Leitha

Pitten and Schwarza unite the Leitha

Leitha origin with high water

The dry bed of the river Leitha in Bad Erlach

Plaque at the origin of the Leitha in Haderswörth

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Leitha ( Hungarian: Lajta; Old Hungarian: Sárvíz or Sár ) is a 180 km long tributary of the Danube in Lower Austria, Burgenland and Hungary. It is caused by the confluence of Schwarza and Pitten the municipality of Lanz churches. The Leitha opens in Mosonmagyaróvár west of the island Szigetkoz ( Small bulk ) in the Little Danube ( Duna - Moson ).

The flow regime

Long stretches of the river bed is dry.

For one, its source river Schwarza is already taken plenty of water. From their catchment area, the karst water reservoir of Schneeberg, Rax and Schneeberg Alpe, the First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline is fed by Kaiserbrunn (municipality Reichenau an der Rax ) by natural slope runs along the thermal line to Vienna and every day around 220,000 cubic meters of water in the capital is derived.

On the other hand, some channels are derived from Schwarza and Leitha. In Peisching ( municipality Neunkirchen ) the Kehrbach branches from the Schwarza and leads ( since the 12th century) to Wiener Neustadt. The actual river bed Schwarza is found from here normally (except floods) dry. After the unification of Schwarza and Pitten the Leitha at Haderswörth - the Leitha is here mostly just fed by the waters of the Pitten - branches in Katzelsdorf of Mühlbach. The bed of the river Leitha remains from then usually again - with the exception of flood situations - dry up in the room Zillingdorf - Eggendorf - Ebenfurth.

In space Ebenfurth - Haschendorf the gravel body of the stone field wedges from. Between Eggendorf and Haschendorf springs the (cold ) Fischa (or " Dagnitz " ), to the east of it fills the bed of the river Leitha in Ebenfurth again with water.

The previously removed from Peisching by Kehrbach and Mühlbach water is about 20 km north of Wiener Neustadt in the following way for the most part (other than a supply in the Wiener Neustadt Canal ) back into the river system in the Leitha back: The Mühlbach joins in the park of the Wiener Neustadt Military Academy in the Kehrbach. This feeds the north of it nor the Wiener Neustadt Canal. The "rest " Kehrbach is on the northeastern outskirts of Wiener Neustadt directed ( against Lichtenwörth down ) in the future from Bad Fischau Warm Fischa. The Warm Fischa flows approximately 20 km further north at Wampersdorf (municipality Pott village) in the Leitha.

The " Suck - mill " between Seibersdorf and farm on the Leitha mountains of most of the water for power generation in channels is derived ( earlier for spinning mills, today for small power plants ). Even from here, the Leitha is usually the leader only in flood water. After passing the " Brucker gate " and the " heath soil ," she reached nickel village Hungarian territory and flows Mosonmagyaróvár in the Moson -Danube. The most important towns on its course are Wiener Neustadt, Bruck an der Leitha and Mosonmagyaróvár.

Between Katzelsdorf and Leithaprodersdorf the Leitha forms in parts the border between Lower Austria and Burgenland, furthermore, it forms the border between these two states from Bruck an der Leitha to height husbands village. Until November 1921 ( port of Burgenland in Austria ) the Leitha formed for long stretches the border between Austria and Hungary, and after the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy and state separation took a brisk smuggling across the river.

The name " Leitha "

In the year 833 King Ludwig is the German ( a grandson of Charlemagne ) the Lithaha, located in the Awarenprovinz mentioned in a document. Thus the name of this not so great, but as a border river immensely important body of water is significantly older than the place names along its banks.

On the origin of the name " Leitha " there are several theories. There is agreement, however, that the Old High German Lîtaha must have been the basis of today's name, but about whose meaning there are different views. A simple explanation would be: The suffix - aha means " flowing water " (cf. " Ache " for river in western Austria and Bavaria ), the Old High German - Bavarian LIT or litte " mountainside, heap ' (see Leite, commonly known today directing ). The Leitha would therefore be " a slope along the flowing waters ." However, this interpretation has a critical weakness and is therefore to be rejected: The Leitha is a lowland river, their only two sources Schwarza and Pitten flow along slopes.

