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The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in
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 ...
and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its
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, ...
, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at
Barania Góra Barania Góra (Polish for "Ram Mountain") (; ) is a mountain in southern Poland. At a height of , it is the second highest mountain in the Silesian Beskids. The sources of the Vistula, the longest Polish river, are located on the western slope ...
in the south of Poland,
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
in the
Silesian Beskids Silesian Beskids (, , ) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separa ...
(western part of
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
), where it begins with the White Little Vistula (''Biała Wisełka'') and the Black Little Vistula (''Czarna Wisełka''). It flows through Poland's largest cities, including
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
,
Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...
,
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
,
Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...
,
Włocławek Włocławek (; or ''Alt Lesle'', Yiddish: וולאָצלאַוועק, romanized: ''Vlatzlavek'') is a city in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland along the Vistula River, bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park ...
,
Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...
,
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...
,
Świecie Świecie (; ) is a town in northern Poland with 24,841 inhabitants (2023), capital of Świecie County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is located within the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania. Founded ...
,
Grudziądz Grudziądz (, ) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its province. Grudziądz is one of the oldest citie ...
,
Tczew Tczew (, formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). It is the capital of Tczew County and the largest city of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie within th ...
and
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
. It empties into the
Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from the Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. Geography The lag ...
(''Zalew Wiślany'') or directly into the
Gdańsk Bay Gdańsk Bay or the Gulf of Gdańsk is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland. Geography The western part of Gulf of Gdańsk is formed by the shallow waters of the Bay of Puck. The so ...
of the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
with a
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
of six main branches ( Leniwka, Przekop,
Śmiała Wisła The Śmiała Wisła () is a distributary river branch of the Vistula in northern 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 Mou ...
,
Martwa Wisła The Martwa Wisła (; ; both literally "dead Vistula") is a river, one of the branches of the Vistula, flowing through the city of Gdańsk in northern Poland. It got its name when this branch of the river became increasingly moribund. A harbor can ...
,
Nogat The Nogat is a long delta branch of the Vistula River in northern Poland. Unlike the main river, it does not empty into Gdańsk Bay, but rather into the Vistula Lagoon. The Nogat has its origin near the village of Biała Góra as a distribut ...
and Szkarpawa). The river has many associations with
Polish culture The culture of Poland () is the product of its Geography of Poland, geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to History of Poland, an intricate thousand-year history. Poland has a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic ma ...
, history and national identity. It is Poland's most important waterway and natural
symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...
, flowing through its two main cities (
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
and
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
), and the phrase "Land on the Vistula" () can be synonymous with Poland. Historically, the river was also important for the
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
and German (
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n) peoples. The Vistula has given its name to the last glacial period that occurred in northern Europe, approximately between 100,000 and 10,000 BC, the Weichselian glaciation.


Etymology

The name ''Vistula'' first appears in the written record of
Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died  AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...
(3.33) in AD40. Pliny in AD77 in his ''
Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
'' names the river ''Vistla'' (4.81, 4.97, 4.100). The root of the name ''Vistula'' is often thought to come from
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
*''weys-'': 'to ooze, flow slowly' (cf.
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
"they flowed",
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
"slime"), and similar elements appear in many European river-names (e.g.
Svislach (Berezina) The Svislach (, ) or Svisloch () is a river in Belarus. A right-bank tributary of the river Berezina, the Svislach is long, and has a drainage basin of .Svislach (Neman),
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
, Viešinta). In writing about the river and its peoples,
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
uses Greek spelling: ''Ouistoula''. Other ancient sources spell the name ''Istula''.
Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...
referred to the ''Bisula'' (Book22) in the 380s. In the sixth century
Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...
(''
Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...
''5 & 17) used ''Viscla''. The Anglo-Saxon poem
Widsith "Widsith" (, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the '' Exeter Book'' (''pages 84v–87r''), a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the la ...
refers to the ''Wistla''. The 12th-century Polish chronicler
Wincenty Kadłubek Wincenty Kadłubek (; 1150 – 8 March 1223) was a Polish Catholic prelate and professed Cistercian who served as the Bishop of Kraków from 1208 until his resignation in 1218. His episcopal mission was to reform the diocesan priests to ens ...
Latinised the river's name as ''Vandalus'', a form presumably influenced by Lithuanian 'water'.
Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...
(1415–1480) in his ''Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae'' contextually points to the river, stating "of the eastern nations, of the Polish east, from the brightness of the water the White Water...so named" (), perhaps referring to the White Little Vistula (). In the course of history the river has borne similar names in different languages: ; ; ; ; and .


