Eider River

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Eider
River
Eider river near Tönning
Country	Germany
State	Schleswig-Holstein

Tributaries
- right	Treene, Sorge
Cities	Bordesholm, Kiel, Rendsburg, Friedrichstadt, Tönning


Source	Klaster Teich
- location	Wattenbek
Mouth	North Sea
- location	Tönning

Length	188 km (117 mi)
Discharge
- average	6.5 m³/s (230 cu ft/s)

The Eider (German: Eider; Danish: Ejderen; Latin: Egdor or Egdore) is the longest river of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The river starts near Bordesholm and reaches the southwestern outskirts of Kiel on the shores of the Baltic Sea, but flows to the west, ending in the North Sea. The middle part of the Eider was appropriated for use as part of the Kiel Canal.^[1]

In the Early Middle Ages the river is believed to have been the border between the related abutting germanic tribes the Jutes and the Angles who during this period, along with the neighboring Saxons crossed the North Sea from this region and settled themselves in England. During the High Middle Ages the Eider was the border between the Saxons and the Danes, as reported by Adam of Bremen in 1076. For centuries it divided Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire.^[2] Today it is the border between Schleswig and Holstein, the northern and southern parts, respectively, of the modern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

The Eider flows through the following towns: Bordesholm, Kiel, Rendsburg, Friedrichstadt and Tönning. Near Tönning it flows into the North Sea. The estuary has tidal flats and brackish water. The mouth of the river is crossed by a closeable storm surge barrier.

The Eider as borderline between the Danes, Saxons and Frisians

[edit] References

^ The History of the City of Kiel, 1243 - 1945. British Kiel Yacht Club. Retrieved on 2006-03-16.
^ Lawson, M.K. (1993). Cnut, The Danes in England in the Early Eleventh Century. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-05969-0.