Meaning of The Name
Although "Elster" is German for "magpie", the origin of the name has nothing to do with the bird. It is of Slavic origin: alstrawa = hurrying. The White Elster never meets the Black Elster, which flows from Lusatia into the River Elbe. The rivers have the names "white" and "black" to distinguish between them.
The White Elster flows through the cities of Plauen, Greiz, Gera, Zeitz, Pegau and Leipzig. It flows into the river Saale in Halle.
In the history of the Napoleonic Wars, the river is notable as the place where Józef Antoni Poniatowski died in 1813.
Read more about this topic: Weisse Elster
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