Ems, Major river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
The Ems is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Groningen that flows 371 kilometers from the Teutoburg Forest to the North Sea. The waterway passes through farmland and smaller towns before reaching the Dollart, where it opens into the sea.
The Romans called this waterway Amisia and tried to use it to reach Germanic tribes near the Teutoburg Forest. A storm surge in 1277 created the Dollart Bay and turned the mouth into a tidal estuary.
The river forms a natural border between Germany and the Netherlands, connecting multiple cities including Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Gütersloh, Warendorf, and Emden through water transportation.
The Dortmund-Ems Canal links the river to industrial areas farther south and remains in use for transporting goods. Cycling and walking paths run along sections of the banks.
The mouth splits into two arms shaped by centuries of tides and storm surges. At low tide, sandy mudflats appear that form part of the German-Dutch border zone.
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