Ems
Ems is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 52.17°, 7.63°
About Ems
The Ems (German: Ems [ɛms] ; Dutch: Eems [eːms] ) is a river in northwestern Germany. It runs through the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and discharges into the Dollart Bay which is part of the Wadden Sea. Its total length is 362.4 kilometres (225.2 mi). The state border between the Lower Saxon area of East Friesland (Germany) and the province of Groningen (Netherlands), whose exact course was the subject of a border dispute between Germany and the Netherlands (settled in 2014), runs through the Ems estuary.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Ems (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Ems in Depth
Course
The source of the river is in the southern Teutoburg Forest in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Lower Saxony, the brook becomes a comparatively large river. Here the swampy region of Emsland is named after the river. In Meppen the Ems is joined by its largest tributary, the Hase River. It then flows northwards, close to the Dutch border, into East Frisia. Near Emden, it flows into the Dollard bay (a national park) and then continues as a tidal river towards the Dutch city of Delfzijl.
Between Emden and Delfzijl, the Ems forms the border between the Netherlands and Germany and was subject to a mild dispute: the Dutch believed that the border runs through the geographical centre of the estuary, whereas the Germans claimed it runs through the deepest channel (which is close to the Dutch coast).
History
The Ems was known to several ancient authors: Pliny the Elder in Natural History (4.14), Tacitus in the Annals (Book 1), Pomponius Mela (3.3), Strabo and Ptolemy, Geography (2.10). Ptolemy's name for it was the Amisios potamos, and in Latin Amisius fluvius. The others used the same, or Amisia, or Amasia or Amasios. The identification is certain, as it always is listed between the Rhine and the Weser, and was the only river leading to the Teutoburg Forest.
The Amisius flowed from the Teutoburg Forest, home of the Cherusci, with the Bructeri and others bordering the river. These tribes were among the initial Franks. The Romans were quite interested in adding them to the empire, and to that end built a fort, Amisia, at the mouth of the Ems.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Ems (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Ems: Key Facts
| Length | 371 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 80 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 17,934 km² |
| Source | Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock |
| Mouth | Dollart |
| Tributaries | Hase, Leda, Dortmund–Ems Canal, Küsten Canal, Glane, Eusternbach, Sennebach, Hessel |
Facts from Wikidata Q1648 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Ems: Quick Answers
- Where is Ems?
- Ems is located in Germany, at 52.1657° N, 7.6335° E.
- Are there dams on the Ems?
- No dam on the Ems is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.