The Parthe 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 ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

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 betwee ...

, right tributary of the

White Elster The White Elster
Accessed on 16 Jan 2011. (, ) is a long river in central

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of th ...

and

Bad Lausick Bad Lausick () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 12 km southwest of Grimma, and 29 km southeast of Leipzig. History Middle Ages to 18th century In 1096 Bad Lausick was mentioned for the first ti ...

. It flows northwest through Parthenstein, Naunhof, Borsdorf and Taucha before entering the city of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. The Parthe joins the

White Elster The White Elster
Accessed on 16 Jan 2011. (, ) is a long river in central

On its course through the

Leipzig Bay The Leipzig BayDickinson (1964), p. 29.Großbardau, Parthenstein, Naunhof, Beucha, Borsdorf, Panitzsch, Taucha and Leipzig. Into the ''Parthe'' flow, amongst others, the Gladegraben, the Lazy Parthe, the Todgraben, the Mittelgraben, the Grenzgraben, the Threne, the Zauchgraben, the Kittelgraben, the Wachtelbach, the Lösegraben, the Staditzbach, the Hasengraben and the Rüdgengraben. Over the years numerous straightenings and canalisations have had an effect on the river. By the time the Parthe reaches Leipzig the stony river bed is visible.

Name

Amongst others, the region Parthenstein and the motorway junction ''Parthenaue'' (the merging of the A 38 into the A 14 motorway) are called after the river.

Flooding 2002

During the

100-year flood A 100-year flood is a flood event that has a 1 in 100 chance (1% probability) of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 100-year flood is also referred to as the 1% flood, since its annual exceedance probability is 1%.Holmes, R.R., Jr. ...

of the Elbe in 2002, the Parthe also broke its banks. This led to damage in villages and towns such as Kleinbardau and Großbardau.

Recreation and Nature

The long Parthe-Mulde-cycling route from

Grimma Grimma ( hsb, Grima) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig district. Location The town is in northern Saxony, southeast of Leipzig and south o ...

via Naunhof, Borsdorf and Taucha to Leipzig runs alongside the Parthe for long stretches. It is part of network of cycling routes, which run from Leipzig to the

Freiberger Mulde The Freiberger Mulde ( cs, Freiberská Mulda, also called the ''Östliche Mulde'' or Eastern Mulde) is the right-hand, headstream of the river Mulde, whose catchment covers an area of in the Czech Republic and Germany in central Saxony. It has ...

as well as to the river

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

. In Taucha and (a district of Leipzig) the Parthe flows through parks. Large sections of the river's course are designated as the "Nature reserve Parthenaue - Machern". {{Authority control Rivers of Saxony Rivers of Germany