Spree

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page is about the river in Germany; for other uses see Spree (disambiguation).

Spree
The Spree in Berlin's eastern harbour.
Origin	Upper Lusatia
Mouth	Havel
Basin countries	Germany
Length	±400 km
Basin area	10,105 km²

The Spree (Sorbish Sprowja) is a river in Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany. It is a tributary of the Havel river and ±400 km in length.

Its source is located in the Lusatian Hills (Lausitzer Bergland) on the Czech border. Further north the river enters the Spreewald, a large wetlands area, that is identical with the settlement areas of the Sorbs. In its final portion the river runs through the city centre of Berlin to join the Havel river in the western quarters of Berlin.

Residents and tourists commonly attend events at Badeschiff, a pool placed within the Spree.

Towns on the river's course include: Bautzen, Spremberg, Cottbus, Lübbenau, Lübben, Fürstenwalde and Berlin.

The river gave its name to several German districts:

[edit] Views of the Spree in central Berlin

Showing the Palace of the Republic and the Berliner Dom			Near Museum Island
	Spree river in Berlin-Treptow, downstream view	From the roof of the Reichstag	Map of Germany, highlighting Spree