HAVEL

: ''For the Biblical Havel, see Abel.''
: ''For the former Czechoslovak and Czech president, see Václav Havel''
The 'Havel' () is a river in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and 325 km in length. Extended by the Oder-Havel Canal it connects the Oder with Berlin and the Elbe.
The source of the Havel is located in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania between Lake Müritz and the city of Neubrandenburg. The territory of Brandenburg is entered near the town of Fürstenberg. In its upper part and between Berlin and the town of Brandenburg the river forms several lakes. Its main tributary is the Spree river, which joins the Havel in Spandau, a western quarter of Berlin, at the junction being longer and delivering more water than the Havel itself. The second biggest tributary is the Rhin, in the middle ages named by settlers from the lowe Rhine. It spreads to two very distant junctions with the Havel. The region around and north of the central part of the Havel is called Havelland. It consists of sandy hills and low marshes. On the last few kilometres the Havel flows in the territory of Saxony-Anhalt, where it enters the Elbe near Havelberg. Due to its minimal gradient it is liable to high waters of the Elbe.
In former times the Slavic people called the Havolane lived round the river Havel. They built four important bridges, in Spandau, in Potsdam, in Brandenburg an in a western suburb of that town.
Towns on the course of the river include: Zehdenick, Oranienburg, Berlin, Potsdam, Werder, Brandenburg, Premnitz, Rathenow and Havelberg.