Soeste 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 ...

in the Cloppenburg district in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, a tributary of the Ems. The Soeste forms from two source brooks in Hesselnfeld and Egterholz, two small settlements in the Emstek municipality. It flows northwest through

Cloppenburg Cloppenburg (; nds, Cloppenborg; stq, Kloppenbuurich) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of Cloppenburg District and part of Oldenburg Münsterland. It lies 38 km south-south-west of Oldenburg in the Weser-Ems region between Bre ...

, where its water flow is already sufficient for

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the productio ...

s to be operated im former times. The Soeste flows into a dam at Thülsfelde ('), which was built in the 1920s. From there it flows through the towns

Friesoythe Friesoythe, in Saterland Frisian language Ait or Äit, is a town in the district of Cloppenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, on the river Soeste, northwest of Cloppenburg, and southwest of Oldenburg. History In 1227, Count Otto von Tecklenburg ...

and Barßel. West of the latter town, the Soeste flows into the Jümme, which drains into the Ems.

See also