzdorf north of Guben in Brandenburg, its middle to the branch of the West Oder north of Schwedt/Oder marks the border between Poland and Germany and is accordingly called the Grenzoder. The Oder flows through Frankfurt (Oder), Słubice and Kostrzyn nad Odrą (Küstrin). Between the towns of Lebus and Oderberg, the Oder flows through the Oderbruch, which is almost 60 kilometres long and 12 to 20 kilometres wide, then passes the polder area near Schwedt, before it divides at river kilometre 704 at the weir Marienhof into the two arms Westoder (Polish: Odra Zachodnia) and Ostoder (Polish: Odra Wschodnia). The Westoder is a border river until Mescherin, before it continues to flow on both sides on Polish territory like the Ostoder. The gradient of the last 30 kilometres before Szczecin is only a few centimetres. From river kilometre 730.5 the Ostoder is called Große Reglitz (Polish: Regalica). At the level of the Dammsche See, the East and West Oder merge. As so-called Papenwasser (Polish: Roztoka Odrzańska), the Oder flows through Police (Pölitz) before it flows into the Szczecin Lagoon, which belongs to the Baltic Sea. The Odra river basin here covers 118,890 km². According to Polish law, the Odra river is considered as internal sea water from the Hakenterrace onwards and does not count as inland water from there onwards.

The border sections of the Oder and the Westoder are federal waterways of waterway class IV with a total length of 179 kilometres, for which the Waterways and Shipping Authority Eberswalde is responsible.

As the Szczecin Lagoon is a sea bay, its three connecting arms to the open sea are sea arms. As estuaries of the Odra river they mainly transport Odra water to the north, but they also have a considerable inflow of seawater into the lagoon, especially during strong northerly winds. This can be seen in the backward (lagoon-side) delta formations, especially pronounced in the Swine. Location of these estuaries and islands:

• Peenestrom (until the confluence of the Peene River Der Strom) between the German mainland and the island of Usedom (Polish: Uznam),
• Świna (German Swine) between the islands of Usedom and Wollin (Polish Wolin), with the shipping lane, Kanał Piastowski, until 1945 Kaiserfahrt, built from 1875 to 1880,
• Dziwna (German Dievenow) between the island of Wollin and the Polish mainland.

The total discharge of the Odra river is 15 % via the Peene river, 73 % via the Swine river and 12 % via the Dziwna river.

The confluence of the Odra and Olsa rivers at Bohumín

Shipping

The Oder is navigable for 717 kilometres until Koźle (German Cosel) in Poland. There the Gliwice Canal connects, which was intended as the beginning of the Danube-Oder Canal.

The Oder, which is navigable for seagoing vessels from the Baltic Sea upstream through the Szczecin Lagoon to Stettin (Szczecin), has been shortened from 1,040 kilometres to 866 kilometres in length since about 1850 by straightening.

Extensive canalization of the river took place in two phases: 1888-1897 and 1907-1922. In order to make the river navigable for larger ships, barrages and locks were built, and at the same time hydropower was used at the barrages for the generation of electric current. Currently, seven hydroelectric power plants are in operation, the largest of which belongs to the Brzeg Dolny barrage and has a capacity of 9.7 MW.

Since July 2007, after 62 years, an occasional ferry has been operating again between the German village of Güstebieser Loose and the Polish village of Gozdowice (German Güstebiese). The vehicle is a motor ship with paddle wheel drive.