The Odra River
The Odra / Oder river is the second longest river in Poland and flows for a total of 742 kilometres (461 miles) through the country.
The Odra (Oder) river in Glogau / Głogów on an old picture postcard mailed in 1899.
The Odra rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland to just north of Szczecin where it divides into three branches (the Dziwna, Świna and Peene), which empty into the Gulf of Pomerania on the Baltic Sea. A total of 854 kilometres (531 miles). Almost all of which is navigable by boat.
Rowing boats on the Odra river in Krosno Odrzańskie, / Crossen an der Oder, c.1914.
The River Odra (Oder) passes through the following towns and cities in Poland:
Opole – Brzeg – Oława – Jelcz-Laskowice – Wrocław – Brzeg Dolny – Ścinawa – Szlichtyngowa – Głogów – Bytom Odrzański – Nowa Sól – Krosno Odrzańskie – Frankfurt (Oder) / Słubice – Kostrzyn – Cedynia – Gryfino – Szczecin – Police
The River Odra (Oder) in Frankfurt an der Oder, looking across to what is now the town of Słubice, c.1937
Interesting facts connected with the River Odra / Oder
- The Oder–Spree Canal connects with the river Odra / Oder near Eisenhüttenstadt, which in turn connects to the river Spree in Berlin.
- At the 1943 Tehran Conference the allies decided that the new Eastern border of Germany would run along the river Odra / Oder. However, at the end of the war, this was amended to the Oder and the Lusatian Neisse rivers, and these two rivers became the new (Oder-Neisse) border between Poland and Germany.
Related content on Polish Poland:
Information and images of the River Warta.
