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River

Saale

413 km from source to mouth · Germany.

GermanyGermanyFlows into Elbe5th longest in Germany

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthHalle (Saale)Jena
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

413km

Average flow

120m³/s

Basin

24,100km²

Drop

454m

from 499 m to 45 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

413 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 49 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

499 m45 m
Fichtel Mountainsat 499 m0 km
Bleiloch Reservoir6.8 km²74 km
Wisentatributary82 km
Saalfeld28,474 people127 km
Rudolstadt24,560 people137 km
Jena109,353 people182 km
Naumburg31,617 people230 km
Merseburg34,491 people275 km
Halle (Saale)226,186 people296 km
Bernburg30,572 people361 km
Elbeat 45 m413 km
0100200300413 km
  1. 0 kmFichtel Mountainsat 499 m
  2. 0 kmZell im Fichtelgebirge1,809 people
  3. 0 kmSparneck1,499 people
  4. 0 kmWeißdorf1,209 people
  5. 6 kmFörmitztalsperre0.9 km²
  6. 10 kmSchwarzenbach an der Saale6,878 people
  7. 16 kmOberkotzau5,249 people
  8. 18 kmUntreusee0.4 km²
  9. 19 kmDöhlau3,741 people
  10. 23 kmHof46,624 people
  11. 41 kmHirschberg2,047 people
  12. 55 kmBlankenstein705 people
  13. 58 kmHarra828 people
  14. 74 kmBleiloch Reservoir6.8 km²
  15. 74 kmBleiloch Dam
  16. 80 kmBurgk88 people
  17. 82 kmWisentatributary
  18. 89 kmZiegenrück630 people
  19. 110 kmHohenwarte Lake5.3 km²
  20. 111 kmHohenwarte160 people
  21. 115 kmEichicht Reservoir0.4 km²
  22. 118 kmKaulsdorf2,332 people
  23. 127 kmSaalfeld28,474 people
  24. 133 kmSchwarzatributary
  25. 137 kmRudolstadt24,560 people
  26. 158 kmOrlamünde1,061 people
  27. 162 kmGroßeutersdorf261 people
  28. 164 kmKahla6,809 people
  29. 167 kmGroßpürschütz373 people
  30. 169 kmSchöps290 people
  31. 171 kmRothenstein1,130 people
  32. 178 kmLobeda23,508 people
  33. 180 kmRodatributary
  34. 182 kmJena109,353 people
  35. 193 kmGleisetributary
  36. 200 kmWichmar225 people
  37. 205 kmCamburg2,846 people
  38. 213 kmGroßheringen628 people
  39. 213 kmIlmtributary
  40. 221 kmBad Kösen5,522 people
  41. 230 kmNaumburg31,617 people
  42. 231 kmUnstruttributary
  43. 237 kmSchönburg953 people
  44. 249 kmWeißenfels37,308 people
  45. 251 kmBurgwerben1,062 people
  46. 255 kmDehlitz536 people
  47. 265 kmBad Dürrenberg11,458 people
  48. 268 kmEllerbachtributary
  49. 270 kmLeuna14,013 people
  50. 275 kmWallendorfer See3.0 km²
  51. 275 kmMerseburg34,491 people
  52. 280 kmSchkopau10,646 people
  53. 284 kmRattmannsdorfer See0.9 km²
  54. 290 kmWeisse Elstertributary
  55. 296 kmHalle (Saale)226,186 people
  56. 296 kmHalle-Neustadt44,515 people
  57. 303 kmHafen Halle
  58. 308 kmBrachwitz991 people
  59. 316 kmDöblitz162 people
  60. 321 kmWettin2,355 people
  61. 333 kmRothenburg796 people
  62. 335 kmKönnern7,804 people
  63. 343 kmAlsleben2,518 people
  64. 351 kmPlötzkau1,165 people
  65. 356 kmGröna588 people
  66. 358 kmWippertributary
  67. 361 kmBernburg30,572 people
  68. 380 kmCalbe7,933 people
  69. 388 kmBodetributary
  70. 413 kmElbeat 45 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Germany

At the mouth it carries 115 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 22 seconds. It drops from 499 m to 45 m, 1.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 24,100 km², about the size of DJ. 13.6 million people live in it. Highest water: February, April and from July to August. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (18% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Halle (Saale)Largest city on its banks · 226,186 people
  • Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 20 km from the cityCar hire at LEJ airport (Schkeuditz)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water163 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe36 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Saale, month by month

Highest water: February, April and from July to August

Best months to visit: from May to September.