Sources

Vistula rises in the southern
Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...
close to the tripoint involving 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
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
from two sources: Czarna ("Black") Wisełka at altitude and Biała ("White") Wisełka at altitude . Both are on the western slope of
Barania Góra Barania Góra (Polish for "Ram Mountain") (; ) is a mountain in southern Poland. At a height of , it is the second highest mountain in the Silesian Beskids. The sources of the Vistula, the longest Polish river, are located on the western slope ...
in the
Silesian Beskids Silesian Beskids (, , ) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separa ...
in Poland.


Geography

Vistula can be divided into three parts: upper, from its sources to
Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...
; central, from Sandomierz to the confluences with the
Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...
river and the Bug river; and bottom, from the confluence with Narew to the sea. The Vistula river basin covers (in Poland ); its average altitude is
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is 100 to 200 m above sea level; over of the river basin ranges from in altitude. The highest point of the river basin is at (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra mountains). One of the features of the river basin of the Vistula is its asymmetry—in great measure resulting from the tilting direction of the Central European Lowland toward the northwest, the direction of the flow of glacial waters, and considerable predisposition of its older base. The asymmetry of the river basin (right-hand to left-hand side) is 73–27%. The most recent glaciation of the
Pleistocene epoch The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
, which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe.


Major cities


Delta

The river forms a wide delta called
Żuławy Wiślane Żuławy Wiślane (plural from "żuława", meaning fen), in English known as the Vistula Fens, is the alluvial delta area of the river Vistula, in the northern part of Poland. It is a flat and deforested region comprising wetlands and agricultur ...
, or the "Vistula Fens" in English. The delta currently starts around Biała Góra near
Sztum Sztum () (formerly ) is a town in northern Poland in the Powiśle region, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of Sztum County, with some 10,141 inhabitants (2004). History Signs of settlement dating back to the Roman Empir ...
, about from the mouth, where the river
Nogat The Nogat is a long delta branch of the Vistula River in northern Poland. Unlike the main river, it does not empty into Gdańsk Bay, but rather into the Vistula Lagoon. The Nogat has its origin near the village of Biała Góra as a distribut ...
splits off. The
Nogat The Nogat is a long delta branch of the Vistula River in northern Poland. Unlike the main river, it does not empty into Gdańsk Bay, but rather into the Vistula Lagoon. The Nogat has its origin near the village of Biała Góra as a distribut ...
also starts separately as a river named (on this map ) ''Alte Nogat'' (Old Nogat) south of
Kwidzyn Kwidzyn (; ; Latin: ''Quedin''; Old Prussian: ''Kwēdina'') is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River. With a population of 36,731, it is the capital of Kwidzyn County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Geography Kwidzyn is located on the L ...
, but further north it picks up water from a crosslink with the Vistula, and becomes a
distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel is a stream channel that branches off and flows a main stream channel. It is the opposite of a ''tributary'', a stream that flows another stream or river. Distributaries are a result of river bifurc ...
of the Vistula, flowing away northeast into the
Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from the Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. Geography The lag ...
(Polish: Zalew Wiślany) with a small delta. The Nogat formed part of the border between East Prussia and interwar Poland. The other channel of the Vistula below this point is sometimes called the Leniwka. Various causes (rain, snow melt,
ice jam Ice jams occur when the ice that is drifting down-current in a river comes to a stop, for instance, at a river bend, when it contacts the river bed in a shallow area, or against bridge piers. Doing so increases the resistance to flow, thereby in ...
s) have caused many severe floods of the Vistula over the centuries. Land in the area was sometimes depopulated by severe flooding, and later had to be resettled. See (Figure 7, on page 812 a
History of floods on the River Vistula
for a reconstruction map of the delta area as it was around the year 1300: note much more water in the area, and the west end of the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) was bigger and nearly continuous with the Drausen See.


