The Tollense (, from Slavic ''dolenica'' "lowland, (flat) valley") 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 ...

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

in northeastern

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 ...

, right tributary of the

Peene The Peene () is a river in Germany. Geography The Westpeene, with the Ostpeene as its longer tributary, and the Kleine Peene/Teterower Peene (with a ''Peene '' without specification (or ''Nordpeene'') as its smaller and shorter affluent) flo ...

. It has a total length of 95.8 km. The upper course begins near a small lake named ''Mürzsee'', near the village of Blumenholz. A part of it is traditionally called

Ziemenbach Ziemenbach is a river of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is a section of the upper course of river Tollense, a tributary of river Peene. The Ziemenbach discharges into the lake Lieps, which is drained by the Tollense. See also *List of rive ...

, flowing to lake

Lieps Lieps is a lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 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 st ...

. From this lake to Lake Tollense (''Tollensesee'') it is nowadays called ''Liepskanal''. The section from Lake Tollense to the junction with

river near

Demmin Demmin () is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Demmin. Geography Demmin lies on the West Pomeranian plain at the confluence of the rivers ...

has a length of 68 km. At this junction, the discharge and basin of Tollense is larger than the discharge and upstream basin of Peene river. The first kilometer of the outflow in

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (lit. ''New Brandenburg'', ) is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland. The city is famous for its ...

is called ''Oberbach''. Afterwards, it is reached by two major tributaries, Linde river from the east and Malliner Wasser from the west. The middling section of Tollense river is joined to

Zarow The Zarow is a lowland river in Western Pomerania in the east of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. Description The lower course of the river, also known topographically as Zarow, is formed from two ditches, the Landgraben and t ...

river by three different Pseudo-bifurcations.

Tollense battle site

Human remains from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

have been found in the Tollense valley (''Tollensetal'') since 1997 AD and excavated since 2007. Thousands of bone fragments belonging to a very large number of persons have since been discovered along with further corroborating evidence of battle; current estimates indicate that perhaps 4,000 warriors took part in a battle on the site circa 1250 BC. These findings were possible due to the preservation of the former

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...

ground and the fact that the Tollense has never really changed its course. Since the population density then was about 5 people per square kilometer, this would have been the most significant battle in Bronze Age period Germany yet to be discovered. Moreover, the Tollense valley is so far the largest excavated battle site of this age anywhere in the world. Further investigation of the site took place between 2010 and 2015. The vast scale of the battle indicates there were organized battles occurring in Bronze Age northern Europe with trained warriors and workers providing food to the warriors, which allowed the warriors to train full-time. Since writing would not reach Northern Europe for another millennia and a half, there are no records of the battle.

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Rivers of Germany