Vistula

The name Vistula first appears in the written record of Pomponius Mela (3.33) in AD40. Pliny in AD77 in his Natural History names the river Vistla (4.81, 4.97, 4.100). The root of the name Vistula is often thought to come from Proto-Indo-European *weys-: 'to ooze, flow slowly' (cf. Sanskrit "they flowed", Old Norse "slime"), and similar elements appear in many European river-names (e.g. Svislach (Berezina), Svislach (Neman), Weser, Viešinta). In writing about the river and its peoples, Ptolemy uses Greek spelling: Ouistoula. Other ancient sources spell the name Istula. Ammianus Marcellinus referred to the Bisula (Book22) in the 380s. In the sixth century Jordanes (Getica5 & 17) used Viscla. The Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith refers to the Wistla. The 12th-century Polish chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek Latinised the river's name as Vandalus, a form presumably influenced by Lithuanian 'water'. Jan Długosz (1415–1480) in his Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae contextually points to the river, stating "of the eastern nations, of the Polish east, from the brightness of the water the White Water...so named" (), perhaps referring to the White Little Vistula (). In the course of history the river has borne similar names in different languages: ; ; ; ; and . ==Sources==

The Vistula can be divided into three parts: upper, from its sources to Sandomierz; central, from Sandomierz to the confluences with the Narew river and the Bug river; and bottom, from the confluence with Narew to the sea. The Vistula river basin covers (in Poland ); its average altitude is above sea level. In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is 100 to 200 m above sea level; over of the river basin ranges from in altitude. The highest point of the river basin is at (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra mountains). One of the features of the river basin of the Vistula is its asymmetry—in great measure resulting from the tilting direction of the Central European Lowland toward the northwest, the direction of the flow of glacial waters, and considerable predisposition of its older base. The asymmetry of the river basin (right-hand to left-hand side) is 73–27%. The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch, which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe. ==Major cities==

The river forms a wide delta called Żuławy Wiślane, or the "Vistula Fens" in English. The delta currently starts around Biała Góra near Sztum, about from the mouth, where the river Nogat splits off. The Nogat also starts separately as a river named (on this map formed a shortcut from the Danzig Vistula to the sea (shown as Durchbruch v. J 1840 (Breakthrough of year 1840), on this map), a few miles east of and bypassing Danzig, now called the Śmiała Wisła or Wisła Śmiała ("Bold Vistula"). The Vistula channel west of this lost much of its flow and was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: Tote Weichsel; Polish: Martwa Wisła). • 1848 or after: In flood control works the link from the Vistula to the Nogat was moved 4 km (2.5 miles) downstream. In the end, the Nogat got a fifth of the flow of the Vistula. • 1888: A large flood in the Vistula delta. and further studies carried out by scientists attending Poland's Final International ASTRA Conference, and predictions stated by climate scientists at the climate change pre-summit in Copenhagen, it is highly likely most of the Vistula Delta region (which is below sea level) will be flooded due to the sea level rise caused by climate change by 2100. ==Geological history==

The history of the River Vistula and its valley spans over 2 million years. The river is connected to the geological period called the Quaternary, in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within the last 14,000 years, after the complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along with the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring. As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also in the centre of Europe. Three principal geographical and geological land masses of the continent meet in its river basin: the Eastern European Plain, Western Europe, and the Alpine zone to which the Alps and the Carpathians belong. The Vistula begins in the Carpathian mountains. The run and character of the river were shaped by ice sheets flowing down from the Scandinavian peninsula. The last ice sheet entered the area of Poland about 20,000 years ago. During periods of warmer weather, the ancient Vistula, "Pra-Wisła", searched for the shortest way to the sea—thousands of years ago it flowed into the North Sea somewhere at the latitude of contemporary Scotland. The climate of the Vistula valley, its plants, animals, and its very character changed considerably during the process of glacial retreat. Wodospad Wiselka Biala.jpg|Biała Wisełka Wisla 010.jpg|Vistula in southern Poland with the Silesian Beskids Dolina-dolnej-wisly-2.jpg|Vistula in northern Poland File:Przekop Wisly aerial 2.jpg|Przekop Wisły Bogdan Cierpisz, Wiślany Brzeg, 1989, olej na płótnie, 60x75cm.jpg|Vistula Shore, painted by Bogdan Cierpisz in 1898, oil on canvas ==Navigation==