Channel changes

As with some aggrading rivers, the lower Vistula has been subject to channel changing. Near the sea, the Vistula was diverted sideways by coastal sand as a result of
longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle, shells) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming w ...
and split into an east-flowing branch (the Elbing (Elbląg) Vistula, Elbinger Weichsel, Szkarpawa, flows into the Vistula Lagoon, now for flood control closed to the east with a lock) and a west-flowing branch (the Danzig (Gdańsk) Vistula, Przegalinie branch, reached the sea in Danzig). Until the 14th century, the Elbing Vistula was the bigger. * 1242: The Stara Wisła (Old Vistula) cut an outlet to the sea through the barrier near Mikoszewo where the Vistula Cut is now; this gap later closed or was closed. * 1371: The Danzig Vistula became bigger than the Elbing Vistula. * 1540 and 1543: Huge floods depopulated the delta area, and afterwards the land was resettled by
Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
Germans, and economic development followed. * 1553: By a plan made by Danzig and Elbing, a channel was dug between the Vistula and the Nogat at Weissenberg (now Biała Góra). As a result, most of the Vistula water flowed down the Nogat, which hindered navigation at Danzig by lowering the water level; this caused a long dispute about the river water between Danzig on one side and Elbing and Marienburg on the other side. * 1611: Great flood near Marienburg. * 1613: As a result, a royal decree was issued to build a dam at Biała Góra, diverting only a third of the Vistula's water into the Nogat. * 1618–1648
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
and 1655–1661
Second Northern War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...
: In wars involving Sweden the river works at Biała Góra were destroyed or damaged. * 1724: Until this year the Vistula in Danzig flowed to sea straight through the east end of the
Westerplatte Westerplatte (, , ) is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Vistula delta estuaries), in the Gdańsk harbour channel. From 1926 to 1939, it was the location of a Polish Military ...
. This year it started to turn west to flow south of the Westerplatte. * 1747: In a big flood the Vistula broke into the Nogat. * 1772:
First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...
: Prussia got control of the Vistula delta area. * 1793:
Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...
: Prussia got control of more of the Vistula drainage area. * 1830 and later: Cleaning the riverbed; eliminating meanders; re-routing some tributaries, e.g. the Rudawa. * 1840: A flood caused by an ice-jam formed a shortcut from the Danzig Vistula to the sea (shown as ''Durchbruch v. J 1840'' (Breakthrough of year 1840), on this map), a few miles east of and bypassing Danzig, now called the Śmiała Wisła or Wisła Śmiała ("Bold Vistula"). The Vistula channel west of this lost much of its flow and was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: ''Tote Weichsel''; Polish: ''Martwa Wisła''). * 1848 or after: In flood control works the link from the Vistula to the Nogat was moved 4 km (2.5 miles) downstream. In the end, the Nogat got a fifth of the flow of the Vistula. * 1888: A large flood in the Vistula delta. * 1889 to 1895: As a result, to try to stop recurrent flooding on the lower Vistula, the Prussian government constructed an artificial channel about east of Danzig (now named Gdańsk), known as the Vistula Cut (German: ''Weichseldurchstich''; Polish: ''
Przekop Wisły The Przekop Wisły (, often shortened to just Przekop) is a branch of the Vistula river in its delta. It was created artificially in 1895 (hence its Polish name "''Przekop''" in this case meaning "river cutoff"). Since then, it has formed the mos ...
'') (ref map ) from the old fork of the Danzig and Elbing Vistulas straight north to the Baltic Sea, diverting much of the Vistula's flow. One main purpose was to let the river easily flush floating ice into the sea to avoid ice-jam floods downstream. This is now the main mouth of the Vistula, bypassing Gdańsk
Google Earth
shows only a narrow new connection with water-control works with the old westward channel. The name Dead Vistula was extended to mean all of the old channel of the Vistula below this diversion. * 1914–1917: The Elbing Vistula (Szkarpawa) and the Dead Vistula were cut off from the new main river course with the help of locks. * 1944–1945: Retreating WWII German forces destroyed many flood-prevention works in the area. After the war, Poland needed over ten years to repair the damage.


