The Panke is a small

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 w ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, a right

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 drai ...

of the

Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers' ...

, originating from the

Barnim plateau The Barnim Plateau is a plateau which is occupied by the northeastern parts of Berlin and the surrounding federal state of Brandenburg in Germany. Boundaries and Subdivision Boundaries The limits of the plateau are easily definable. The sout ...

. It has a length of 29 km, of which 20,2 are within the area of Berlin. Consequently, the Panke is the third longest river in the city after the Spree and the Havel. Several areas in Berlin and Brandenburg are named after the Panke, including

Pankow Pankow () is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. ...

and

Panketal Panketal is a municipality in the district of Barnim, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 15 km northeast of Berlin (centre). History Panketal emerged in 2003 by merging the municipalities Zepernick and Schwanebeck. Since 1996, the popu ...

Course

It is in length with its source in the northeast of

Bernau bei Berlin Bernau bei Berlin (English ''Bernau by Berlin'', commonly named Bernau) is a German town in the Barnim district. The town is located about northeast of Berlin. History Archaeological excavations of Mesolithic-era sites indicate that this area ha ...

. The headwaters were overbuilt with the construction of the railway from Berlin to Stettin in 1842, today the Panke waters leak beneath the railroad embankment. The river flows southwestwards parallel to the railway line through the Bernau town centre and reaches the municipal border with

, underpassing the

Bundesautobahn 11 is an autobahn in eastern Germany that was opened in 1936. As it is partly in a dilapidated state, it is currently undergoing modernisation works on various stretches. The road forms the main connection between Berlin and Szczecin, and it is conn ...

. South of Panketal, the river crosses the border of Brandenburg with Berlin, where it traverses the

borough from north to south, running through the locality of

Buch Buch (the German word for book or a modification of the German word '' Buche'' for beech) may refer to: People * Buch (surname), a list of people with the surname Buch Geography ;Germany: *Buch am Wald, a town in the district of Ansbach, Bavaria ...

, where it underpasses the

Bundesautobahn 10 is an orbital motorway around the German capital city of Berlin. Colloquially called ''Berliner Ring'', it is predominantly located in the state of Brandenburg, with a short stretch of in Berlin itself. It should not be confused with the ''Be ...

(''Berliner Ring'') and forms the border with the Berlin locality of Karow and the western border of Karow and

Blankenburg Blankenburg may refer to: Places * Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt * Blankenburg Castle (Harz), the castle in Blankenburg am Harz (see above) * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt dis ...

with Französisch Buchholz. Joined by the Schmöckpfuhlgraben ditch the Panke runs between the

and

Niederschönhausen Niederschönhausen (, literally "Lower Schönhausen") is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Pankow in Berlin, Germany. It is also known as "Pankow-Schönhausen" to differ it from Hohenschönhausen in Berlin- Lichtenberg ...

localities through the gardens of

Schönhausen Palace Schönhausen Palace (german: Schloss Schönhausen) is a Baroque palace at Niederschönhausen, in the borough of Pankow, Berlin, Germany. It is surrounded by gardens through which the Panke river runs. The palace is maintained by the Prussian Pa ...

and passes Majakowskiring. The final stretches of the lower Panke run through Berlin's

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

districts of Gesundbrunnen and

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

, where it is canalised and partly

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

. Pedestrian walkways run alongside the river -or near it- for lengthy stretches. Nowadays it has two mouths, a northern one into the ''Nordhafen'' port of the

Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal The Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal, or Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal in German, is a canal in Berlin, Germany. It was built between 1848 and 1859 to a plan created by Peter Joseph Lenné, and was formerly known as the Hohenzollern Canal or Hohenz ...

, and another, considerably smaller one directly into the

River in Mitte close to the

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langho ...

theater. The Mitte section behind the ''

Bundesnachrichtendienst The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence head ...

'' (BND) headquarters (the former site of the ''

Stadion der Weltjugend Stadion der Weltjugend was a multi-use stadium in the locality of Mitte in the eponymous borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. It was inaguruated on 20 May 1950 by the First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, Walter Ulbricht for the first ...

'') is currently renaturated as an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

component.

External links

{{Authority control Rivers of Berlin Rivers of Brandenburg Rivers of Germany