The Eder () is a major river in Germany that begins in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia and passes into Hesse, where it empties into the River Fulda.

History The river was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus. In his Annals,Tacitus, The Annals 1.56 he describes the Roman campaign against the Chatti under the command of Germanicus in 15 AD. Forty-five thousand soldiers of the Roman army destroyed the major centre of the Chatti, Mattium, directly after they crossed the Adrana (Eder).

In the Middle Ages, the river was known by the names Aderna, Adarna and Adrina.

On the banks of the Eder, in the town of Schwarzenau, near Bad Berleburg, a religious (Anabaptist) group, the Schwarzenau Brethren, was founded in August 1708. Eight adults were completely baptised thrice in the Eder. This group emigrated to America where its members are still to be found.

As late as the end of the 19th century, the river was also known in local dialect as Edder. For instance, in Felsberg-Gensungen, the pharmacy is known as the Edder-Apotheke.

Gold in the Eder Sediments of the Eder contain a proportion of gold. The majority of this gold is said to originate from Eisenberg (Korbach), which contains one of the largest reserves of gold in Middle Europe. Gold is eroded out of the Eisenberg, for example, by the Itter stream, which, since the Edersee dam was built, flows into the Edersee lake.

Gold panning in the Eder has been known since 1308. The main historical area for panning the gold is between Affoldern and Fritzlar. In the 14th century, the Teutonic Order panned gold out of the Eder sediments near Obermöllrich. In the 18th century, even ducats were minted from Eder gold; they are collector's items today.

Up to the 1970s, school children from Duisburg, who stayed at a nearby holiday camp, together with a teacher from Marienhagen, part of the town of Vöhl, went panning for gold in the sediments of the River Itter. Panning for gold along the Eder is still popular.

Course The river rises from the Ederkopf mountain in the Rothaar mountain range in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, near the springs of the Lahn and Sieg rivers. However, unlike the Lahn and Sieg, which are both tributaries of the Rhine, the Eder flows east and north, into the river Fulda at Edermünde, south of Kassel. The Fulda then converges with the Werra River at Hann. Münden to form the Weser River, which flows into the North Sea.

Edersee Dam

The Edersee Dam is situated below the town of Waldeck. The rock-and-concrete dam is high and long. It was completed in 1914; in 2014 its 100th birthday was celebrated. It forms the Edersee lake, which is long and contains 200 million cubic metres of water. This is used to generate hydroelectricity and regulate water levels for shipping on the Weser river.

At low water in late summer, and during dry years, the remnants of three villages (Asel, Bringhausen, and Berich) and a bridge across the original riverbed, which was submerged when the lake was filled in 1914, can be seen. Descendants of those buried there go to visit the graves of their ancestors.

Destruction of the Eder dam

On the night of the 17 May 1943, Avro Lancaster bombers of the RAF 617 Squadron used specially developed bouncing bombs (codename: Upkeep) that were engineered by Barnes Wallis. They were used to destroy the Möhne and Eder dams, as part of Operation Chastise. The dam was repaired and in use again before the end of the year. The story of the raid was documented by the 1955 film called The Dam Busters.

Tributaries of the Eder

The most important tributaries of the Eder are (listed first in Eder-kilometres from source to the Fulda):

Name orographic order length(km) Drainage basin(km2) discharge(discharge rate; l/s) mouth(Eder-kilometres) mouth elevation(m ü. NHN) German river numbering system Wähbach right 6.0 6.717 6.9 514 428–112 Benfe right 11.2 19.446 11.9 479 428–114 Elberndorfer Bach left 9.0 10.733 13.6 470 428–118 Röspe left 8.6 37.013 17.7 450 428–12 Kappel left 7.3 27.443 21.8 431 428–132 Preisdorf right 6.0 8.506 14.2 425 428–1334 Trüfte left 9.7 16.576 27.1 413 428–134 Altmühlbach right 5.3 14.459 27.9 410 428–136 Rinther Bach right 6.1 9.12 30.3 406 428–138 Odeborn left 21.2 85.064 31.3 403 428–14 Grundbach rechts 5.1 7.507 33.1 399 428–152 Lützelsbach left 5.6 6.437 34.8 395 428–154 Leisebach right 4.6 12.375 38.7 380 428–156 Arfe left 5.4 5.401 39.6 377 428–158 Lindenhöferbach right 4.1 12.034 189.8 48.9 349 428–1596 Elsoff left 19.0 48.925 948.1 50.0 345 428–16 Eifaer Bach right 4.5 7.211 103.3 54.2 342 428–172 Riedgraben left 7.6 11.319 173.4 69.0 305 428–174 Elbrighäuser Bach left 10.8 17.768 321.3 70.5 301 428–176 Nitzelbach left 10.6 8.397 132.4 73.7 295 428–178 Linspherbach left 18.3 33.107 565.8 77.0 286 428–18 Hainerbach left 7.3 10.132 103.7 80.4 280 428–192 Goldbach left 9.5 13.838 155.8 84.5 273 428–1952 Nemphe right 14.2 38.383 293.5 86.9 270 428–198 Nuhne left 36.9 156.747 2661.6 89.3 267 428–2 Lengelbach right 11.4 25.848 209.9 96.3 255 428–32 Orke left 38.2 278.867 3844.5 97.5 254 428–4 Lorfe right 11.8 24.281 245.7 101.4 250 428–512 Itter* left 11.6 76.131 771.3 105.8 247 428–531 Aselbach* left 6.6 18.103 135.4 112.4 246 428–533 Banferbach* right 7.2 16.383 213.9 115.2 245 428–535 Werbe* left 13.2 42.263 322.6 122.2 245 428–537 Reiherbach* left 7.4 27.322 188.9 122.3 245 428–538 Netze left 12.9 29.04 169.5 134.0 194 428–554 Wesebach right 25.3 63.433 618.2 135.7 191 428–56 Wilde right 17.1 51.868 471.4 140.6 183 428–58 Elbe left 33.7 123.47 731.3 146.2 174 428–6 Schwalm right 97.1 1298.783 9044.5 159.5 158 428–8 Ems left 34.1 146.214 753.3 164.9 151 428–92 Pilgerbach left 8.8 25.593 102.2 175.5 145 428–98

rivers that used to flow to the Eder, but now flow in to the Edersee lake.

References