Tributaries

List of right and left tributaries with a nearby city, from source to mouth:


Climate change and the flooding of the Vistula delta

According to flood studies carried out by Zbigniew Pruszak, who is the co-author of the scientific paper ''Implications of SLR'' and further studies carried out by scientists attending Poland's Final International ASTRA Conference, and predictions stated by climate scientists at the climate change pre-summit in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
, it is highly likely most of the Vistula Delta region (which is below sea level) will be flooded due to the
sea level rise The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...
caused by climate change by 2100.


Geological history

The history of the River Vistula and its valley spans over 2 million years. The river is connected to the geological period called the
Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
, in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within the last 14,000 years, after the complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along with the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring. As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also in the centre of Europe. Three principal geographical and geological land masses of the continent meet in its river basin: the Eastern European Plain, Western Europe, and the Alpine zone to which the Alps and the
Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...
belong. The Vistula begins in the Carpathian mountains. The run and character of the river were shaped by ice sheets flowing down from the Scandinavian peninsula. The last ice sheet entered the area of Poland about 20,000 years ago. During periods of warmer weather, the ancient Vistula, "Pra-Wisła", searched for the shortest way to the sea—thousands of years ago it flowed into the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
somewhere at the latitude of contemporary Scotland. The climate of the Vistula valley, its plants, animals, and its very character changed considerably during the process of glacial retreat. Wodospad Wiselka Biala.jpg, Biała Wisełka Wisla 010.jpg, Vistula in southern Poland with the
Silesian Beskids Silesian Beskids (, , ) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separa ...
Dolina-dolnej-wisly-2.jpg, Vistula in northern Poland File:Przekop Wisly aerial 2.jpg,
Przekop Wisły The Przekop Wisły (, often shortened to just Przekop) is a branch of the Vistula river in its delta. It was created artificially in 1895 (hence its Polish name "''Przekop''" in this case meaning "river cutoff"). Since then, it has formed the mos ...
Bogdan Cierpisz, Wiślany Brzeg, 1989, olej na płótnie, 60x75cm.jpg, ''Vistula Shore'', painted by Bogdan Cierpisz in 1898, oil on canvas


Navigation

Vistula is navigable from the Baltic Sea to
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...
(where the
Bydgoszcz Canal Bydgoszcz Canal (; ) is a canal between the cities of Bydgoszcz and Nakło nad Notecią in Poland. It is 24.7 km long and connects the Vistula river with the Oder river, through the Brda (river), Brda and Noteć rivers (the latter ending in ...
joins the river). It can accommodate modest river vessels of
CEMT The International Transport Forum (ITF) is an inter-governmental organisation within the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) system. It is the only global body with a mandate (international law), mandate for all modes ...
class II. Farther upstream the river depth lessens. Although a project was undertaken to increase the traffic-carrying capacity of the river upstream of Warsaw by building a number of locks in and around
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, this project was not extended further, so that navigability of the Vistula remains limited. The potential of the river would increase considerably if a restoration of the east–west connection via the
Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...
– Bug– Mukhovets–
Pripyat Pripyat, also known as Prypiat, is an abandoned industrial city in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat (river), Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth ''atomgrad'' ...
–
Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
waterways were considered. The shifting economic importance of parts of Europe may make this option more likely. Vistula is the northern part of the proposed E40 waterway, continuing eastward into the
Bug River The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
to the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
.


