The Unstrut is a river in eastern Germany. It is a left tributary of the River Saale. The Unstrut rises in northern Thuringia at Dingelstädt (west of Kefferhausen in the Eichsfeld area) and its catchment area is the entire Thuringian Basin. It flows out of the basin through the Thuringian Gate west of Heldrungen and downstream through Saxony-Anhalt before joining the Saale at Naumburg. The total length of the river is 192 km. Towns along the Unstrut include Mühlhausen, Sömmerda, Bad Frankenhausen, Artern, Roßleben and Freyburg. The main tributaries are the Gera, the Wipper, the Helme and the Lossa. The landscape around the Saale and Unstrut rivers forms the Saale-Unstrut wine region. Where the well-known sparkling wine brand Rotkäppchen (‚Little Red Riding Hood‘) is produced in the cellars in Freyburg.
Shipping on the river has been documented since at least 1612, but significant economic use was not possible for a long time due to the low depth of the river and the marshy banks. The water and mill orders of 1653, which were restored several times, brought only slight improvements. Extensive flooding often occurred. Plans to float the river, which the Saxon-Gothic duke Ernst. I wanted to strengthen Naumburg economically as a transshipment point for goods. Were submitted to his Electoral relative, but the councillors of the Saxon Electorate rejected them. Because they feared growing competition from the nearby trading town of Leipzig. A large-scale plan to build a west-east waterway including Unstrut in the mid-18th century also did not materialise for a long time. After huge floods in 1956 and 1967, the Unstrut lost its status as an inland waterway. Some of the weirs and locks were dismantled as part of flood control measures.