Vistula is navigable from the Baltic Sea to Bydgoszcz (where the Bydgoszcz Canal joins the river). It can accommodate modest river vessels of CEMT class II. Farther upstream the river depth lessens. Although a project was undertaken to increase the traffic-carrying capacity of the river upstream of Warsaw by building a number of locks in and around Kraków, this project was not extended further, so that navigability of the Vistula remains limited. The potential of the river would increase considerably if a restoration of the east–west connection via the Narew–Bug–Mukhovets–Pripyat–Dnieper waterways were considered. The shifting economic importance of parts of Europe may make this option more likely. Vistula is the northern part of the proposed E40 waterway, continuing eastward into the Bug River, linking the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. == 1997 Floods ==

In July 1997, the Vistula River basin was struck by one of the largest floods in modern Polish history, an event commonly referred to as the Great Flood of 1997, or the Millennium Flood (). Prolonged heavy rainfall over the Upper Vistula catchment and its tributaries caused extreme discharges and overtopping of embankments. Peak flows on the Upper Vistula reached magnitudes not previously observed in the instrumental record, leading to the breaching and failure of hundreds of kilometres of levees. The flood exposed weaknesses in existing hydraulic infrastructure along the Vistula. Reservoirs in the basin were unable to absorb the extreme inflows, since many had been designed primarily for water supply or power generation rather than flood retention. About 1,100 kilometres of flood embankments were damaged or weakened, particularly in the middle and lower reaches of the river. Inadequate forecasting and limited hydrometric coverage further reduced the effectiveness of warning systems. Following the disaster, recommendations included the modernisation and raising of embankments, the construction of additional flood retention reservoirs and dry polders, and the improvement of forecasting systems using radar and telemetry. Post-flood management works The recommendations arising from the 1997 flood led to a series of large-scale civil engineering and flood management programmes in the Vistula basin. The most significant was the Oder–Vistula Flood Management Project (OVFMP). Preparatory work began in 2013 and the programme was formally launched in 2015 with an estimated budget of €1.2 billion. It was financed through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the Council of Europe Development Bank, the EU Cohesion Fund and the Polish state budget. The project’s objective was to increase protection against floods for communities in the Oder River and Upper Vistula river basins and to strengthen the institutional capacity of public administration in flood risk management. Its scope covered the middle and lower Oder, the Nysa Kłodzka valley, and the Upper Vistula including the areas of Kraków, Sandomierz and Tarnobrzeg, alongside tributary catchments such as the Raba and San. Beneficiaries were estimated at over 15 million people, including around 122,000 living in 1-in-100 year flood zones. The programme includes the construction and modernisation of flood embankments, polders, pumping stations and reservoirs, together with non-structural measures such as improved forecasting and early warning systems. It also integrates active and passive measures, for example combining dikes with overflow areas and dry polders to create “space for the river,” as well as wetland restoration to absorb flood waves and enhance biodiversity. In addition to structural works, the flood also accelerated the modernisation of hydrological monitoring and early warning systems in the basin. Automatic telemetry stations, radar-based precipitation measurements, and GIS flood hazard mapping were introduced to improve forecasting and preparedness. Studies published in 2017 reviewed water resources and management challenges across the river, reporting evidence of more frequent droughts and low-water periods, including record low levels at Toruń in 2015. Studies also noted changes in the river’s seasonal rhythm, with spring high waters arriving earlier and summer flows becoming lower. In the delta, researchers described saltwater moving further inland and changes in river branches such as the Martwa Wisła and Wisła Śmiała, with the conclusion that managing the river now requires balancing the risks of both major floods and recurring drought. ==Historical relevance==

