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The Bóbr (; ; ) is a
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
which flows through the north of the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
and the southwest of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. It is a left tributary of the
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
. Its Polish name translates directly to '
beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
'.


Course

The Bóbr has a length of (3 in Czech Republic, 276 in Poland, 10th longest Polish river) and a basin area of (44 in Czech Republic and 5,830 in Poland).Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017
Statistics Poland Statistics Poland (, popularly called GUS), formerly known in English as the Central Statistical Office, is the Polish government's chief executive agency charged with collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population, and s ...
, p. 85-86 It originates on a slope of the Rýchory mountains in the southeast of the
Krkonoše The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bor ...
range. The source is located near the small Bobr village of the
Žacléř Žacléř (; ) is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Ža ...
municipality in the Czech
Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region (, ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec Králové. The region neighbours the Pardubice Region in t ...
. Parallel to the
Lusatian Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.
tributary of the Oder in the west, it flows northwards from the
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n region into adjacent
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
. Shortly after the river crosses the border to Polish
Niedamirów Niedamirów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lubawka, within Kamienna Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It lies approximately west of Lubawka, south-we ...
and runs northwestwards through the
Jelenia Góra valley Jelenia Góra Valley (; ; ; Literally ''"Deer Mountain Valley"'') in Poland is a big valley at the Silesian northern side of the Western Sudetes and next to Kłodzko Valley the largest intermontane basin of the Sudetes. It is situated at an a ...
of the Western Sudetes to the dam of Pilchowice and downhill into the plains of
Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...
, passing the towns of
Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...
,
Bolesławiec Bolesławiec (pronounced , ) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Gm ...
,
Szprotawa Szprotawa is a town in western Poland, in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship. It has 11,820 inhabitants (2019). History The region was part of Poland after the emergence of the Piast monarchy in the 10th century. The first mention of today's Sz ...
, and
Żagań Żagań (French language, French and , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 25,731 inhabitants (2019), capital of Żagań County in the Lubusz Voivodeship, located in the historic region of Lower Silesia. Founded in the 12th ce ...
, where the parallel
Kwisa The Kwisa (, , ) is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river. It rises in the Jizera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs along the border with t ...
river joins it. The river finally flows into the Oder near the town of
Krosno Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', ) is a historical town and Krosno County, county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of 2014. The functional ...
. Non-navigable for its entire length, it is a popular destination for
canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...
ing.


History

Since the Middle Ages the lower Bóbr river north of Żagań and the Kwisa confluence marked the border between the historic regions of Silesia in the east and
Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the Germany, German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the south, Lower Lusa ...
to the west. After in 937 King
Otto I of Germany Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Frankish (German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son of Henry the Fowler and Matilda of ...
had established the
Saxon Eastern March The Saxon Eastern March () was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century. The term "eastern march" stems from the Latin term ''marchia Orientalis'' and originally could refer to either a march created on the eastern fr ...
on the lands settled by
Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs, also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends, is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites, Lechitic (West Slavs, West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germany. The ...
, Margrave
Gero Gero I ( 900 – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great (),Thompson, 486. Also se was a nobleman from East Francia who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he ...
until 963 subdued the Lusatian lands up to the border with
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
(''
Civitas Schinesghe Civitas Schinesghe (; ), also known as the Duchy of Poland or the Principality of Poland, is the historiographical name given to a polity in Central Europe, which existed during the medieval period and was the predecessor state of the Kingdom of ...
''). Upon Gero's death in 965, the river was the designated eastern border of the newly created
March of Lusatia The March or Margraviate of Lusatia () was an eastern border march of the Holy Roman Empire in the lands settled by Polabian Slavs. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast ''Marca Geronis''. Ruled by several Saxon margravial dy ...
in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. The Polish territorial sovereignty was acknowledged to Duke
Bolesław I Chrobry Bolesław or Boleslav may refer to: People * Bolesław (given name) (also ''Boleslav'' or ''Boleslaus''), including a list of people with this name Geography * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz Coun ...
by Emperor
Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...
at the
Congress of Gniezno The Congress of Gniezno (, or ''Gnesener Übereinkunft'') was an amicable meeting between the Polish Duke Bolesław I the Brave and Emperor Otto III, which took place at Gniezno in Poland on 11 March 1000. Scholars disagree over the details o ...
in 1000. Nevertheless, Bolesław laid claims to the lands west of the Bóbr, which he temporarily acquired by the 1018 Treaty of Bautzen. After Emperor
Conrad II Conrad II (, – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdom ...
had reconquered the territory until 1031, the ''
status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...
'' was restored. The river became an internal border, when the
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
king
John of Bohemia John of Bohemia, also called the Blind or of Luxembourg (; ; ; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He is well known for having died while fighting ...
step-by-step vassalized the
Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...
dukes of Silesia and incorporated their lands with the consent of King
Casimir III of Poland Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...
by the 1335
Treaty of Trentschin The Treaty of Trentschin was concluded on 24 August 1335 between King Casimir III of Poland and King John of Bohemia together with his son Margrave Charles IV. The agreement was reached by the agency of Casimir's brother-in-law King Charles I of ...
, whereafter both Lusatia in the west and Silesia in the east became
Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...
. During the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the
Western Allies Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It primarily refers to the leading Anglo-American Allied powers, namely the United States and the United Kingdom, although the term has also be ...
briefly advocated a Polish-German border along the Oder, Bóbr and Kwisa rivers, but were rejected by
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, who had already committed himself to the Oder-Neisse line.


