The Hörsel () is a long
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 ...
in
Thuringia
Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area.
Er ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, right tributary of the
Werra
The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the to ...
. It is formed by the confluence of two smaller rivers in
Leinatal, at the northern edge of the
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German language, German ) is a mountain range in the southern parts of the Germany, German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorg ...
. The Hörsel flows generally northwest through the towns
Hörselgau,
Wutha-Farnroda and
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...
. It flows into the Werra in Hörschel, a village near Eisenach.
Course
As with many rivers, the name of the middle and lower reaches of the Hörsel was only extended to the upper reaches in the 20th century.
Kleine Leina und (Wilde) Leina

The Hörsel has its source as ''Kleine
Leina'' in the
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German language, German ) is a mountain range in the southern parts of the Germany, German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorg ...
in the immediate vicinity of the
Rennsteig south of the 749 metre high
Spießberga at the southern community border of
Finsterbergen to
Georgenthal. (both
district of Gotha). The stream flows first to the northeast and passes different parts of Georgenthal.
After 8.4 kilometers of flow distance in the district
Schönau vor dem Walde the
Leinakanal branches off to the right. Shortly after, streams flow in from both sides. From Schönau vor dem Walde the small river turns to the north. In maps from the beginning of the 20th century the name ''Wilde Leina'' is written here. After the inflow of the Cumbach from
Cumbach the name ''Leina-Hörsel''.
In the further course to the north the
Schilfwasser coming from
Ernstroda flows in from the left.
Hörsel
In Leinatal-''Leina'' after 16.3 kilometres with the inflow of the
Altenwasser (also: ''Altes Wasser'', from right) the name ''Leina'' ends completely. From here the river is called ''Hörsel'' and its course turns to the northwest.
In
Wahlwinkel and
Hörselgau the
Badewasser flows in two arms from left. After passing
Fröttstädt, the
Asse
Asse () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It comprises the towns of Asse proper, Bekkerzeel, Kobbegem, Mollem, Relegem and Zellik. Asse is also situated in the Pajottenland. ...
flows into
Teutleben
Teutleben is a village and a former municipality in the district of Gotha in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 December 2011, it is part of the municipality Hörsel.
History
Within the German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''T ...
from the right. The Hörsel takes over the direction of flow to the west and, after the inflow of the
Laucha, the
Asse
Asse () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. It comprises the towns of Asse proper, Bekkerzeel, Kobbegem, Mollem, Relegem and Zellik. Asse is also situated in the Pajottenland. ...
flows into the
Laucha.
Mechterstädt
When reaching the
Wartburgkreis
Wartburgkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the districts Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Gotha, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, and the districts Fulda, Hersfeld-Rotenburg and ...
es the river crosses under the
Bundesautobahn 4
is an autobahn in two discontinuous segments that crosses Germany in a west–east direction. The western segment has a length of , while the part in the east is long.
Route
The western A 4 starts north-west of Aachen, where the A ...
, flows south past the
Hörselbergen through the communities
Hörselberg-Hainich (district
Sättelstädt with the left-sided tributary
Emse) and
Wutha-Farnroda, where the
Erbstrom flows into Wutha from the left.
Then the Hörsel reaches
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...
, where it takes in from the right the approximately equally strong
Nesse and the much smaller
Michelsbach, from the left the
Löbersbach and the
Roten Bach. Further west, in the Eisenach district of
Hörschel - - the place of origin of the
Rennsteigs - is its
estuary (waters)
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
into the
Werra
The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the to ...
.
The total length of the river "Kleine Leina-Hörsel" is 48.5 km, over the 52.6 km long Nesse the Hörsel is even about 62 km long.
Tributaries
The catchment area of the Hörsel is divided into two major landscapes. The headwaters ''Leina'' and left tributaries come from the
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German language, German ) is a mountain range in the southern parts of the Germany, German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorg ...
, while all right tributaries come from the
Thuringian Basin
The Thuringian Basin () is a depression (geology), depression in the central and northwest part of Thuringia in Germany which is crossed by several rivers, the longest of which is the Unstrut. It stretches about from north to south and around fro ...
and its edge plates. Correspondingly, the upper reaches of the left tributaries are typical low mountain streams with deep gorges and a large bottom gradient, while the right tributaries are mostly lowland rivers with a small gradient, almost all of them flowing into the Hörsel via the
Nesse. Today, their courses are mostly straightened and integrated into a system of drainage ditches.
The catchment area of the Nesse comprises 426.3 km
2, 54.4% of the total catchment area of the Hörsel and 139.5% of the Hörsel catchment area above the Nesse estuary (305.6 km
2). Thus, the Nesse brings about the same amount of water (3.14 m
2/s) to unite with the Hörsel as the Hörsel itself (3.11 m
2/s).
A
pipeline
A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...
from the Leina - and the (upper)
Apfelstädt from the system
Gera
Gera () is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of ...
/
Unstrut
The Unstrut ( or ) is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale.
The Unstrut originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt (west of Kefferhausen in the Eichsfeld area) and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Ba ...
/
Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...
/
Elbe
The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
- to the subsystem of the Nesse is the
Leinakanal, which was already built in the Middle Ages to supply the city
Gotha
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...
with water from the Thuringian Forest. The flow distance of the Hörsel over the upper reaches of the Leina, the Leina Canal, the
Wilden Graben from the Leina Canal, the Nesse (middle and lower reaches) and the Hörsel Lower reaches is 8.4 + 29.5 + 9.8 + 26.0 = 73.3 km.
See also
*
List of rivers of Thuringia
A list of rivers of Thuringia, Germany:
A
*Alster
* Apfelstädt
* Ascherbach
* Auma
B
* Biber
* Bibra
* Blambach
* Bode
* Breitenbach
* Breitstrom
D
* Dammbach
* Deube
* Dober
* Dürrbach
E
* Effelder
* Eichbach
* Ellenbach
* Eller
* Els ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsel
Rivers of Thuringia
Rivers of Germany