Elbe

These maps od Germany's principal River seems to be of interest to some of you

Here is the Elbe (Labe) river that comes down from the Czech Republic.

Officially the total length of the River is 1113km, though if one included the Vltava (Moldau) it would add ~140km.

The river and its tributaries do not only connect a number of important trading centres of the Middle Ages like Prague, Leipzig, Halle, Erfurt and Berlin to the main port in Hamburg.

It also linked up to the Hellweg

And finally the other crucial connection is from Lübeck to the Elbe.

Lübeck thanks to the Hanse trade was the second largest city in the German lands after Cologne from the 13th to the 16th century.

whilst other products, like the salt from Halle and Lüneburg came down the Elbe and then travelled via Lübeck to the great herring markets of Scania.

Hamburg at the mouth of the Elbe came to flourish relatively late

Hamburg having spent the heyday of the Hanse as an outer port for Lubeck

But since the middle of the 16th century Hamburg overtook the other Hanse cities thanks to its geographic location and the openness towards foreign traders.