The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa;

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as "Wendish", is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, which is today part of Saxony. It is grouped in the West Slavic language branch, together ...

: ''Łužiska Nysa'';

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

.''Neisse River''
at www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011.''Transnational Pilot River Basin''
at http://eagri.cz/public. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011. It rises in the

Jizera Mountains Jizera Mountains ( cz, Jizerské hory), or Izera Mountains ( pl, Góry Izerskie; german: Isergebirge), are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The range got its name from the Jizera River, which rises a ...

, near

Nová Ves nad Nisou Nová Ves nad Nisou (german: Neudorf an der Neiße) is a municipality and village in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Administrative parts The village of Horní Černá Studnice ...

, at the Czech border becoming the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

–

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

border for its remaining , to flow into the similarly northward-flowing Oder. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

covers , of which in Poland, the rest is mainly in Germany.Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017

Statistics Poland Statistics Poland (formerly known in English as the Central Statistical Office ( pl, Główny Urząd Statystyczny, popularly called GUS)) is Poland's chief government executive agency charged with collecting and publishing statistics related to th ...

, p. 85-86 The river reaches the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

of the three nations by

Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic "'' rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto'')) is the southeasternmost city in the Ge ...

, a German town/city, after , leaving the Czech Republic. It is a left-bank tributary of the Oder, into which it flows between

Neißemünde Neißemünde (''Neissemuende'', literally ''Mouth of the Neisse river'') is a municipality in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It belongs to the '' Amt'' ("collective municipality") Neuzelle, which has its administrative seat in t ...

-Ratzdorf and Kosarzyn – north of the towns of

Guben Guben ( Polish and Sorbian: ''Gubin'') is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in Lower Lusatia, in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße district, Guben has a population of 20,049. Along with Frankfurt (Oder) and G� ...

and Gubin. Since the 1945 Potsdam Agreement in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the river has partially demarcated the German-Polish border (along the Oder-Neisse line). While the German population outside was expelled. It is the longest and most watered of the three rivers of its non-adjectival name in both the main languages (the two other rivers being the

Eastern Neisse The Eastern Neisse, also known by its Polish name of Nysa Kłodzka (german: Glatzer Neiße, cs, Kladská Nisa), is a river in southwestern Poland, a left tributary of the Oder, with a length of 188 km (21st longest) and a basin area of 4,570 ...

( pl, Nysa Kłodzka; german: Glatzer Neisse) and

Raging Neisse The Raging NeisseDodge, Lt Col Theodore Ayrault. ''Napoleon: A History of the Art of War. Vol. IV'', 2014 ( pl, Nysa Szalona, or ''Jauersche Neiße'') is a river in Poland. It has a length of about and flows into the Kaczawa (Katzbach), which i ...

(Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neiße'' or ''Jauersche Neiße'')). It is usually simply referred to as the Neisse.

Name

Since the river runs through the historic region of

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

, the adjective "Lusatian" or "Western" before the name of the river Neisse is used whenever differentiating this

border river ''Border River'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Joel McCrea, Yvonne De Carlo and Pedro Armendáriz. Plot During the US Civil War, Clete Mattson arrives in Zona Libre, a small territory across the river ...

from the

(Polish: ''Nysa Kłodzka'', German: ''Glatzer Neisse'') and the smaller

(Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neisse'' or ''Jauersche Neisse''), both in Poland.

Towns and villages

Bad Muskau Bad Muskau (; formerly ''Muskau'', hsb, Mužakow, pl, Mużaków, cs, Mužakov) is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in Germany, at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony. It is located ...

the Neisse flows through

Muskau Park Muskau Park (german: Muskauer Park, officially: ''Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau''; pl, Park Mużakowski) is a landscape park in the Upper Lusatia region of Germany and Poland. It is the largest and one of the most famous English gardens in Ce ...

, a UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Cities and towns on the river from source to mouth include: *

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 45,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass ...

, Czech Republic * Vratislavice, Czech Republic * Liberec, Czech Republic * Chrastava, Czech Republic *

Hrádek nad Nisou Hrádek nad Nisou (; german: Grottau, pl, Gródek nad Nysą) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,700 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument ...

, Czech Republic *

, Germany *

Bogatynia Bogatynia (; German: ''Reichenau in Sachsen'') is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 16,460. Geography The municipal area forms Poland's "Turoszów p ...

, Poland * Görlitz, Germany;

Zgorzelec Zgorzelec (, german: link=no, Görlitz, szl, Gorlice, Upper Lusatian German dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', and ''Gerltsch'', hsb, Zhorjelc, dsb, Zgórjelc, cz, Zhořelec) is a town in southwestern Poland with 30,374 inhabitants (2019). It ...

, Poland *

Pieńsk Pieńsk (german: Penzig) is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called Gmina Pieńsk, and stands on the east bank of the Lusatian Neisse river, ...

, Poland *

, Germany;

Łęknica Łęknica (german: Lugknitz; hsb, Wjeska) is a border town in western Poland, one of the two gminas of Żary County in Lubusz Voivodeship. Muskau Park (''Park Mużakowski''), a Polish-German World Heritage Site, stretches north of the town ce ...

, Poland *

Forst (Lausitz) Forst (Lausitz) ( dsb, Baršć) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It lies east of Cottbus, on the river Lausitzer Neiße which is also the German- Polish border, the Oder-Neisse line. It is the capital of the Spree-Neiße distri ...

, Germany *

, Germany; Gubin, Poland

Tributaries

Right bank: * Lubsza Left bank: *

Mandau The Mandau ( cs, Mandava) is a river in Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Saxony (Germany). It is a left tributary of the Lusatian Neisse, which it joins near Zittau. It originates from multiple springs north of the 580.6m (1902 feet AMSL) Wolf Mou ...

References

External links

Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law
Peace Palace Library * Closed Germany-Poland bridges {{Authority control International rivers of Europe Rivers of Poland Rivers of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Rivers of Lubusz Voivodeship Rivers of the Liberec Region Rivers of Brandenburg Rivers of Saxony Jablonec nad Nisou District Liberec District Geography of Lusatia Germany–Poland border Federal waterways in Germany Border rivers Rivers of Germany