River
Vechte
167 km from source to mouth · Germany.
GermanyFlows into Zwarte Water
In numbers
Length
167km
Average flow
56m³/s
Basin
3,800km²
Drop
50m
from 48 m to -2 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
167 km of river and 20 stops on the way: 12 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 48 m
- 5 kmSchöppingen8,165 people
- 11 kmMetelen6,490 people
- 24 kmWettringen7,897 people
- 25 kmOfflumer See0.3 km²
- 33 kmSteinfurter Aatributary
- 39 kmSchüttorf11,465 people
- 60 kmNordhorn52,803 people
- 73 kmNeuenhaus10,732 people
- 73 kmDinkeltributary
- 75 kmpipeline bridge between Esche and Haftenkamp
- 91 kmEmlichheim6,820 people
- 100 kmGrenzaatributary
- 100 kmLeetributary
- 109 kmLoozensche Linie
- 110 kmBaalder3,470 people
- 114 kmHardenberg57,909 people
- 137 kmOmmen11,820 people
- 152 kmDalfsen26,575 people
- 160 kmBerkum3,720 people
- 162 kmBomhofplas0.5 km²
- 167 kmZwarte Waterat -2 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Germany and the Netherlands
At the mouth it carries 56 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 45 seconds. It drops from 48 m to -2 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 3,800 km², about the size of CV. 1.0 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to January. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- HardenbergLargest city on its banks · 57,909 people
- Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 60 km from the cityCar hire at GRQ airport (Groningen)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water36 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe3 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Vechte, month by month
Highest water: from December to January
Best months to visit: from June to September.
From about 27 m³/s in the lowest month to 91 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
Vechte: the basin in numbers
3,996 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 1.0millionpeople live in the basin
- 260/km²people per km²
- 29maverage altitude of the basin
- 781mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 9.1°Caverage air temperature
- 11%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 7% Forest
- 37% Cropland
- 24% Pasture
- 14% 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
Vechte: what you find on the way
- 168WeirsRohrbachs Stau, Kornmühle, Ölmühle and 165 more
- 31LocksVerbindungsschleuse, Koppelschleuse, Schleuse 2 and 28 more
- 1Rapids
- 2Canoe put-ins
- 9Boat rampsTrailerhelling Overijsselsevecht Zwolle and 8 more
- 13Ferry piersKurbelfähre, de Loozensche Linie, Loozensche Linie and 10 more
- 11MarinasSegelclub Ochtrup Wettringen - SCOW, Kotting-Anleger, Klukkert-Hafen and 8 more
- 3River beachesShopware Beach, Hessumse strand, Schiphorst
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.6 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Vechte 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
15mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Offlumer Seekm 230.3km²
- Bomhofplaskm 1500.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (15)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Westerberg8.7 km away189m
- Coesfelder Berg9.3 km away
- Schöppinger Berg8.9 km away
- Rams-Berg10 km away90m
- Zippenberg10 km away
- Bom-Berg7.6 km away
- Hohe Berg12 km away
- Nottulner Berg9.6 km away
7 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
Vechte in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (5)
Also: Dinkel, Regge, Grenzaa, Steinfurter Aa, Lee
Nearby
Rivers nearby
The Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/s149 km awayMeuseThe Netherlands950 km230 m³/s136 km awayEmsGermany371 km80 m³/s115 km awayLippeGermany255 km240 m³/s108 km awayRuhrGermany217 km79 m³/s131 km awayDommel
Belgium80 km10 m³/s111 km awayWeserGermany451 km330 m³/s181 km awayRurThe Netherlands164 km25 m³/s148 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q168904) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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