The Our (; , ) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is a left-hand

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the river Sauer/Sûre. Its total length is . The source of the Our is in the

High Fens The High Fens (german: Hohes Venn; french: Hautes Fagnes; nl, Hoge Venen), which were declared a nature reserve in 1957, are an upland area, a plateau region in Liège Province, in the east of Belgium and adjoining parts of Germany, between the ...

in southeastern Belgium, near Manderfeld. It flows southwards, more or less along the German-Belgian border, and after

Ouren Ouren is a village in Belgium with a population of 129 inhabitants. Ouren is a part of the municipality of Burg-Reuland and thus belongs to the German-speaking Community of Belgium. Geography Ouren is located at the border triangle of Belgium- ...

, along the German-Luxembourg border. The historic town of

Vianden Vianden ( lb, Veianen or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on t ...

lies on the Our. The Our empties into the

Sauer The Sauer (German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer ...

in Wallendorf.

Course

The

rises in the eastern

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

and western

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

soil. Its source near the village of Losheimergraben lies northeast of the ''Eichelsberg'' mountain (653 m) at 643 m near the B 265. Just a few hundred metres away is the source of the

River Kyll The Kyll (), noted by the Roman poet Ausonius as ''Celbis'',Ausonius, ''Mosella'', v. 359 is a river in western Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate), left tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Eifel mountains, near the b ...

. The Our initially follows the B 265, which is also the Belgian-German state border. The river continues alternating between Belgium and Germany. From 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 ...

by the

Europa Monument Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Clif ...

between

(B), Sevenig (D) and

Lieler Lieler ( lb, Léiler) is a village in the commune of Clervaux, in northern Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, ...

(L) it runs almost entirely on the German-Luxembourg border until it reaches Wallendorf in Germany where it empties into the Sauer. It flows mainly from north to south but also

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

s in places. For the section where it runs along the German-Luxembourg border the Our is a jointly managed

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

(the "Joint German-Luxembourg Sovereign Area"). Unilateral sovereignty only begins at the respective shore. In its upper reaches between Germany and Belgium, the state border lies, as is normal on the

thalweg In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Under international law, a thalweg is the middle of the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the bounda ...

of the river.

Tributaries

– Location of the confluences measured from the source of the Our – * Auw (left, at km 9) * Ihrenbach (left, at km 21) * Braunlauf (right, at km 23) * Irmisch (left, near km 26) *

Ulf Ulf, or Ulv is a masculine name common in Scandinavia and Germany. It derives from the Old Norse word for "wolf" (''úlfr'', see Wulf). The oldest written record of the name's occurrence in Sweden is from a runestone of the 11th century. The fe ...

(right, near km 30) * Irsen (left, near km 67) ;Length of tributaries over 5 km TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:xxxx ImageSize = width:480 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 top:10 bottom:40 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) BackgroundColors = canvas:canvas Period = from:0 till:36 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 gridcolor:blue BarData= barset:riverlength Define $left = textcolor:white color:oceanblue Define $right = textcolor:black color:skyblue PlotData= width:18 fontsize:S textcolor:black color:skyblue shift:(5,-6) anchor:from barset:riverlength from:start till:5.9 $left text:Auw (5.9 km) from:start till:7.5 $right text:Medenderbach (7.5 km) from:start till:8.7 $right text:Kolvenderbach (8.7 km) from:start till:6.1 $right text:Weberbach (6.1 km) from:start till:15.9 $left text:Ihrenbach (15.9 km) from:start till:17.8 $right text:Braunlauf (17.8 km) from:start till:17.8 $right text:Ulf (17.8 km) from:start till:35.5 $left text:Irsen (35.5 km) from:start till:5.0 $left text:Teggelbach (5.0 km) TextData= fontsize:M pos:(10,20) text:km A comprehensive list that also includes the smaller tributaries is

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Technologies, Here Television * Here TV (form ...

Villages on the Our

The border village of

, one of the most important tourist resorts in Luxembourg, lies on the Our. The Our Valley Route is a circular route that runs through Belgium and North Luxembourg. Especially worth seeing is the section between Manderfeld (Belgium) and Lieler (Luxembourg), where the route follows the Our almost all the way. It runs ''inter alia'' past

Reuland Castle Reuland Castle is a castle in southeast Belgium, Burg-Reuland, near the border of Germany, probably built after 1148 by the von Reuland nobles. The castle was sold in 1322 to Count John the Blind and the King of Bohemia. On 24 May 1384 King Wenz ...

(Ouren) and the

at the German-Belgian-Luxembourg

. Other villages are: *

Roth an der Our Roth an der Our is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous coun ...

* Sevenig *

Dahnen Dahnen is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Eur ...

Dasburg Dasburg is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Before the French Revolutionary Wars it was a part of the Duchy of Luxemburg The Duchy of Luxemburg ( nl, Luxemburg; french: Luxembourg; ...

Rodershausen Rodershausen is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers a ...

* Obereisenbach * Stolzembourg * Bettel * Gentingen * Ammeldingen an der Our * Schönberg * Wallendorf near

Bollendorf Bollendorf is a German municipality in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, located on the left bank of the Sauer river, opposite the Luxembourgish town of Bollendorf-Pont Bollendorf-Pont (, ) is a village in the commune of Berdorf, in easte ...

. * Grüfflingen near St. Vith * Auel (village in Burg-Reuland)

Usage

The Our is impounded north of

by the Our Dam and forms the lower basin of the

Vianden Pumped Storage Plant The Vianden Pumped Storage Plant is located just north of Vianden in Diekirch District, Luxembourg. The power plant uses the pumped-storage hydroelectric method to generate electricity and serves as a peaking power plant. Its lower reservoir is l ...

References

Literature

* Leonard Palzkill: ''Ourtal ohne Grenzen.'' Neuerburg, 2006, .

External links

*
Official home page of the
Our Nature Park with information on tourism, the ecology and local events for North Luxembourg *
Ensebach - Upper Our Nature Reserve

Hochwassermeldezentrum The Moselle in Trier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Our (River) International rivers of Europe Belgium–Germany border Germany–Luxembourg border Rivers of the Ardennes (Belgium) Rivers of the Ardennes (Luxembourg) Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate Rivers of Belgium Rivers of Luxembourg Rivers of Wallonia Rivers of Liège Province Rivers of Luxembourg (Belgium) Büllingen Vianden Rivers of the Eifel Rivers of Germany Border rivers