Large parts of the Vistula Basin were occupied by the Iron Age Lusatian and Przeworsk cultures in the first millennium BC. Genetic analysis indicates that there has been an unbroken genetic continuity of the inhabitants over the last 3,500 years. The Vistula Basin along with the lands of the Rhine, Danube, Elbe, and Oder came to be called Magna Germania by Roman authors of the first century AD. Ptolemy, in the second century AD, would describe the Vistula as the border between Germania and Sarmatia. Vistula River used to be connected to the Dnieper River, and thence to the Black Sea via the Augustów Canal, a technological marvel with numerous sluices contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first waterway in Central Europe to provide a direct link between the two major rivers, the Vistula and the Neman. It provided a link with the Black Sea to the south through the Oginski Canal, Dnieper River, Berezina Canal, and Dvina River. The Baltic Sea– Vistula– Dnieper– Black Sea route with its rivers was one of the most ancient trade routes, the Amber Road, on which amber and other items were traded from Northern Europe to Greece, Asia, Egypt, and elsewhere. The Vistula estuary was settled by Slavs in the seventh and eighth century. Based on archeological and linguistic findings, it has been postulated that these settlers moved northward along the Vistula River. According to the most popular variant, popularized by the 15th-century historian Jan Długosz, Wanda, daughter of King Krak, became queen of the Poles upon her father's death. Wanda however committed suicide, drowning in the Vistula River, to ensure he would not invade her country again. In the 14th century the lower Vistula was controlled by the Teutonic Knights Order, invited in 1226 by Konrad I of Masovia to help him fight the pagan Prussians on the border of his lands. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights captured the Gdańsk castle and murdered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter. The Order had inherited Gniew from Sambor II, thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula. Many granaries and storehouses, built in the 14th century, line the banks of the Vistula. In the 15th century the city of Gdańsk gained great importance in the Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. At this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians, but Gdańsk soon became a starting point for German settlement of the largely fallow Vistulan country. Before its peak in 1618, trade increased by a factor of 20 from 1491. This factor is evident when looking at the tonnage of grain traded on the river in the key years of: 1491: 14,000; 1537: 23,000; 1563: 150,000; 1618: 310,000. issued by Alexander, King of Poland on 4 May 1505 proclaiming that sailing on the Vistula is unrestricted for all. In the 16th century most of the grain exported was leaving Poland through Gdańsk, which because of its location at the end of the Vistula and its tributary waterway and of its Baltic seaport trade role became the wealthiest, most highly developed, and by far the largest centre of crafts and manufacturing, and the most autonomous of the Polish cities. Other towns were negatively affected by Gdańsk's near-monopoly in foreign trade. During the reign of Stephen Báthory Poland ruled two main Baltic Sea ports: Gdańsk controlling the Vistula river trade and Riga controlling the Western Dvina trade. Both cities were among the largest in the country. Around 70% the exports from Gdańsk were of grain. Almost 75% of the territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was , the Niemen (), the Oder () and the Daugava (). In 1920, a decisive engagement of the Polish–Soviet War, the Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the Miracle on the Vistula), was fought as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and nearby Modlin Fortress by the river's mouth. File:Tyniec Abbey.jpg|The 11th century Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec overlooks Vistula. File:Czersk 25.jpg|Vistula River near the Duke of Masovia Castle in Czersk File:Hogenberg View of Warsaw.jpg|Vistula River in Warsaw near the end of the 16th century. The right side shows the Sigismund Augustus bridge built 1568–1573 by Erazm Cziotko (c.  long). File:Torun Merian 1641.jpg|Vistula river (Vistvla fluvivs) in Toruń in 1641 File:Aleksander Gierymski, Święto Trąbek I.jpg|Jewish Feast of Trumpets () at the banks of the Vistula, Aleksander Gierymski, 1884 File:Kierbedź Bridge (1900).jpg|Kierbedź Bridge over the Vistula in Warsaw (c. 1900). This framework bridge was constructed by Stanisław Kierbedź in 1850–1864. It was destroyed by the Germans in 1944. File:Wisla Poland 1939 Henryk Poddebski.jpg|Vistula River in spa town Wisła (1939) just before the World War II World War II The Polish September campaign included battles over control of the mouth of the Vistula, and of the city of Gdańsk, close to the river delta. During the Invasion of Poland (1939), after the initial battles in Pomerelia, the remains of the Polish Army of Pomerania withdrew to the southern bank of the Vistula. After defending Toruń for several days, the army withdrew further south under pressure of the overall strained strategic situation, and took part in the main battle of Bzura. Ashes of murdered Auschwitz victims were dumped into the river. During World War II prisoners of war from the Nazi Stalag XX-B camp were assigned to cut ice blocks from the River Vistula. The ice would then be transported by truck to the local beer houses. The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was planned with the expectation that the Soviet forces, who had arrived in the course of their offensive and were waiting on the other side of the Vistula River in full force, would help in the battle for Warsaw. However, the Soviets let down the Poles, stopping their advance at the Vistula and branding the insurgents as criminals in radio broadcasts. In early 1945, in the Vistula–Oder Offensive, the Red Army crossed the Vistula and drove the German Wehrmacht back past the Oder river in Germany. After the war in late 1946, the former Austrian SS member Amon Göth was sentenced to death and hanged on 13 September at the Montelupich Prison in Kraków, not far from the site of the Płaszów camp, the camp of which he was commandant throughout The Holocaust. His remains were cremated and the ashes thrown in the Vistula River. ==See also==