The Alzette (; ; ) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

with a length of in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

. It is a right tributary of the

Sauer The Sauer ( German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre (French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer ...

(a tributary to the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

), and ultimately to the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

. It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...

'', France. It crosses the border with Luxembourg after . At Lameschmillen (near Bergem) it is joined by the Mess. It flows through the Luxembourgish towns Esch-sur-Alzette,

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the G ...

and Mersch, and empties into the Sauer near Ettelbruck. The rocky cliffs above the Alzette in

are called '

Bock Bock is a strong beer in Germany, usually a dark lager. Several substyles exist, including: *Doppelbock (''Double Bock''), a stronger and maltier version *Eisbock (''Ice Bock''), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer an ...

'. This name was given to the Casemates du Bock; a honeycomb of tunnels colloquially named 'Paula', which runs under the ruins of the Fortress of Luxembourg. It protected

for centuries.

References

International rivers of Europe Rivers of the Ardennes (Luxembourg) Rivers of Luxembourg Rivers of France Rivers of Grand Est Rivers of Meurthe-et-Moselle Rivers of Ettelbruck Rivers of Luxembourg City Rivers of Mersch Esch-sur-Alzette {{Luxembourg-river-stub