The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in 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 ...
, a left
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
Elbe River. It runs southeast along the
Bohemian Forest and then north across
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, through
Český Krumlov,
České Budějovice
České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše.
České Budějovice is the largest ...
, and
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. It is commonly referred to as the "Czech national river".
Etymology
Both the Czech name ' and the German name ' are believed to originate from the
old Germanic words ' 'wild water' (compare
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
'). In the ' (872 AD) it is called '; from 1113 AD it is attested as '. In the ' (1125 AD) it is attested for the first time in its
Bohemian form, '.
Course
The Vltava originates by a confluence of two rivers, the
Teplá Vltava, which is longer, and the
Studená Vltava, originating in
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
. From a water management point of view, the Vltava and Teplá Vltava are one river with single numbering of
river kilometres. The Teplá Vltava originates in the territory of
Kvilda in the
Bohemian Forest at an elevation of , on the slope of the
Černá hora mountain. Together with the Teplá Vltava, the Vltava is long. Without the Teplá Vltava, the Vltava is long. The river flows north across Bohemia, through
Český Krumlov,
České Budějovice
České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše.
České Budějovice is the largest ...
and
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. It merges with the
Elbe River at
MÄ›lnÃk
MÄ›lnÃk (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zon ...
at an elevation of . The height difference from source to mouth is .
The Vltava River drains an area of in size, over half of Bohemia and about a third of the Czech Republic's entire territory. The waters ultimately drain to the North Sea.
As it runs through Prague, the river is crossed by 18
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
s (including the
Charles Bridge) and covers within the city. The water from the river was used for drinking until 1912 when the
Vinohrady Water Tower ceased pumping operations, and is now a place to view the city.
It is, however, the source of drinking water in case of failures of or repairs to the water supply from the Želivka and Kárané sources. The Podolà water processing plant is on standby for such cases with the long section of the river upstream of the Podolà plant under the stricter, second degree of pollution prevention regulations.
Along its course, the river receives many tributaries. The longest tributaries of the Vltava are:
From a strict hydrological point of view, it is the Elbe upstream of
MÄ›lnÃk
MÄ›lnÃk (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zon ...
that is a tributary of the Vltava rather than the other way around, owing to the Vltava's longer distance upstream ( against of the Elbe), greater discharge, and larger
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, ...
; however, since at the confluence point the Elbe flows through the main valley in a straight line, relative to which the Vltava flows at a right angle, the combined river downstream is identified as the Elbe.
Navigation

Between the confluence with the
Elbe at
MÄ›lnÃk
MÄ›lnÃk (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zon ...
and
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, the river is navigable by vessels of up to displacement. Most of the river upstream of Prague as far as
České Budějovice
České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše.
České Budějovice is the largest ...
is navigable by craft of up to displacement, but such vessels cannot pass the dams at
OrlÃk and
Slapy, and are also restricted by a low bridge at
Týn nad Vltavou. Work is planned to complete
boat lifts, planned for but never completed, at the two dams, and to rebuild the bridge, in order for them to navigate throughout. Much smaller craft, of up to displacement and under beam and air draft, can avoid these obstacles.
Upstream of České Budějovice, the river's section around
Český Krumlov (specifically from
Vyššà Brod to
Boršov nad Vltavou) is a very popular destination for
water tourism.
Dams
Nine hydroelectric dams have been built on the Vltava south of Prague to regulate the water flow and generate
hydroelectric power, starting in the 1930s. Beginning at the headwaters, these are:
Lipno,
Lipno II,
Hněvkovice,
Kořensko,
OrlÃk,
Kamýk,
Slapy,
Štěchovice
Štěchovice is a market town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants.
Administrative division
Štěchovice consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according ...
and
Vrané. The OrlÃk Reservoir supports the largest reservoir on the Vltava by volume, while the Lipno Reservoir retains the largest reservoir by area. The
Štěchovice Reservoir
Štěchovice Reservoir () is a reservoir on the Vltava River in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It was built from 1937 to 1945 as the second stage of the Vltava Cascade. The reservoir is named after the market town of Štěchov ...
is built over the site of
St John's Rapids.
The river also features numerous
weirs that help mitigate its flow from in elevation at its source near the German border to at its mouth in MÄ›lnÃk.
Floods
The Vltava basin has flooded multiple times throughout recorded history. Markers have been created along the banks denoting the water line for notable floods in 1784, 1845, 1890, 1940, and the highest of all in 2002.
In August of 2002, the basin was heavily affected by the
2002 European floods when the flooded river killed several people and caused massive damage and disruption along its length, including in Prague. It left the oldest bridge in Prague, Charles Bridge, seriously weakened, requiring years of work to repair.
Prague was again
flooded in 2013. Many locations within the Vltava and Elbe basins were left under water, including the
Prague Zoo, but metal barriers were erected along the banks of the Vltava to help protect the historic city centre.
References in culture and science
In the classic narrative of the
golem in
Jewish folklore, the mystic
Judah Loew ben Bezalel made the artificial giant "out of clay from the banks of the Vltava River and brought it to life through rituals and Hebrew incantations to defend the Prague ghetto from
antisemitic attacks and
pogroms."
One of the best-known works of
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
by a Czech composer is
Bedřich Smetana's ''
Vltava'', sometimes called ''The Moldau'' in English. It is from the
Romantic era of classical music and is a musical description of the river's course through Bohemia.
Smetana's symphonic poem also inspired a song of the same name by
Bertolt Brecht. An English version of it, by
John Willett, features the lyrics ''Deep down in the Moldau the pebbles are shifting'' / ''In Prague three dead emperors moulder away.''
The Vltava River has been used as the setting for a number of films, including the 1942 Czech drama ''
The Great Dam''. More recently, the Vltava has been used as a film location for such films as ''
Amadeus'' in 1984 and ''
Mission: Impossible'' in 1996.
A
minor planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
,
2123 Vltava, discovered in 1973 by
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
astronomer
Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, is named after the river.
See also
*
Moldavite
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Rivers of the Central Bohemian Region
Rivers of the South Bohemian Region
Rivers of Prague
Rivers of the Czech Republic