The Sebnitz (; ) is the left, larger headstream of the Lachsbach and runs through both 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 ...

as well as the German state of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. The upper section in the Czech Republic is known as ''Vilémovský potok'' in Czech and ''Wölmsdorfer Bach'' in German.

Geography

The Sebnitz rises in the Šluknov Hook in a broad valley between the 608-metre-high Hrazený (''Pirsken'') and the 593-metre-high Plešný (''Plissenberg''), 2 kilometres northwest of the village of Brtníky (''Zeidler''). The stream flows in a northwesterly direction to

Velký Šenov Velký Šenov () is a town in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Velký Šenov consists of six municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2 ...

(''Groß Schönau''), where it swings southwest and follows the valley of Šenov stream (), passing between Vilémov () and Mikulášovice. Below these villages the ''Wölmsdorfer Bach'' between the hills of Spálený vrch (''Hillebrand'', 443 m) and the ''Wolfstein'' (392.9 m) near Dolina (''Franzthal'') the stream forms the border between the Czech Republic and the tip of the Sebnitz Forest that throws a salient into Bohemian territory. From this section it is known as the Sebnitz or Sebnitzbach. After passing the border crossing of Sebnitz- Dolní Poustevna it continues for several hundred metres along the border before flowing through the town of Sebnitz, named after it, as well as the picturesque Sebnitz valley before uniting with the Polenz after above Porschdorf to form the Lachsbach. With an average discharge of around the Sebnitz can actually be considered the upper section of the Lachsbach, because the Polenz carries less water (discharge: ~{{cvt, 1.1, m3/s). The lower part of the Sebnitz valley is largely known for being the route of the Sebnitz Valley Railway with its 7 tunnels.

Tributaries

The most important tributaries of the Sebnitz are the: *Šenovský potok (''Schönauer Bach''), Velký Šenov *Liščí potok (''Hainsbach''), unterhalb Velký Šenov *Mikulášovičky potok (''Nixdorfer Bach''), Vilémov *Luční potok (''Heimichbach''), Dolní Poustevna *Finkenbach, Hofhainersdorf *Schönbach, Amtshainersdorf *Fischbach, below the Ulbersdorf Mill * Schwarzbach, by the Buttermilch Mill *Kohlichtgraben, by the Kohl Mill

Fauna

Since 1995 there has been a cross-border project, the ''Elbe Lachs'', which aims to reintroduce

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

to the Elbe and several of its tributaries, including the Sebnitz. This project has been successful and has resulted in salmon living in the Sebnitz again.

References

Rivers of Saxony Rivers of the Ústí nad Labem Region Bodies of water of Saxon Switzerland Sebnitz Rivers of Germany International rivers of Europe Border rivers Czech Republic–Germany border

Geography

Tributaries

Fauna

See also

References