Leine

This article is about the tributary of the Aller. For other uses, including other rivers with the same name, see Leine (disambiguation).

Leine
The Leine near Sarstedt-Ruthe
Course of the Leine
Location
Country	Germany
States	Thuringia and Lower Saxony
Reference no.	DE: 488
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	In Leinefelde in the Eichsfeld
• elevation	340 m above sea level (NN)
Mouth
• location	Near Schwarmstedt into the Aller at km 52.26
• coordinates	52°43′22″N 9°35′38″E
• elevation	25 m above sea level (NN)
Length	281 km (175 mi)
Basin size	6,517 km2 (2,516 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	at Göttingen gauge
• average	5.3 m3/s (190 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Greene
• average	32.0 m3/s (1,130 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Herrenhausen
• average	52.3 m3/s (1,850 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Schwarmstedt
• average	61.7 m3/s (2,180 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Aller→ Weser→ North Sea
Landmarks	Cities: Göttingen, Hanover Large towns: Leinefelde, Northeim, Einbeck, Freden, Alfeld, Laatzen, Seelze, Garbsen, Neustadt am Rübenberge Small towns: Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Gronau, Elze, Pattensen Villages: Freden, Burgstemmen, Bordenau, Bothmer
Tributaries
• left	Espolde, Ilme, Saale, Haller, Westaue
• right	Garte, Rhume, Aue, Gande, Innerste, Auter

The Leine (German: [ˈlaɪnə] ^ⓘ; Old Saxon Lagina) is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left-bank tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is 281 km (175 mi) long.

Leine near Nordstemmen

The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About 40 km (25 mi) downriver, the river enters Lower Saxony and runs northwards.

Important towns along its course, from upstream to downstream, are Göttingen, Einbeck, Freden, Alfeld, and Gronau, before the river enters Hanover, the largest city on its banks. Downstream some 40 km (25 mi) north of Hanover, near Schwarmstedt, the river joins the Aller and reaches the North Sea via the Weser. Its northern (lower) reaches are only navigable today by the smallest commercial carriers, though in the past, it served as an important pre-railway barge transport artery as far upriver as Göttingen.

The river is somewhat polluted by industry, so the water is not used for drinking, but the pollution has never been severe enough to prevent fish from living in it. Like many West German rivers since the 1960s, it has enjoyed increasingly cleaner waters since the implementation of environmental controls. Sport fishing is enjoyed from small boats and along the banks, although yields are normally low.

At least one point of the river (Göttingen) is partially diverted into a canal that runs more or less parallel to the river.

Serial killer Fritz Haarmann disposed of most of his victims' remains in the Leine river.

In fiction

In his 1986 bestseller Red Storm Rising, author Tom Clancy uses the Leine as a major obstacle to the Soviet Union's Red Army drive to the Rhine and the North Sea ports of the Netherlands and Belgium through West Germany. In reality, the river is a rather minor one, and, for most of its length, is quite narrow with a small flow volume. As such, it would not provide a significant barrier to an advancing army.

See also

• List of rivers of Thuringia
• List of rivers of Lower Saxony

Further reading

• Uwe Schmida: Die Leine - Eine fotografische Reise. ISBN 3-00-020567-5
• Gerd Lüttig: Neue Ergebnisse quartärgeologischer Forschung im Raume Alfeld-Hameln-Elze. In: Geologisches Jahrbuch vol. 77, page 337–390. Hannover, June 1960.

External links

• Media related to Leine at Wikimedia Commons
• Bundesamt für Naturschutz: Landschaftssteckbrief "Leine-Ilme-Senke"^{[link removed]}
• Bundesamt für Naturschutz: Landschaftssteckbrief "Leine-Niederung"^{[link removed]}