View source for Leitha

{{Short description|River in Austria and Hungary}}
{{About|the river in Europe|other uses|Leitha (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox river
| name                = Leitha
| name_other          = Lajta
| image               = Leitha Kleinwolkersdorf.JPG
| image_caption       = The Leitha near [[Lanzenkirchen|Kleinwolkersdorf]]
| source1_location    = [[Lanzenkirchen]], southern [[Vienna Basin]]
| source1_coordinates = {{coord|47|44|11|N|16|13|49|E|region:AT}}
| mouth_location      = [[Danube]] near [[Mosonmagyaróvár]]
| mouth_coordinates   = {{coord|47|52|8|N|17|17|17|E|display=inline,title}}
| progression         = {{RDanube}}
| subdivision_type1   = Countries
| subdivision_name1   = [[Austria]] and [[Hungary]]
| length              = {{convert|120.8|km|mi|abbr=on}} {{GeoQuelle|AT-3|NÖA}}
| source1_elevation   =
|pushpin_map=Hungary
| discharge1_avg      =
| basin_size          = {{convert|2138|km2|abbr=on}}
}}
The '''Leitha''' ({{IPA|de|ˈlaɪtaː|lang|De-Leitha.ogg}}; {{Langx|hu|Lajta}}, formerly {{lang|hu|Sár(-víz)}}; {{Langx|sl|Litva}}; [[Czech language|Czech]] and {{langx|sk|Litava}}) is a river in [[Austria]] and [[Hungary]], a right tributary of the [[Danube]]. It is {{cvt|120.8|km}} long ({{cvt|168.5|km}} including its source river [[Schwarza (Leitha)|Schwarza]]).{{GeoQuelle|AT-3|NÖA}} Its basin area is {{convert|2138|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://info.bmlrt.gv.at/dam/jcr:31053ed8-8c8a-4e79-89e8-1bf108ee3ab3/Beitrag%2063.pdf|title=Flächenverzeichnis der Flussgebiete: Leitha-, Rabnitz- und Raabgebiet|work=Beiträge zur Hydrografie Österreichs Heft 63|page=39|date=December 2014}}</ref>
==Etymology==
The ''Lithaha'' River in the Carolingian [[Avar March]] was first mentioned in an 833 deed issued by [[Louis the German]], son of the [[Carolingian Empire|Carolingian]] emperor [[Louis the Pious]] and ruler over the [[stem duchy]] of [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]]. The [[Old High German]] name {{lang|goh|lît}} probably referred to a [[List of ancient tribes in Illyria|Pannonian]] ([[Illyrian languages|Illyrian]]) denotation for "mud", as maintained in the former Hungarian name {{lang|hu|Sár}} (compare {{lang|hu|mocsár}}, '[[swamp]]').
==Course==
[[File:Leitha Ursprung.JPG|thumb|160px|left|Plaque at Leitha origin]]
The Leitha rises in [[Lower Austria]] at the confluence of its two headstreams, the [[Schwarza (Leitha)|Schwarza]], discharging the [[Schneeberg (Alps)|Schneeberg]], [[Rax]] and [[Schneealpe]] ranges of the [[Northern Limestone Alps]], and the [[Pitten (river)|Pitten]]. Between [[Ebenfurth]] and [[Leithaprodersdorf]], and between [[Bruck an der Leitha]] and [[Gattendorf, Austria|Gattendorf]],<ref>Verified on a modern Atlas</ref> the Leitha forms part of the border between the Austrian [[States of Austria|states]] of [[Lower Austria]] and [[Burgenland]]. East of [[Nickelsdorf]], the river passes into [[Hungary]], where it flows into the Moson arm of the Danube west of [[Szigetköz]] Island near [[Mosonmagyaróvár]]. Important towns on its course are [[Wiener Neustadt]], Bruck and Mosonmagyaróvár.
Large amounts of the Schwarza headstream waters are diverted to supply the [[Wiener Neustadt Canal]] and the [[drinking water]] supply of [[Vienna]]. Furthermore, several canals diverge from the Leitha, feeding [[Spinning (textiles)|spinning]] companies in the past, today small [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] power plants. [[File:Dry Streambed-Leitha DSC 0016w.jpg|thumb|Dried-up streambed of Leitha near [[Bad Erlach]]]]
Between [[Seibersdorf]] and [[Hof am Leithaberge]], most of the water in the Leitha is removed for this purpose. From there on, the Leitha usually runs dry, unless its flow further upstream is abnormally high. Downriver from [[Katzelsdorf]] the river bed is almost completely dry as well.
==Legends==
[[File:Leitha hexen.jpg|thumb|Leitha River Hexen statues in [[Lanzenkirchen]]]]
At the Leitha Ursprung (or Source) in the small town of [[Lanzenkirchen]], there is a hiking trail, a stone with a plaque to mark the origin point and three wooden figures that represent the legendary Leitha Hexen (witches).
