The Noteć is a river in western Poland, flowing through the Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Greater Poland and Lubusz Voivodeships. It is a right-side tributary of the Warta River. It is 361 km long. Its catchment area is 17 200 km².
The course of the Noteć River
The upper reaches of the Noteć River flow through Lake Gopło. Below, it flows mainly in a valley, which is a remnant of glacial runoff. It flows into the Warta River at Santok.
Water regime
The Noteć has an average water flow at the mouth of 72 m³/s.
Usage
Water transport is possible over a length of 274 km. This is also made possible by numerous locks. It is connected by the Bydgoszcz Canal to the Vistula River.
Settlement
On the Noteć River lie the towns of Kruszwica, Inowrocław, Łabiszyn, Nakło nad Notecią, Ujście, Czarnków and Drezdenko.
History of the Noteć River
In the Middle Ages, the impassable marshes on the lower reaches of the Noteć River formed the border between the Kingdom of Poland and the lands of the Pomeranian tribes on the Baltic Sea coast. The fortresses of Santok and Drezdenko, which had been disputed for centuries, were eventually acquired by the Margrave Conrad of Brandenburg on the occasion of his marriage to Constance of Poznan, daughter of Prince Premysl I of Great Poland, in 1260.
After several unsuccessful attempts by the Polish Piast dynasty to regain control. The area along the lower Noteć was eventually incorporated into the Brandenburg Neumark. For centuries, the border with the Wielkopolska province of Poznan ran between Drezdenko (Driesen) and Krzyżie upstream to the east. During the reign of Elector Joachim III Frederick of Brandenburg around 1603, the fortress was rebuilt and more settlements were established in the marshes. The first plans for extensive drainage and reclamation were made under King Frederick William I of Prussia in 1738/39, and were not realised until after the Seven Years‘ War in 1763.
After the first partition of Poland in 1772, the Greater Poland lands upstream of the Noteć River joined the Kingdom of Prussia as the Netze district. The territory created by the Prussian administration was again ceded to the newly created Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. By a resolution of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it fell back to Prussia.
