The 'Eider' (
German: ''Eider'';
Danish: ''Ejderen'';
Latin: ''Egdor'' or ''Egdore'') is the longest river of the
German state of
Schleswig-Holstein. The river starts near
Bordesholm and reaches the southwestern outskirts of
Kiel on the shores of the
Baltic Sea, but flows to the west, ending in the
North Sea. The middle part of the Eider was appropriated for use as part of the
Kiel Canal.
[1]
In the
Early Middle Ages the river is believed to have been the border between the related abutting germanic tribes the
Jutes and the
Angles who during this period, along with the neighboring
Saxons crossed the
North Sea from this region and settled themselves in
England. During the
High Middle Ages the Eider was the border between the
Saxons and the
Danes, as reported by
Adam of Bremen in
1076. For centuries it divided
Denmark and the
Holy Roman Empire.
[2] Today it is the border between
Schleswig and
Holstein, the northern and southern parts, respectively, of the modern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Eider flows through the following towns:
Bordesholm,
Kiel,
Rendsburg,
Friedrichstadt and
Tönning. Near Tönning it flows into the North Sea. The
estuary has
tidal flats and
brackish water. The mouth of the river is crossed by a closeable
storm surge barrier.
References
1. The History of the City of Kiel, 1243 - 1945
2. Cnut, The Danes in England in the Early Eleventh Century, , M.K., Lawson, Longman, 1993, ISBN 0-582-05969-0