According to the sign next to the three wooden women, "Once upon a time, real witches lived in the waters of the Leitha. They were small, like children, skinny and hunchbacked, with tangled hair that reached down to their knees and webbed fingers and toes."
"The witches mostly splashed around under the bridges, but anyone who teased them or watched them met a bad end."
"One evening a man was overcome by the desire to tempt the Leitha witches. When he heard them in the water, he put both hands around his mouth and shouted:
'Hoo hoo!' ”
"Then he hurried away laughing. But he didn't get far, because suddenly countless bony hands wrapped around him and pulled him to the ground! No amount of struggling and struggling helped; he couldn't even call for help. He only felt a wet cloth being pressed over his mouth, then his senses faded."
"When he came to again, he was lying on the banks of the Leitha, on the border with Katzelsdorf. But the Leitha witches were nowhere to be seen or heard."<ref>[[:File:Leitha hexen plaque.jpg|See image]].</ref>
==Historic border==
After the [[Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin]] in the late 9th century, the [[Hungarian people|Magyar]] horsemen dared further [[Hungarian invasions of Europe|invasions]] into the adjacent [[West Francia|West Frankish]] lands, until they were finally defeated by King [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] in the 955 [[Battle of Lechfeld]]. Thereafter the forces of the Bavarian duke [[Henry II, Duke of Bavaria|Henry the Wrangler]] gradually re-conquered the lands beyond the [[Vienna Woods]] up to the Leitha River, where about 976 the [[March of Austria]] (''[[Name of Austria|Ostarrîchi]]'') was established under the [[House of Babenberg|Babenberg]] margrave [[Leopold I, Margrave of Austria|Leopold I]].
[[File:Shallows along the Leitha River.jpg|thumb|Shallows along the Leitha River near [[Lanzenkirchen]]]]
Around the turn to the 2nd millennium, the Hungarian frontier (''Gyepű'') ran along the Leitha shore, from 1156 onwards it formed the eastern border of the [[Duchy of Austria]] with fortresses erected at Wiener Neustadt, Bruck and [[Hainburg an der Donau|Hainburg]]. The last Babenberg duke [[Frederick II, Duke of Austria|Frederick II of Austria]] was killed in the 1246 [[Battle of the Leitha River]] against King [[Béla IV of Hungary]]. The course of the border was confirmed in a 1411 deed issued by King [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]], when his daughter [[Elizabeth of Luxembourg|Elizabeth]] married the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] duke [[Albert II of Germany|Albert II of Austria]]. The placenames [[Cisleithania]], [[Transleithania]] and [[Lajtabánság]] are all derived from the Leitha River. After the [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867]], which created the [[Austria-Hungary|Dual Monarchy]], ''Transleithanien'' ("beyond the Leitha") was the [[Vienna|Viennese]] colloquial word for the region beyond the Leitha (meaning Hungary or the [[Kingdom of Hungary]]), while ''Cisleithanien'' ("on this side of the Leitha") denoted the Austrian lands. These names reflected the Viennese and Austrian perspectives towards the rest of the [[Austria-Hungary|Empire]], because Vienna lay on 'this' side, and the other half, Hungary, lay on 'that' side.<ref>German Wikipedia</ref> Nevertheless, the Leitha did not form the entire border between the two: for instance [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] and [[Bukovina]], which were part of Cisleithania, were north-east of [[Hungary]]. Likewise, the [[Morava (river)|Morava]] River formed the border between Cisleithanian [[Moravia]] and the Transleithanian lands of present-day [[Slovakia]] ([[Upper Hungary]]).
[[File:Wampersdorf Leitha 40294.jpg|thumb|left|Leitha bridge between Wampersdorf ([[Pottendorf]] municipality) in Lower Austria and [[Wimpassing an der Leitha|Wimpassing]] (''Vimpác'') in Burgenland]]Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary after [[World War I]], the 1920 [[Treaty of Trianon]] adjudicated the West Hungarian territory of the proclaimed [[Lajtabánság]] (Leitha [[Ban (title)|Banat]]) to the [[First Republic of Austria|Republic of Austria]] (as Burgenland), whereby the course of the river became an inner Austrian border.
== See also ==
* [[Cisleithania]]
* [[Transleithania]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Leitha}}
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Leitha |short=x}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Leitha| ]]
[[Category:Rivers of Hungary]]
[[Category:Rivers of Burgenland]]
[[Category:Rivers of Lower Austria]]
[[Category:Bruck an der Leitha District]]
[[Category:Wiener Neustadt-Land District]]
[[Category:International rivers of Europe]]
[[Category:Rivers of Austria]]