The Bóbr (; ; ) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

which flows through the north of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and the southwest of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is a left tributary of the Oder. Its Polish name translates directly to ' beaver'.

Course

The Bóbr has a length of (3 in Czech Republic, 276 in Poland, 10th longest Polish river) and a basin area of (44 in Czech Republic and 5,830 in Poland).Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017
Statistics Poland, p. 85-86 It originates on a slope of the Rýchory mountains in the southeast of the Krkonoše range. The source is located near the small Bobr village of the Žacléř municipality in the Czech Hradec Králové Region. Parallel to the Lusatian Neisse tributary of the Oder in the west, it flows northwards from the

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n region into adjacent Silesia. Shortly after the river crosses the border to Polish

Niedamirów Niedamirów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lubawka, within Kamienna Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It lies approximately west of Lubawka, south-we ...

and runs northwestwards through the Jelenia Góra valley of the Western Sudetes to the dam of Pilchowice and downhill into the plains of Lower Silesia, passing the towns of Jelenia Góra,

Bolesławiec Bolesławiec (pronounced , ) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Gm ...

, Szprotawa, and Żagań, where the parallel Kwisa river joins it. The river finally flows into the Oder near the town of Krosno. Non-navigable for its entire length, it is a popular destination for

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

ing.

History

Since the Middle Ages the lower Bóbr river north of Żagań and the Kwisa confluence marked the border between the historic regions of Silesia in the east and

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the Germany, German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the south, Lower Lusa ...

to the west. After in 937 King Otto I of Germany had established the Saxon Eastern March on the lands settled by Polabian Slavs, Margrave Gero until 963 subdued the Lusatian lands up to the border with

('' Civitas Schinesghe''). Upon Gero's death in 965, the river was the designated eastern border of the newly created March of Lusatia in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. The Polish territorial sovereignty was acknowledged to Duke Bolesław I Chrobry by Emperor Otto III at the Congress of Gniezno in 1000. Nevertheless, Bolesław laid claims to the lands west of the Bóbr, which he temporarily acquired by the 1018 Treaty of Bautzen. After Emperor Conrad II had reconquered the territory until 1031, the '' status quo'' was restored. The river became an internal border, when the

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

king

John of Bohemia John of Bohemia, also called the Blind or of Luxembourg (; ; ; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He is well known for having died while fighting ...

step-by-step vassalized the Piast dukes of Silesia and incorporated their lands with the consent of King Casimir III of Poland by the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin, whereafter both Lusatia in the west and Silesia in the east became

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...

. During the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the Western Allies briefly advocated a Polish-German border along the Oder, Bóbr and Kwisa rivers, but were rejected by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, who had already committed himself to the Oder-Neisse line.

Towns

Lubawka Lubawka () is a town in Poland, in Lower Silesia Voivodship, in Kamienna Góra County. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Lubawka. It lies in the Sudetes near to the border with the Czech Republic on the way across the Lubawka pass (516m) bet ...

* Kamienna Góra * Jelenia Góra * Wleń * Lwówek Śląski *

* Szprotawa * Małomice * Żagań * Nowogród Bobrzański *

Krosno Odrzańskie Krosno Odrzańskie () is a town in Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, on the east bank of Oder River, at the confluence with the Bóbr. With 11,319 inhabitants (2019) it is the capital of Krosno County, Lubusz Voivodeship, Krosno County. His ...

* Pstrąże

Bóbr dam

The Pilchowice Dam (, German: ''Talsperre Mauer'') was built from 1904 to 1912 in the northern Krkonoše range near Jelenia Góra. Then the largest in Europe, surpassing even the Urft Dam built in 1905, it created a reservoir of about length. The masonry structure was erected on a Gneiss basis according to the Intze Principle. Equipped with Francis turbines manufactured by Voith and Siemens-Schuckert and AEG generators, the

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

plant supplies about 20,000,000 kWh a year, with a power rating of 7,585 kW.

Protections

Parts of the Bóbr river valley is protected area in some form or another, and the river itself originates from the Krkonoše National Park in Czech Republic, close to the border with Poland. Protections in the Bóbr valley area include: * Rudawy Landscape Park * Bóbr Valley Landscape Park * Przemków Landscape Park

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobr Rivers of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Rivers of Lubusz Voivodeship Rivers of the Hradec Králové Region International rivers of Europe