This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Saale is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. |
| Saale | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Origin | Upper Franconia (Bavaria) |
| Mouth | Elbe Coordinates: |
| Basin countries | Germany |
| Length | 413 km (257 mi) |
| Source elevation | 728 m (2,389 ft) |
| Avg. discharge | 115 m³/s |
| Basin area | 24,100 km² |
The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale (German: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (German: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale (Leine), a tributary of the Leine.
Course
The Saale originates on the Waldstein, between Bayreuth and Hof in Upper Franconia (Bavaria), springing out of the Fichtelgebirge at an altitude of 728 m. It pursues a winding course in a northern direction, and after passing the manufacturing town of Hof, enters Thuringia. It flows amid well-wooded low mountains (The Thüringer Wald) until it reaches the pleasant valley of Saalfeld. After leaving Saalfeld the Saale reaches Rudolstadt. Here it receives the waters of the Schwarza, in whose valley lies the castle of Schwarzburg, the ancestral seat of the princes of the formerly ruling house of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
From Saalfeld the Saale enters the limestone hill region north of the Thuringian Forest, and sweeps beneath the barren, conical hills enclosing the university town of Jena. It enters Saxony-Anhalt and passes the spa of Bad Kösen, washes numerous vine-clad hills and, after receiving at Naumburg the deep and navigable Unstrut, flows past Weißenfels, Merseburg, Halle, Bernburg and Calbe, and joins the Elbe just above Barby, after traversing a distance of 413 km (257 mi). (It has been shortened 14 kilometers (9 mi) by a bypass from its natural length of 427 kilometers (265 mi).)
It is navigable from Naumburg with the help of sluices, and is connected with the Weiße Elster near Leipzig by a canal. The soil of the lower part of its valley is of exceptional fertility, and produces, amongst other crops, large supplies of sugar beet. Among its tributaries are the Weiße Elster, Regnitz and Orla on the right bank, and the Ilm, Unstrut, Salza, Wipper and Bode on the left. Its upper course is rapid. Its valley, down to Merseburg, contains many castles which crown the enclosing heights.
See also
- Saale-Unstrut, a wine-growing region
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 31 October 2008, at 20:41.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Saale".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.