Historical relevance

Large parts of the Vistula Basin were occupied by the Iron Age Lusatian and
Przeworsk Przeworsk (; ; ) is a town in south-eastern Poland with 15,675 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Since 1999 it has been in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, and is the capital of Przeworsk County. The ancient Przeworsk culture was named after the town ...
cultures in the first millennium BC. Genetic analysis indicates that there has been an unbroken genetic continuity of the inhabitants over the last 3,500 years. The Vistula Basin along with the lands of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
,
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
,
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 ...
, and
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
came to be called
Magna Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superi ...
by Roman authors of the first century AD. This does not imply that the inhabitants were "
Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...
" in the modern sense of the term;
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
, when describing the
Venethi The Vistula Veneti, also called Baltic Veneti, Venedi or Venethi, were an Indo-European people that inhabited the lands of central Europe east of the Vistula River and the Bay of Gdańsk. Ancient Roman geographers first mentioned in the 1st cen ...
,
Peucini The Bastarnae, Bastarni or Basternae, also known as the Peuci or Peucini, were an ancient people who are known from Greek and Roman records to have inhabited areas north and east of the Carpathian Mountains between about 300 BC and about 300 AD, ...
and
Fenni The Fenni were an ancient people of northeastern Europe, first described by Cornelius Tacitus in ''Germania'' in AD 98. Ancient accounts The Fenni are first mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in ''Germania'' in 98 A.D. Their location is uncer ...
, wrote that he was not sure if he should call them Germans, since they had settlements and they fought on foot, or rather
Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...
since they have some similar customs to them.
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
, in the second century AD, would describe the Vistula as the border between
Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
and
Sarmatia Sarmatia was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the western Eurasian steppe. It was inhabited by Sarmatians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people. Sarmatia was the name given by the Ro ...
. Vistula River used to be connected to the
Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
, and thence to the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
via the
Augustów Canal The Augustów Canal (, , ) is a cross-border canal built by the Congress Kingdom of Poland in 19th century in the Augustów Voivodeship (present-day Podlaskie Voivodeship of northeastern Poland and Grodno Region, Grodno Oblast of western Belarus ...
, a technological marvel with numerous
sluice A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...
s contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first waterway in
Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
to provide a direct link between the two major rivers, the Vistula and the
Neman Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms Lithuania–Russia border, the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its s ...
. It provided a link with the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
to the south through the
Oginski Canal The Oginski Canal is a canal in Belarus which connects the Yaselda and Shchara rivers. Its length is 54 km. Its construction was started in 1765 by prince Michał Kazimierz Ogiński Michał Kazimierz Ogiński ( – ) was a Polish noble ...
,
Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
, Berezina Canal, and Dvina River. The Baltic Sea– Vistula– Dnieper– Black Sea route with its rivers was one of the most ancient trade routes, the
Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...
, on which amber and other items were traded from
Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
to Greece, Asia,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, and elsewhere. The Vistula estuary was settled by
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
in the seventh and eighth century. p.29 Based on archeological and linguistic findings, it has been postulated that these settlers moved northward along the Vistula River. This however contradicts another hypothesis supported by some researchers saying the
Veleti The Veleti, also known as Veletians, Wilzi, Wielzians, and Wiltzes, were a group of medieval Lechitic tribes within the territory of Western Pomerania, related to Polabian Slavs. They had formed together the Confederation of the Veleti, also kn ...
moved westward from the Vistula delta. A number of West Slavic
Polish tribes "Polish tribes" is a term used sometimes to describe the tribes of West Slavic Lechites that lived from around the mid-6th century in the territories that became Polish with the creation of the Polish state by the Piast dynasty. The territory ...
formed small dominions beginning in the eighth century, some of which coalesced later into larger ones. Among the tribes listed in the
Bavarian Geographer The epithet "Bavarian Geographer" () is the conventional name for the anonymous author of a short Latin medieval text containing a list of the tribes in Central and Eastern Europe, headed . The name "Bavarian Geographer" was first bestowed (in its ...
's ninth-century document was the
Vistulans The Vistulans, or Vistulanians (), were an early medieval Lechitic tribe inhabiting the western part of modern Lesser Poland. Etymology Their name derives from the hydronym of the river Vistula, meaning "inhabitants of Vistula"; the region is m ...
(''Wiślanie'') in southern Poland. Kraków and
Wiślica Wiślica () () is a town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Wiślica. It lies on the Nida River, approximately south of Busko-Zdrój and sout ...
were their main centres. Many Polish legends are connected with the Vistula river and the beginnings of Polish statehood. One of the most enduring is that about
Princess Wanda Princess Wanda (; reputedly lived in 8th century Poland) was the daughter of the Lechitic King Krakus, legendary founder of Kraków. Upon her father's death she became a ruler of the Poles, but committed suicide to avoid an unwanted marriage. ...
''co nie chciała Niemca'' (''who rejected the German''). According to the most popular variant, popularized by the 15th-century historian
Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...
, Wanda, daughter of
King Krak Krakus, Krak or Grakch was a legendary Polish prince, ruler of the Vistulans (a Lechitic tribe), and the presumed founder of Kraków. Krakus is also credited with building Wawel Castle and slaying the Wawel Dragon by feeding it a dead sheep fu ...
, became queen of the Poles upon her father's death. She refused to marry a German prince Rytigier (Rüdiger), who took offence and invaded Poland, but was repelled. Wanda however committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
, drowning in the Vistula River, to ensure he would not invade her country again.


