River
Black Elster
179 km from source to mouth · Germany.
GermanyFlows into Elbe
In numbers
Length
179km
Average flow
350m³/s
Basin
5,705km²
Drop
172m
from 239 m to 67 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
179 km of river and 36 stops on the way: 34 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmElstraat 239 m
- 0 kmRauschwitz297 people
- 0 kmKindisch211 people
- 0 kmElstra2,657 people
- 0 kmGroßharthau3,415 people
- 7 kmStolpen6,284 people
- 13 kmDürrröhrsdorf4,829 people
- 17 kmLohmen3,298 people
- 26 kmPirna40,322 people
- 28 kmDohna6,140 people
- 28 kmKies- und Badesee Birkwitz0.4 km²
- 29 kmHeidenau16,686 people
- 32 kmPillnitz3,392 people
- 35 kmLeuben38,353 people
- 39 kmLoschwitz20,696 people
- 40 kmBlasewitz24,863 people
- 42 kmAlbertstadt3,269 people
- 43 kmÄußere Neustadt18,098 people
- 45 kmDresden564,904 people
- 48 kmMickten13,389 people
- 49 kmFriedrichstadt9,887 people
- 50 kmLöbtau21,205 people
- 50 kmGorbitz21,599 people
- 54 kmRadebeul32,979 people
- 62 kmCoswig22,304 people
- 70 kmMeissen28,492 people
- 88 kmNünchritz6,846 people
- 91 kmZeithain5,839 people
- 94 kmRiesa29,373 people
- 102 kmStrehla4,231 people
- 113 kmMühlberg4,758 people
- 116 kmKieswerk Liebersee, Belgern-Schildau - Belgern0.5 km²
- 119 kmUebigau-Wahrenbrück4,847 people
- 120 kmFalkenberg/Elster6,036 people
- 124 kmBelgern5,148 people
- 137 kmTorgau18,746 people
- 154 kmDommitzsch3,163 people
- 179 kmElbeat 67 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Germany
At the mouth it carries 347 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 7.2 seconds. It drops from 239 m to 67 m, 1.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 5,705 km², about the size of BN. 7.4 million people live in it. Highest water: February, April and from July to August. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (21% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- DresdenLargest city on its banks · 564,904 people
- Dresden Airport (DRS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 10 km from the cityCar hire at DRS airport (Dresden)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water101 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Black Elster, month by month
Highest water: February, April and from July to August
Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 180 m³/s in the lowest month to 740 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Black Elster: the basin in numbers
55,830 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 7.4millionpeople live in the basin
- 133/km²people per km²
- 451maverage altitude of the basin
- 661mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 7.3°Caverage air temperature
- 19%protected areas
- 0.6%covered by lakes
- 2.3km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 40% Forest
- 37% Cropland
- 12% Pasture
- 6% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Black Elster: what you find on the way
- 54WeirsBrettmühlenwehr, Siel Großtreben 1 and 52 more
- 1Locks
- 6Waterfalls
- 40Boat rampsSlipway Pirna, Slipanlage des Segelclub Dresden-Wachwitz e.V., Bootsrampe/Slip Anlage Dresden Pieschen and 37 more
- 37Ferry piersPirna-Copitz, Pirna, Personenschiffahrt Oberelbe and 34 more
- 21MarinasSteg SV Pirna, Dresdner Segel-Verein, Bootssteg des Segelclub Dresden-Wachwitz e. V. and 18 more
- 9River beachesFKK, FKK- und Textilstrand, Hundestrand and 6 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Black Elster in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
80mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Kies- und Badesee Birkwitzkm 310.4km²
- Kieswerk Liebersee, Belgern-Schildau - Belgernkm 1280.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (80)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Hochstein2.1 km away449m
- Schwedenstein6.1 km away420m
- Hoher Hahn12 km away445m
- Keulenberg14 km away413m
- Klosterberg9.4 km away394m
- Rüdenberg11 km away444m
- Rückenberg15 km away479m
- Butterberg4.4 km away384m
72 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Black Elster in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (12)
Also: Kleine Elster, Pulsnitz, Große Röder, Hoyerswerdaer Schwarzwasser, Klosterwasser, Ruhlander Schwarzwasser, Pößnitz, Jauer, Schweinitzer Fließ, Schleichgraben, Schwosdorfer Wasser, Kremitz
CzechiaNearby
Rivers nearby
Germany413 km120 m³/s68 km awayMuldeGermany147 km65 m³/s42 km awaySpreeGermany382 km36 m³/s83 km awayWeisse ElsterGermany257 km100 m³/s76 km awayHavelGermany325 km89 m³/s131 km awayWarta
Poland808 km200 m³/s146 km awayLusatian NysaGermany254 km30 m³/s131 km awayUnstrutGermany192 km4.6 m³/s102 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q149182) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
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