Alzette

Alzette
Alzette
	The Alzette winding through Grund, Luxembourg
	Course of the Alzette
Location
Countries	France; Luxembourg;
Physical characteristics
Source
- location	Thil
- elevation	305 m (1,001 ft)
Mouth	Sauer
- location	Ettelbruck
- coordinates	49°50′54″N 6°6′43″E / 49.84833°N 6.11194°ECoordinates: 49°50′54″N 6°6′43″E / 49.84833°N 6.11194°E
Length	73 km (45 mi)
Basin features
Progression	Sauer→ Moselle→ Rhine→ North Sea
Tributaries
- left	Mess, Pétrusse, Eisch, Attert, Wark

The Alzette (Luxembourgish: Uelzecht, German: Alzig) is a river in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer river, and so it is part of the drainage basin of the Rhine river.

The Alzette river is sung in Ons Heemecht, the national anthem of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Wou d'Uelzécht durech d'Wisen zéit,..., French: Où l'Alzette arrose champs et prés..., German: Wo die Alzette durch die Wiesen zieht,...).

Geography[change | change source]

The Alzette river has a length of 73 kilometres (45 miles) but only 2.7 kilometres (1.7 miles) of them are in France.^[1] Its drainage basin has an area of 1,172 square kilometres (453 square miles), most of it in Luxembourg.

Course[change | change source]

The Alzette has its source in France in the territory of the commune of Thil in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle (Lorraine), at an altitude of about 305 metres (1,001 feet). It passes through the French communes of Villerupt (Luxembourgish: Weller) and Audun-le-Tiche (German: Deutsch-Oth, Luxembourgish: Däitsch-Oth.^[1]

After a few kilometers, the Alzette enters Luxembourg, flowing through the city of Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourgish: Esch-Uelzecht, German: Esch-an-der-Alzette or Esch-an-der-Alzig, French: Esch-sur-Alzette). At Lameschmillen (near Bergem) it is joined by the Mess river.

It flows on a wide floodplain before getting into a narrow valley near Hesperange. Then it flows through the Luxembourgish cities of Luxembourg (where it is joined by the Pétrusse river) and Mersch (where is joined by the Mamer and Eisch rivers). It joins, as a right tributary, the Sauer river near Ettelbruck, at about 193 metres (633 feet) of altitude.

Main tributaries[change | change source]

The main tributaries of the Alzette rivers are left tributaries; those that join the river by the right side are very small streams.

Left tributary
- Mess - 13.7 kilometres (8.5 miles)
- Pétrusse - 12.8 kilometres (8.0 miles)
- Mamer - 25.6 kilometres (15.9 miles)
- Eisch - 23.2 kilometres (14.4 miles)
- Attert - 30.5 kilometres (19.0 miles)
- Wark - 30.5 kilometres (19.0 miles)