Pleiße

The Pleiße (German pronunciation: [ˈplaɪsə] ^ⓘ) is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany. It flows from south to north into the White Elster in Leipzig. Originally, its natural length was 115 km (71 mi); however, south of Leipzig, it has been straightened, which shortened it to around 90 km (56 mi).

Pleiße
The Pleiße in Markkleeberg, near Leipzig
Location
Country	Germany
States	Saxony and Thuringia
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Drei-Linden-Brunnen (formerly Alboldsbrunnen) in Ebersbrunn near Zwickau
• coordinates	50°38′51″N 12°25′31″E
• elevation	443 m
Mouth
• location	White Elster (Elster flood plain) in Leipzig
• coordinates	51°19′21″N 12°21′27″E
• elevation	103 m
Length	90 km (56 mi)
Basin size	1,876 km2 (724 sq mi)
Basin features
Progression	White Elster→ Saale→ Elbe→ North Sea
Landmarks	Cities: Leipzig Large towns: Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, Markkleeberg Small towns: Gößnitz, Regis-Breitingen, Rötha, Böhlen
Tributaries
• left	Koberbach, Sprotte
• right	Paradiesbach, Wyhra, Gösel
Inland ports	none
Navigable	no

The river is well accessible via the Pleiße cycle path.^[1]

The name Pleiße is of old Sorbian origin and means: "the swamp-forming water".^[2] It gave its name to the Pleissnerland (Plisni) on its lower reaches, which was important in the Middle Ages.

Course

The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau in Lichtentanne, locality Ebersbrunn. The Saxon towns of Werdau and Crimmitschau are followed by the Thuringian communities of Ponitz, Gößnitz, Nobitz and Altenburg. Behind Windischleuba, the Windischleuba dam regulates the flow to Fockendorf and Treben. After Haselbach, which is still part of the municipial association (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) Pleißenaue in Thuringia, follow the Saxon communities of Regis-Breitingen, Neukieritzsch, Rötha, Böhlen, Markkleeberg, before the Pleiße arrives at Leipzig. It flows into the White Elster via the Pleiße flood channel and the Elster flood channel.

See also: Bodies of water in Leipzig § Pleiße

Water quality

In the 20th century, the discharge of waste products from the carbochemical industry in the south of Leipzig led to discoloration, stench, heavy foaming and the death of all life in the lower reaches of the river. This made the Pleiße a synonym for a polluted river during the time of East Germany and earned it the names "Communists' Puddle" and "Rio Phenole".^[3] On 5 June 1988, a "Pleiße Memorial March" (Pleiße-Gedenkmarsch) of oppositional environmental groups with 120 to 140 people took place in Leipzig, which the Stasi tried in vain to prevent.^[4]

However, after the industry that caused it was shut down in the 1990s, the water quality improved significantly, so that numerous species of fish can now be found again. In 2016, there is still a slight (non-toxic) brown discoloration^[5] due to iron compounds, especially pyrite, from the water regime of the mostly closed lignite mining.

Music and poetry

Johann Sebastian Bach paid tribute to the river in two works. One, the cantata Schleicht, spielende Wellen, BWV 206 he composed based on the poem by an unknown poet on the occasion of the birthday of August III who was Saxon Elector and also King of Poland. In a typically baroque panegyric, a speech of praise and celebration, the rivers Vistula, Elbe, Pleiße and Danube pay homage to the prince and king. The Danube and Elbe quarrel over who may claim the "most august" ruler, the "double ruling sun" (his wife was the Austrian princess Maria Josepha). The little nymph Pleiße, however, triumphs in the war of words over the "mossy heads of strong streams", and the four rivers join in a harmonious song of praise.^[6][7]

In the second Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten, BWV 207a, presumably performed in 1735 on the prince's name day, the second movement is dedicated to her, playing recitative Die stille Pleiße.

Die stille Pleiße spielt
Mit ihren kleinen Wellen ... The quiet Pleiße plays
With her little waves ...

— Anonymous, before 1735^[8]

In 1736 a collection of songs entitled Singende Muse an der Pleiße was published in Leipzig.^[9] Its author, Sperontes, had compiled simple melodies and underscored them with his own texts. The collection was very popular and went through several editions.

The course in pictures

• 
  Pleiße source
• 
  Pedestrian bridge in Langenhessen / Werdau
• 
  In Neukirchen before the dyke was built in 2005
• 
  At the gauge in Neukirchen
• 
  Level measuring station in Neukirchen
• 
  Pleiße viaduct in Frankenhausen (locality of Crimmitschau)
• 
  Near Gössnitz
• 
  Cascade in Deutzen
• 
  Weir at Rötha
• 
  In front of the Rötha reservoir
• 
  Weir at Gaulis, locality of Böhlen
• 
  At Großdeuben, locality of Markkleeberg
• 
  At Gaschwitz, locality of Markkleeberg
• 
  In the Leipzig Riverside Forest
• 
  Mouth of the Elster raft ditch in Leipzig
• 
  Connewitz weir, behind it the Pleiße flood channel
• 
  Mouth of the Pleiße flood channel (left) into the Elster flood channel in Leipzig

See also

• Kleine Pleiße
• List of rivers of Saxony
• List of rivers of Thuringia
• Pleissenburg