Ruhlander Schwarzwasser

River in Germany

51°23′48″N 14°03′25″E / 51.3968°N 14.0570°E / 51.3968; 14.0570 • elevation146 m above sea level (NN) Mouth

• location

near Ruhland into the Black Elster

• coordinates

51°27′50″N 13°48′56″E / 51.4638°N 13.8156°E / 51.4638; 13.8156

• elevation

95 m above sea level (NN)Basin size269 km²Basin featuresProgressionBlack Elster → Elbe → North SeaRiver systemElbeTributaries • leftSaleskbach

The Ruhlander Schwarzwasser is a left-hand tributary of the Black Elster in the east German states of Brandenburg and Saxony.

Course

It rises in the Bernsdorf Forest (Bernsdorfer Gemeindewald) near Heide [de], a village in the borough of Wiednitz (today part of Bernsdorf). As it makes its way westwards, this small river flows partly through the state of Brandenburg and partly through Saxony. In the Ruhland Heath (Ruhlander Heide) it forms the boundary between the two states. There it is also joined from the left by the Saleskbach, which comes from the heath villages of Cosel [de], Grüngräbchen [de] and Großgrabe [de; hsb].

The Schwarzwasser then flows northwards through Jannowitz [de] and Arnsdorf [de]. It discharges into the Schwarze Elster near the town of Ruhland.

In Arnsdorf the Sieggraben dyke branches off on the left. It also enters the Black Elster, below Ruhland.