The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ;

Upper Sorbian Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as Wendish (), is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, today part of Saxony, Germany. It is a West Slavic language, along with Lower Sorbian, Czech, Poli ...

: ''Łužiska Nysa'';

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern

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 ...

.''Neisse River''
at www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011. It rises in the

Jizera Mountains Jizera Mountains (), or Izera Mountains (; ), are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The range got its name from the Jizera (river), Jizera River, which rises at the southern base of the Smrk (Jizera), ...

, near Nová Ves nad Nisou, at the Czech border becoming the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

–

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

border for its remaining , to flow into the similarly northward-flowing

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 ...

from the left. 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, ...

covers , of which is in Poland, the rest is mainly in Germany.Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017

Statistics Poland Statistics Poland (, popularly called GUS), formerly known in English as the Central Statistical Office, is the Polish government's chief executive agency charged with collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population, and s ...

, pp. 85–86 The river reaches the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

of the three nations by

Zittau Zittau (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, Upper Lusatian dialect: ''Sitte''; ) is the southeasternmost city in the Germany, German state of Saxony, and belongs to the Görlitz (district), district of Görlitz, Germany's easternmost Districts of Germ ...

, a German town/city, after , leaving the Czech Republic. It is a left-bank tributary of the Oder, into which it flows between

Neißemünde Neißemünde (''Neissemuende'', literally ''Mouth of the Neisse river ;'' ) is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It belongs to the ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' ("collective municipa ...

-Ratzdorf and Kosarzyn – north of the towns of

Guben Guben (Polish language, Polish and Sorbian languages, Sorbian: ''Gubin'') is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in Lower Lusatia, in the States of Germany, state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße Districts of German ...

and Gubin. The river was a motivations to found Gubin as a craftmanship and trading port in the 13th Century. Since the 1945

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

in the aftermath of

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 ...

, the river has partially demarcated the German-Polish border (along the

Oder–Neisse line The Oder–Neisse line (, ) is an unofficial term for the Germany–Poland border, modern border between Germany and Poland. The line generally follows the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, meeting the Baltic Sea in the north. A small portion ...

). The German population east of the river was expelled from Poland to Germany. It is the longest and most watered of the three rivers of its non-adjectival name in both the main languages (the two other rivers being the

Eastern Neisse The Eastern Neisse, also known by its Polish name of Nysa Kłodzka (, ), is a river in southwestern Poland, a left tributary of the Oder, with a length of 188 km (21st longest) and a basin area of 4,570 km2 (3,742 in Poland). Prior to Wo ...

(; ) and

Raging Neisse The Raging NeisseDodge, Lt Col Theodore Ayrault. ''Napoleon: A History of the Art of War. Vol. IV'', 2014 (, or ''Jauersche Neiße'') is a river in Poland. It has a length of about and flows into the Kaczawa (Katzbach), which in turn flows into ...

(Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neiße'' or ''Jauersche Neiße'')). It is usually simply referred to as the Neisse.

Name

Since the river runs through the historic region of

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

, the adjective "Lusatian" or "Western" before the name of the river Neisse is used whenever differentiating this border river from the

(Polish: ''Nysa Kłodzka'', German: ''Glatzer Neiße'') and the smaller

(Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neiße'' or ''Jauersche Neiße''), both in Poland.

Towns and villages

Bad Muskau Bad Muskau (; formerly ''Muskau'', , , ) is a spa town in the historic Upper Lusatia region in eastern Germany, at the border with Poland. It is part of the Görlitz district in the State of Saxony. It is located on the banks of the Lusatian Ne ...

the Neisse flows through

Muskau Park Muskau Park (, officially: ''Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau''; ) is a landscape park in the Upper Lusatia region of Germany and Poland. It is the largest and one of the most famous English gardens in Central Europe, stretching along both sides ...

, a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Cities and towns on the river from source to mouth include: *

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; ) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass and jewelry production, espe ...

, Czech Republic * Vratislavice, Czech Republic *

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

, Czech Republic *

Chrastava Chrastava (; ) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,300 inhabitants. Administrative division Chrastava consists of eight municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): ...

, Czech Republic *

Hrádek nad Nisou Hrádek nad Nisou (; , ) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Hr� ...

, Czech Republic *

, Germany *

Bogatynia Bogatynia (; German language, German: ''Reichenau in Sachsen''; ; ) is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. As of December 2021, the town had a population of 16,460. Geography The municipal area forms Po ...

, Poland *

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

, Germany;

Zgorzelec Zgorzelec (, , , , Lower Sorbian: ''Zgórjelc'') is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland, with 30,374 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Zgorzelec County and of Gmina Zgorzelec (although it is not part of the territory ...

, Poland * Pieńsk, Poland *

, Germany;

Łęknica Łęknica (; , ) is a border town in western Poland, one of the two gminas of Żary County in Lubusz Voivodeship. Muskau Park (''Park Mużakowski''), a Polish-German World Heritage Site and Historic Monument of Poland, stretches north of the ...

, Poland *

Forst (Lausitz) Forst (Lausitz) ( German, ) or Baršć (Łužyca) (Lower Sorbian, ; Polish: Barść) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. It lies east of Cottbus, on the Lusatian Neisse river which is also the German- Polish border. It i ...

, Germany *

, Germany; Gubin, Poland

Tributaries

Right bank: * Lubsza Left bank: *

Mandau The Mandau () is a river in Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Saxony (Germany). It is a left tributary of the Lusatian Neisse, which it joins near Zittau. It originates from multiple springs north of the 580.6m (1902 feet AMSL) Wolf Mountain (Czec ...

References

External links

Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law
Peace Palace Library * Closed Germany–Poland bridges {{Authority control International rivers of Europe Rivers of Poland Rivers of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Rivers of Lubusz Voivodeship Rivers of the Liberec Region Rivers of Brandenburg Rivers of Saxony Rivers of the Czech Republic Geography of Lusatia Germany–Poland border Federal waterways in Germany Border rivers Rivers of Germany

Name

Towns and villages

Tributaries

See also

References

External links