290
0°37 mmJan
1,100
0°31 mmFeb
970
4°35 mmMar
1,200
8°43 mmApr
750
13°54 mmMay
960
16°70 mmJun
1,000
18°63 mmJul
1,000
17°60 mmAug
750
14°43 mmSep
700
9°41 mmOct
690
4°36 mmNov
860
1°38 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 290 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,200 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

Car hire at LEJ airport (Schkeuditz)Discover CarsSee 

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

Saale: the basin in numbers

93,738 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 18% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 13.6millionpeople live in the basin
  • 146/km²people per km²
  • 381maverage altitude of the basin
  • 639mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 7.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 23%protected areas
  • 0.6%covered by lakes
  • 3.3km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 32% Forest
  • 40% Cropland
  • 11% Pasture
  • 7% 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

Saale: what you find on the way

  • 23DamsBleilochtalsperre, Talsperre Walsburg, Talsperre Wisenta and 20 more
  • 110WeirsWehr am Saaledurchstich, Lamitzmühlwehr, Steinmühlenwehr and 107 more
  • 26LocksSchleuse Beuditz, Schleuse Brückenmühle, Schleuse Bad Dürrenberg and 23 more
  • 5WaterfallsSmall Waterfall Röderbach and 4 more
  • 36Canoe put-insKanueinsatzstelle, Großpürschütz, Wasserkraftanlage Dorndorf and 33 more
  • 86Boat rampsAnlegestelle Pottiga-Blumenaumühle, Bootsanleger Grüne Band Brücke, Anlegestelle Blankenberg- Schmidtsleite and 83 more
  • 35Ferry piersHarra, Saaldorf, Heinrichstein and 32 more
  • 22MarinasBootsverleih Saalburg, Segelverein Saalburg e.V., Seesportverein Rudolstadt 1990 and 19 more
  • 20Boat rentalsTretbootverleih am Untreusee, NaturFreunde Vereinsheim Hof, Ruderbootverleih and 17 more
  • 6River beachesZauchenwiese, Fundgrube, Karlsbad and 3 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Saale 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.

  • 7lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 67mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (7)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Förmitztalsperrekm 50.9km²
  2. Untreuseekm 160.4km²
  3. Bleiloch Reservoirkm 646.8km²
  4. Hohenwarte Lakekm 955.3km²
  5. Eichicht Reservoirkm 990.4km²
  6. Wallendorfer Seekm 2373.0km²
  7. Rattmannsdorfer Seekm 2450.9km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (67)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Schneeberg7.8 km away · prominence 484 m1,051m
  2. Ochsenkopf10 km away · prominence 253 m1,024m
  3. Platte12 km away885m
  4. Großer Waldstein2.0 km away877m
  5. Rudolfstein6.3 km away866m
  6. Epprechtstein6.8 km away797m
  7. Haberstein8.3 km away924m
  8. Bergkopf4.4 km away857m

59 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Saale: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Saale: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth42 km across

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

Saale in pictures

Mündung Unstrut in Saale Luftaufnahme
RealPixelStreet · CC BY-SA 4.0
20040429180DR Bad Kösen (Naumburg) Saalebrücke
Jörg Blobelt · CC BY-SA 4.0
20040429720MDR Saaleck (Bad Kösen (Naumburg)) Die Rudelsburg
Jörg Blobelt · CC BY-SA 4.0
Luftaufnahme Flussmündung Unstrut Saale
RealPixelStreet · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (30)

Weisse ElsterGermanyGermany257 km100 m³/sjoins at km 250UnstrutGermanyGermany192 km4.6 m³/sjoins at km 199

Also: Bode, Ilm, Schwarza, Wipper, Orla, Selbitz, Tannbach, Roda, Loquitz, Salza, Schwesnitz, Schlenze, Wisenta, Wethau, Südliche Regnitz, Gönnerbach, Luppe, Zottelbach, Ellerbach, Gleise, Nördliche Regnitz, Förmitz, Rippach, Lohme

In the same basin

VltavaCzechiaCzechia430 km150 m³/sSpreeGermanyGermany382 km36 m³/sHavelGermanyGermany325 km89 m³/sOhřeCzechiaCzechia247 km38 m³/sMuldeGermanyGermany147 km65 m³/sOtavaCzechiaCzechia112 km26 m³/sSázavaCzechiaCzechia226 km25 m³/sEldeGermanyGermany208 km11 m³/sBlack ElsterGermanyGermany179 km350 m³/sBerounkaCzechiaCzechia139 km150 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

MuldeGermanyGermany147 km65 m³/s27 km awayWeisse ElsterGermanyGermany257 km100 m³/s62 km awayHavelGermanyGermany325 km89 m³/s97 km awaySpreeGermanyGermany382 km36 m³/s108 km awayBlack ElsterGermanyGermany179 km350 m³/s68 km awayUnstrutGermanyGermany192 km4.6 m³/s92 km awayGeraGermanyGermany85 km54 m³/s117 km awayEldeGermanyGermany208 km11 m³/s131 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q1678) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, 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?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit