Spree

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This article is about the river in Germany. For other uses, see Spree (disambiguation).

Spree
The Spree in Berlin's eastern harbour.
Origin	Upper Lusatia
Mouth	Havel
Basin countries	Germany
Length	±400 km
Avg. discharge	36 m³/s
Basin area	10,105 km²

The Spree (pronounced [ʃpʁeː]; Upper Sorbian: Sprowja, Lower Sorbian: Sprjewja) is a river in Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Havel river and is approximately 400 kilometres in length.

Its source is located in the Lusatian Hills (Lausitzer Bergland) on the Czech border. Further north the river enters the Spreewald, a large wetlands area, that is identical with the settlement areas of the Sorbs. In its final portion the river runs through the city centre of Berlin to join the River Havel in the western quarters of Berlin.

The name of the river Spree was by Thietmar of Merseburg recorded as Sprewa (Middle German sprejen, sprewen, High German sprühen meaning to spray water). People living at the Spree river (Anwohner) were in old German language (and are still) called Spreewaner.

Residents and tourists commonly attend events at Badeschiff, a pool placed within the Spree.

Towns on the river's course include: Bautzen, Spremberg, Cottbus, Lübbenau, Lübben, Fürstenwalde and Berlin.

The river gave its name to several German districts:

[edit] Views of the Spree in central Berlin

Showing the Palace of the Republic and the Berliner Dom	Near Museum Island
	River Spree in Berlin-Treptow, downstream view	From the roof of the Reichstag	Map of Germany, highlighting Spree