Main trading artery

For hundreds of years the river was one of the main trading arteries of Poland, and the castles that line its banks were highly prized possessions.
Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
,
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
,
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
, and building stone were among goods shipped via that route between the 10th and 13th centuries. In the 14th century the lower Vistula was controlled by the
Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...
Order, invited in 1226 by
Konrad I of Masovia Konrad I of Masovia (ca. 1187/88 – 31 August 1247), from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia and Kuyavia from 1194 until his death as well as High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232 and again from 1241 to 1243. Life Konrad w ...
to help him fight the pagan Prussians on the border of his lands. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights captured the Gdańsk castle and murdered the population. Since then the event is known as ''the Gdańsk slaughter''. The Order had inherited
Gniew Gniew (; ) is a historic town situated on the left bank of the Vistula River, in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It has 6,870 inhabitants (2016). It is one of the oldest towns in Eastern Pomerania, and is renowned for its medieval ...
from Sambor II, thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula. Many granaries and storehouses, built in the 14th century, line the banks of the Vistula. In the 15th century the city of
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
gained great importance in the Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. At this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians, but Gdańsk soon became a starting point for German settlement of the largely fallow Vistulan country. Before its peak in 1618, trade increased by a factor of 20 from 1491. This factor is evident when looking at the tonnage of grain traded on the river in the key years of: 1491: 14,000; 1537: 23,000; 1563: 150,000; 1618: 310,000. a: p. 6, b: p. 7, c: p. 5, d: p. 5 In the 16th century most of the grain exported was leaving Poland through Gdańsk, which because of its location at the end of the Vistula and its tributary waterway and of its Baltic seaport trade role became the wealthiest, most highly developed, and by far the largest centre of crafts and manufacturing, and the most autonomous of the Polish cities. Other towns were negatively affected by Gdańsk's near-monopoly in foreign trade. During the reign of
Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576). The son of Stephen VIII Báthory ...
Poland ruled two main
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
ports: Gdańsk controlling the Vistula river trade and
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
controlling the
Western Dvina The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of t ...
trade. Both cities were among the largest in the country. Around 70% the exports from Gdańsk were of grain. Grain was also the largest export commodity of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. The volume of traded grain can be considered a good and well-measured proxy for the economic growth of the Commonwealth. The owner of a
folwark ''Folwark'' is a Polish word derived from the German ''Vorwerk''. A Folwark or Vorwerk is an agricultural estate or a separate branch operation of such an estate, historically a serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise (a type of latif ...
usually signed a
contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...
with the merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain to Gdańsk. Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping, including the Vistula, which had a relatively well-developed infrastructure, with
river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...
s and
granaries A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...
. Most river shipping travelled north, with southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts often being sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. In order to arrest recurrent flooding on the lower Vistula, the Prussian government in 1889–95 constructed an artificial channel about east of Gdańsk (German name: ''Danzig'')—known as the Vistula Cut (German: ''Weichseldurchstich''; Polish: ''Przekop Wisły'')—that acted as a huge sluice, diverting much of the Vistula flow directly into the
