Stederau, Brook in Gifhorn, Germany

The Stederau is the 39.5 km long right source river of the Ilmenau in Lower Saxony. It rises as the Bokeler Bach in the Hohe Heide near Günne, changes name several times along its course (Röhrser Bach, Aue), passes Bad Bodenteich and the Esterholz lock, and joins the Gerdau in the Veerßener Wald two kilometres before Uelzen's centre. Its bed is mostly sandy with gravel, and mud settles at the edges.

The Stederau is the 39.5 km long right source river of the Ilmenau in Lower Saxony. It rises as the Bokeler Bach in the Hohe Heide near Günne, changes its name several times along its course, and passes under the Elbe Lateral Canal twice, at Lüder and near the Esterholz lock. It joins the Gerdau in the Veerßener Wald two kilometres before Uelzen to form the Ilmenau.

The brook shapes how locals experience their landscape and is valued as a place for walks and nature watching. People see it as part of their connection to the land around them.

The Stederau can be followed on foot or by bike along its whole course, and a cycle path runs beside it where it passes under the Stendal–Uelzen railway near Wieren. It crosses the Elbeseitenkanal twice by tunnel or culvert, at Lüder and below the southern foreport of the Esterholz lock. A gauging station of the water authority stands at Niendorf II.

The Stederau changes its name three times along its 39.5 km course: it begins as the Bokeler Bach, becomes the Röhrser Bach after Bokel, then the Aue after Röhrsen, and only from Stederdorf is it called Stederau. Near its source lies the Bullenkuhle, a moor.