Zwittebach, Brook in Liberecký kraj, Czech Republic

Zwitte, also called Svitavka or Zwittebach, is a 37.4 km right-bank tributary of the Ploučnice. It rises at about 600 m on the southern slope of Buchberg near Jonsdorf in Saxony, crosses into the Czech Republic and flows south through Dolní Světlá, Mařenice, Kunratice u Cvikova, Lindava, Velenice and Zákupy, joining the Ploučnice between Vlčí Důl and Brenná.

The stream was recorded as Zwittebach in German sources and as Svitava on older Czech maps; the form Svitávka spread after 1945. State maps used Svitava from 1963 to 1980, Svitávka in the 1985 and 1989 editions, and Svitavka from 1993. The name Svitávka still appeared on the 2021 record sheet of the Zákupy gauging station.

The name history is visible in maps and records: older sources use Svitavský potok or Zwittebach, Czech maps Svitava, and Svitávka spread after 1945. State maps used Svitava from 1963 to 1980 and Svitávka from 1985, while Svitavka has been recorded since 1993. The Zákupy gauging station's record sheet still listed Svitávka in 2021.

The brook can be paddled only when the gauge at Lindava reads at least 30 cm; trees, boulders and broken weirs force frequent portages. The 22 km section is rated WW 1 down to Zákupy and WW C on the last 5 km. A road runs alongside the whole course, so trips can start or end anywhere.

Shallow underground sand mines from the 18th–20th centuries, dug for nearby mirror-grinding workshops, line the stream near its confluence with the Kamenický potok; the largest chamber, Nautilus at Velenice, now serves as a motorcycle cave and others have been used as film sets.