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
. As a result, the historic Vistula channel through Gdańsk lost much of its flow and was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: ''Tote Weichsel''; Polish: ''Martwa Wisła''). German states acquired complete control of the region in 1795–1812 (see:
Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
), as well as during the World Wars, in 1914–1918 and 1939–1945. From 1867 to 1917, after the collapse of the
January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...
(1863–1865), the Russian tsarist administration called the
Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
the
Vistula Land Vistula Land, also known as Vistula Country (; ), was the name applied to the lands of Congress Poland from 1867, following the defeats of the November Uprising (1830–1831) and January Uprising (1863–1864) as it was increasingly stripped of ...
. Almost 75% of the territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of
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, ...
of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was , the
Niemen Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains ...
(), the
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
() and the
Daugava The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of ...
(). In 1920 the decisive
battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
of the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...
Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the ''Miracle at the Vistula''), was fought as
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
forces commanded by
Mikhail Tukhachevsky Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Тухачевский, Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevskiy, p=tʊxɐˈtɕefskʲɪj; – 12 June 1937), nicknamed the Red Napoleon, was a Soviet general who was prominen ...
approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and nearby
Modlin Fortress Modlin Fortress () is one of the largest 19th-century fortresses in Poland. It is located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin (village), Modlin on the Narew river, approximately 50 kilometers north of Warsaw. It was original ...
by the river's mouth. File:Tyniec Abbey.jpg, The 11th century Benedictine Abbey in
Tyniec Tyniec is a historic village in Poland on the Vistula river, since 1973 a part of the city of Kraków (currently in the district of Dębniki). Tyniec is notable for its Benedictine abbey founded by King Casimir the Restorer in 1044. Etymology ...
overlooks Vistula. File:Czersk 25.jpg, Vistula River near the Duke of Masovia Castle in
Czersk Czersk (; ; formerly , (1942-5): ) is a town in northern Poland in Chojnice County, Pomeranian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 9,844. Today the center of the city of Czersk in is the Village Square. The infrastructu ...
File:Hogenberg View of Warsaw.jpg, Vistula River in Warsaw near the end of the 16th century. The right side shows the
Sigismund Augustus Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...
bridge built 1568–1573 by Erazm Cziotko (c.  long). File:Torun Merian 1641.jpg, Vistula river (''Vistvla fluvivs'') in
Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...
in 1641 File:Aleksander Gierymski, Święto Trąbek I.jpg, Jewish ''
Feast of Trumpets A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...
'' () at the banks of the Vistula,
Aleksander Gierymski Ignacy Aleksander Gierymski (30 January 1850, Warsaw – d. 6–8 March 1901, Rome) was a Polish painter of the late 19th century, the younger brother of Maksymilian Gierymski. He was a representative of Realism as well as an important prec ...
, 1884 File:Kierbedź Bridge (1900).jpg, Kierbedź Bridge over the Vistula in Warsaw (c. 1900). This framework
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
was constructed by
Stanisław Kierbedź Stanisław Kierbedź (, 1810–1899) was a Polish railway engineer. He designed and supervised the construction of dozens of bridges, railway lines, ports and other objects in Central and Eastern Europe. He served in the Imperial Russian Army with ...
in 1850–1864. It was destroyed by the Germans in 1944. File:Wisla Poland 1939 Henryk Poddebski.jpg, Vistula River in spa town
Wisła Wisła (; ; ) is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,132 (2019), near the border with the Czech Republic. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in the historical region of ...
(1939) just before the World War II


