Bocholter Aa is a small river originating in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

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 ...

. The last part is situated in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where it is called Aa-strang in Dutch. In

Ulft Ulft () is a town in Oude IJsselstreek in the Achterhoek area in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. The town has over 10,000 inhabitants and is the biggest town in the municipality Oude IJsselstreek. Until 1 January 2005, Ulft was part of ...

, close to the border, it joins the river

Oude IJssel The Oude IJssel ( Dutch, , literally ''old IJssel'') or Issel ( German, ) is a river in Germany and the Netherlands approximately long. It is a right tributary of the river IJssel. ''Oude IJssel'' is Dutch for "Old IJssel"; the Oude IJssel was t ...

, which also comes from Germany (where it has the name Issel). 2025-01-10 Ulft Oude IJssel 25

The name ''Aa'' refers to an old word for water which is used for many rivers in Europe. This river has its roots in Velen in the Münsterland region, where three beeks converge: Thesingbach, Vennbach and Schwarzer Bach. It runs partially parallel to the river Issel, through the Western Münsterland via Borken to Bocholt. It flows through the lake Aasee and passes the . In the center of Bocholt the New Townhall is situated on an artificial island in the river. Flowing to the northwest, the Aa reaches the Dutch-German border where it is a border river for ca. two kilometers. After only five kilometers the Aa (here called Aa-strang) it flows into the significantly smaller Oude IJssel (Issel). The Oude IJssel continues until

Doesburg Doesburg () is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Doesburg received city rights in 1237 and had a population of in . The city is situated on the right bank of the River IJssel at its confluence w ...

, where it joins the Geldersche IJssel, and this river leads to the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; , ), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with a ...

. Finally, the water reaches 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 ...

References

Rivers of Gelderland Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia Rivers of the Netherlands Rivers of Germany International rivers of Europe {{Netherlands-river-stub

See also

References