Lîtaha must therefore have other roots. Elisabeth Schuster suspects a voreinzelsprachlichen and waters, which had been converted to the Indo-European root loidh ( " slimy, slippery " ) and expanded by the Romans to Laidawa ( Ledawa ). The progression to Lîtaha should come from the Lombard period. The interpretation of the Leitha river as slippery, perhaps better than " the loamy " suspects Walter Steinhauser, the Lîtaha than expected to arise in the Pannonian or Illyrian. Finally, her Old Hungarian name would prove thesis above. Today the Leitha in Hungary is indeed similar called the German Lajta, but her former name was Sárvíz ( " excrement water " ) or only Sár, thus a translation of Lîtaha or Laidawa corresponded.

From these statements, therefore, gives the clear picture of the Leitha than the loamy river, which apparently carried this name too early, vorgermanischer time in his name.

The Leitha as historical border

Magyar - Austrian border in the Middle Ages

End of the 9th century, the Magyars invaded from the East coming into the Pannonian plain one. They evaded - of Turkic peoples in the Crimea and in today's Ukraine, as well as Russians pressed - to the west. End of the 9th century was the final conquest of Pannonia. After the Battle of Lechfeld in August 955 the incursions of the Magyars found to the west end, they remained in the Pannonian Plain sedentary. The Holy Roman Empire undertook after a counter-offensive to regain lost territories back. 991 defeated Duke Henry II of Bavaria, Hungary, the German ( re) colonization exceeded the Viennese forest belt. By 1000 they had probably already reached the Leitha. This Ostarrîchi, the Marcha orientalis, as Grenzmark forms. South of it was a mark that Karantanische Mark (now Styria ) was established as an outpost of the separated Duchy of Bavaria, Carinthia. Here in Southern Lower Austria and in nearly all the Burgenland was between these dominions of a broad, poorly penetrable border strip, a no man's land, which the Hungarians Gyepű called.

In the 12th century, both the rule of the Babenberg in Austria, which still has also purchased Styria by heritage, and the rule of the Hungarian kings consolidated. They went on both sides of the border for the construction of fortifications. On the Austrian side came so close Leitha in Wiener Neustadt, Bruck an der Leitha and Hainburg as fortified cities. At this line of attachment it always came back to major and minor feuds and border skirmishes between the Austrians and the Hungarians. Of particular importance were the discussions of the year 1246 between the Babenberg Duke Frederick II ( the " Warlike " ) and the Hungarian King Béla IV In June, there was a momentous battle. The exact location is unknown.

With several frontier settlements in the Late Middle Ages was always referred to the river. An important document to this is from the year 1411 before: Emperor Sigismund decreed in October 1411 that the Leitha should be the limit: " ... Item daz the leytta the gemerk sin is ... VND where the gemerke of the Leyta geent, VND of age have gone forth, daz it ouch by the same gemerken fusbasz bliben sol ... so daz the Leyta ye by irem old gang blibe. " the Leitha was thus left border about Katzelsdorf to nickel village. However, the output of the Middle Ages came five resorts in Austria: In the area of ​​Wiener Neustadt, the Zillingdorf was in the range of Bruck an der Leitha, there were Au, courtyard, village men and Sommerein - four villages of the former rule Scharfeneck. There, the boundary was moved from the river south to the crest of the Leitha Mountains. The Hungarians protested against this boundary changes until the end of the Habsburg monarchy.

Cisleithania and Transleithania

Historical importance was the name of the otherwise rather insignificant flow through the terms and Cisleithania Transleithania. Cisleithania was after the Austro- Hungarian Compromise in 1867, the colloquial name for the not for Hungary that part of the monarchy. This part was merely referred to as Austria 1916-1918. 1916 Before the Bohemian Landtag referred to the fact that the Kingdom of Bohemia not a subset of the Austrian hereditary lands was, so you could not come to terms with this discriminatory designation. Then not to Hungary parts belonging to the monarchy were referred to as " the kingdoms and lands represented in the Imperial Council ". This is the term suitable not for normal usage, you took the Leitha as by no means exact, but useful perspective from Vienna dividing line. The analogous term " Transleithania " was rarely used, they chose the name Hungary.

International Flood Protection

Since the Leitha especially in Hungary, but also in Austria, will always lead flood, took over in 2010, the province of Lower Austria, the guide to the countries Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary to the shared river basins, which include the Leitha heard within the project CEframe ( Central European flood Risk Assessment and Management in CENTROPE ) to develop foundations for a future flood management.