Towns

*
Lubawka Lubawka () is a town in Poland, in Lower Silesia Voivodship, in Kamienna Góra County. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Lubawka. It lies in the Sudetes near to the border with the Czech Republic on the way across the Lubawka pass (516m) bet ...
*
Kamienna Góra Kamienna Góra (, ) is a town in south-western Poland with 18,235 inhabitants (2023). It is the seat of Kamienna Góra County, and also of the rural district called Gmina Kamienna Góra, although it is not part of the territory of the latter (t ...
*
Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...
*
Wleń Wleń () is a small historic town in Lwówek Śląski County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies on the Bóbr river in the historic Lower Silesian region, approximately south-east of Lwówek Śląski, and west of the re ...
*
Lwówek Śląski Lwówek Śląski (; formerly ''Lwów''; ) is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland. Situated on the Bóbr River, Lwówek Śląski is about NNW of Jelenia Góra and has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants. It is the administrativ ...
*
Bolesławiec Bolesławiec (pronounced , ) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Gm ...
*
Szprotawa Szprotawa is a town in western Poland, in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship. It has 11,820 inhabitants (2019). History The region was part of Poland after the emergence of the Piast monarchy in the 10th century. The first mention of today's Sz ...
*
Małomice Małomice () is a town in western Poland, located in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship, with 3,467 inhabitants (2019). It is situated on the Bóbr river between Szprotawa and Żagań. Located in the historical region of Lower Silesia, Małomi ...
*
Żagań Żagań (French language, French and , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 25,731 inhabitants (2019), capital of Żagań County in the Lubusz Voivodeship, located in the historic region of Lower Silesia. Founded in the 12th ce ...
*
Nowogród Bobrzański Nowogród Bobrzański () is a town on the Bóbr river in Zielona Góra County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, with 5,165 inhabitants (2019). It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Nowogród Bobrzański. History The historic town was e ...
*
Krosno Odrzańskie Krosno Odrzańskie () is a town in Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, on the east bank of Oder River, at the confluence with the Bóbr. With 11,319 inhabitants (2019) it is the capital of Krosno County, Lubusz Voivodeship, Krosno County. His ...
* Pstrąże


Bóbr dam

The Pilchowice Dam (, German: ''Talsperre Mauer'') was built from 1904 to 1912 in the northern Krkonoše range near Jelenia Góra. Then the largest in Europe, surpassing even the
Urft Dam The Urft Dam () is a 58.50 metre high dam in the southwestern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was built in 1905. The dam impounds the Urft (river), River Urft in the district of Kreis Euskirchen, Euskirchen to create the ...
built in 1905, it created a reservoir of about length. The masonry structure was erected on a
Gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...
basis according to the
Intze Principle The Intze Principle () is a name given to two engineering principles, both named after the hydraulic engineer, Otto Intze, (1843–1904). In the one case, the ''Intze Principle'' relates to a type of water tower; in the other, a type of dam. Intze ...
. Equipped with
Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The pro ...
s manufactured by
Voith The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications, Voith trades in the markets of energy, paper, raw materials and transport. Founded in 1867, Voith today has aroun ...
and
Siemens-Schuckert Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966. Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & H ...
and
AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...
generators, the
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
plant supplies about 20,000,000 kWh a year, with a
power rating In electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, the power rating of equipment is the highest power input allowed to flow through particular equipment. According to the particular discipline, the term ''power'' may refer to electrical or ...
of 7,585 kW.


Protections

Parts of the Bóbr river valley is protected area in some form or another, and the river itself originates from the
Krkonoše National Park Krkonoše National Park (, abbreviated as KRNAP) is a Protected Areas of the Czech Republic#National Park, national park in the Liberec Region, Liberec and Hradec Králové Region, Hradec Králové regions of the Czech Republic. It covers most of ...
in Czech Republic, close to the border with Poland. Protections in the Bóbr valley area include: * Rudawy Landscape Park * Bóbr Valley Landscape Park * Przemków Landscape Park


See also

*
Rivers of Poland Following is a list of rivers, which are at least partially, if not predominantly located within Poland.KSNG (2002–2014)List of Names of Flowing Waters (Wykaz nazw wód płynacych)(PDF file, direct download 1.47 MB), Komisja Standaryzacji Nazw Ge ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobr Rivers of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Rivers of Lubusz Voivodeship Rivers of the Hradec Králové Region International rivers of Europe