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The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Br ...
and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of
Leinefelde Leinefelde-Worbis is a town in the district of Eichsfeld, in northwestern Thuringia, Germany. The town was formed on March 16, 2004, from the former independent towns Leinefelde and Worbis along with the municipalities of Breitenbach and Wint ...
in Thuringia. About downriver, the river enters Lower Saxony and runs northwards. Important towns along its course, from upstream to downstream, are Göttingen, Einbeck,
Freden Freden is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 25 km south of Hildesheim. Since 1 November 2016, the former municipalities Everode, Landwehr and Win ...
,
Alfeld Alfeld is a town in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. Located on the Leine river, it is the second biggest city in the district of Hildesheim in southern Lower Saxony and part of the Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsbu ...
, and Gronau, before the river enters Hanover, the largest city on its banks. Downstream some north of Hanover, near
Schwarmstedt Schwarmstedt is a municipality in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the confluence of the rivers Aller and Leine, approx. 20 km south of Bad Fallingbostel, and 30 km east of Nienburg. Further districts of the ...
, the river joins the Aller and reaches the North Sea via the
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Br ...
. Its northern (lower) reaches are only navigable today by the smallest commercial carriers, though in the past, it served as an important pre- railway
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
transport artery as far upriver as Göttingen. The river is somewhat polluted by industry, so the water is not used for drinking, but the pollution has never been severe enough to prevent fish from living in it. Like many western rivers since the 1960s, it has enjoyed increasingly cleaner waters since the implementation of environmental controls.
Sport fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishin ...
is enjoyed from small boats and along the banks, although yields are normally low. At least one point of the river (Göttingen) is partially diverted into a canal that runs more or less parallel to the river. Serial killer
Fritz Haarmann Friedrich Heinrich Karl "Fritz" Haarmann (25 October 1879 – 15 April 1925) was a German serial killer, known as the Butcher of Hanover, the Vampire of Hanover and the Wolf Man, who committed the sexual assault, murder, mutilation and dismembe ...
disposed of most of his victims' remains in the Leine river.


In fiction

In his 1986 bestseller ''
Red Storm Rising ''Red Storm Rising'' is a war novel, written by Tom Clancy and co-written with Larry Bond, and released on August 7, 1986. Set in the mid-1980s, it features a Third World War between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Warsaw Pact forc ...
'', author
Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have b ...
uses the Leine as a major obstacle to the Soviet Union's Red Army drive to the Rhine and the North Sea ports of the Netherlands and Belgium through West Germany. In reality, the river is a rather minor one, and, for most of its length, is quite narrow with a small flow volume. As such, it would not provide a significant barrier to an advancing army.


See also

* List of rivers of Thuringia * List of rivers of Lower Saxony


References


Further reading

* Uwe Schmida: ''Die Leine - Eine fotografische Reise''. * Gerd Lüttig: ''Neue Ergebnisse quartärgeologischer Forschung im Raume Alfeld-Hameln-Elze.'' In: ''Geologisches Jahrbuch'' vol. 77, page 337–390. Hannover, June 1960.


External links

*
Bundesamt für Naturschutz: Landschaftssteckbrief "Leine-Ilme-Senke"


{{Authority control Rivers of Thuringia Rivers of Lower Saxony Federal waterways in Germany Rivers of Germany