World War II

The
Polish September campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet ...
included battles over control of the mouth of the Vistula, and of the city of Gdańsk, close to the river delta. During the
Invasion of Poland (1939) The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, after the initial battles in
Pomerelia Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. Gdańsk Pomerania is largely c ...
, the remains of the Polish Army of Pomerania withdrew to the southern bank of the Vistula. After defending
Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...
for several days, the army withdrew further south under pressure of the overall strained strategic situation, and took part in the main
battle of Bzura The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was both the largest battle and Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September.''The Second World War: An Illustrated History '', Putnam, 1975, Goog ...
. The
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
complex of concentration camps was at the confluence of the Vistula and the
Soła The Soła () is a river in southern Poland, a right tributary of the Vistula. The Soła originates in the Western Beskids mountain range near the border with Slovakia. It is made up of the confluence of several small creeks in the Rajcza munici ...
rivers. Ashes of murdered Auschwitz victims were dumped into the river. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
prisoners of war from the Nazi Stalag XX-B camp were assigned to cut ice blocks from the River Vistula. The ice would then be transported by truck to the local beer houses. The 1944
Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
was planned with the expectation that the Soviet forces, who had arrived in the course of their offensive and were waiting on the other side of the Vistula River in full force, would help in the battle for Warsaw. However, the Soviets let down the Poles, stopping their advance at the Vistula and branding the insurgents as criminals in radio broadcasts. In early 1945, in the Vistula–Oder Offensive, the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
crossed the Vistula and drove the German ''
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
'' back past the
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
river in Germany. After the war in late 1946, the former Austrian SS member
Amon Göth Amon Leopold Göth (; 11 December 1908 – 13 September 1946) was an Austrian SS functionary and war criminal. He served as the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów in German-occupied Poland for most of th ...
was sentenced to death and hanged on 13 September at the
Montelupich Prison The Montelupich Prison, named for the street on which it is located, the ''ulica Montelupich'' ("street of the Montelupi family"),Ulica Montelupich or "street of the Montelupis" itself is named after the Montelupi manor house (Kamienica (archite ...
in Kraków, not far from the site of the Płaszów camp, the camp of which he was commandant throughout
The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. His remains were cremated and the ashes thrown in the Vistula River.


See also

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Geography of Poland Poland () is a country that extends across the North European Plain from the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south to the sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea in the north. Poland is the fifth-most populous country of the European Union an ...
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Rivers of Poland Following is a list of rivers, which are at least partially, if not predominantly located within Poland.KSNG (2002–2014)List of Names of Flowing Waters (Wykaz nazw wód płynacych)(PDF file, direct download 1.47 MB), Komisja Standaryzacji Nazw Ge ...
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Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from the Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. Geography The lag ...
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Vistula Spit The Vistula Spit (; ; ; ) is an aeolian sand spit, or peninsular stretch of land, separating Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay, in the Baltic Sea, with its tip separated from the mainland by the Strait of Baltiysk. The border between Poland (Pom ...


References


External links

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"History of Floods on the River Vistula"
''Hydrological Sciences Journal'' {{Authority control Cieszyn Silesia Rivers of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Rivers of Lesser Poland Voivodeship Rivers of Lublin Voivodeship Rivers of Masovian Voivodeship Rivers of Subcarpathian Voivodeship Rivers of Poland Rivers of Pomeranian Voivodeship Rivers of Silesian Voivodeship Rivers of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Waterways in Poland