The Ohře (), also known in English and German as Eger (), 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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and 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 ...

, a left

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) 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 Republic), then Ge ...

River. It flows through the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n district of

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

in Germany, and through the

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

and

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. ...

regions in the Czech Republic. It is long, of which is in the Czech Republic, making it the fourth longest river in the country.

Etymology

The name is of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

or pre-Celtic origin. In the 9th century, it appeared as ''Agara''. According to one theory, its meaning was '

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

river' (composed of the words ''ag'', ''eg'' – 'salmon', and ''are'', ''ara'' – 'flowing water'). Another theory suggests that the name was derived from ''agriā'' and meant a fast-moving, fast-flowing river. In the 12th century, Ohře was written as ''Egre'', ''Oegre'' and ''Ogre''.

Course

The Ohře originates in the territory of Weißenstadt in the

Fichtel Mountains The Fichtel Mountains (, ; ) is a mountain range in Germany and the Czech Republic. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River in northeastern Bavaria to the Karlovy Vary Region in western Czech Republic. The Fichtel Mountains contain an ...

at an elevation of , below the Schneeberg mountain. It flows to

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat of the Roman C ...

, where it enters the

River at an elevation of . The Ohře flows through the Fichtel Mountains in an eastward direction, through Lake Weissenstadt (Weißenstädter See) and through the towns of Röslau and Marktleuthen, and, after almost 50 km, reaches the Czech-German border near Hohenberg an der Eger. It then flows through the historic region of the Czech Republic which was known until 1945 as Egerland. The river passes the towns of

Cheb Cheb (; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. Before the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expulsion of Germans in 1945, the town was the centre of the G ...

, (, like the river),

Loket Loket (; ) is a town in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. The town is known for the Loket Castle, a 12th-century Gothic castle. The historic town centre is well preserved and is pr ...

, Sokolov,

, Klášterec nad Ohří, Kadaň, Žatec,

Louny Louny (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument ...

, Libochovice, Budyně nad Ohří and Terezín before flowing into the river Elbe at Litoměřice. The river is long, of which is in the Czech Republic, making it the fourth longest river in the Czech Republic. The German part of the river (including the border section) is long. The highest

volume flow rate In physics and engineering, in particular fluid dynamics, the volumetric flow rate (also known as volume flow rate, or volume velocity) is the volume of fluid which passes per unit time; usually it is represented by the symbol (sometimes \do ...

occurs in spring. The average volume flow rate at the mouth is 37.94 m³/s. The lower part of the river flows through areas with the lowest average precipitation in the Czech Republic (400–500 mm).

Drainage basin

The Ohře's

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

has an area of . The area of the drainage basin in the Czech Republic is , in Bavaria is . The rest of the drainage basin is in Saxony. The drainage basin is divided to further third-level basin areas:

Tributaries

The longest tributaries of the Ohře are:

Use

The Ohře is primarily used for irrigation and hydroelectric energy. There are two reservoirs: Skalka (built in 1962–1964, area ) and Nechranice (built 1961–1968, area ).

Notes

References

External links

Povodí Ohře
– administrator of the river basin in the Czech Republic
River flow at Louny station
– Flood Warning and Forecasting Service of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohre Fichtel Mountains Hohenberg an der Eger International rivers of Europe Rivers of Bavaria Rivers of the Karlovy Vary Region Rivers of the Ústí nad Labem Region Rivers of Germany Rivers of the Czech Republic