Editing Havel (section)

==Source==
The source of the Havel is located in the [[Mecklenburg Lake District]], between Lake [[Müritz]] and the city of [[Neubrandenburg]]. There is no obvious visible source in the form of a spring, but the river originates in the lakes in the [[Diekenbruch]] near [[Ankershagen]], close to and south-east of the [[Drainage divide|watershed]] between the North and Baltic seas. From there the river initially flows southward, eventually joining the Elbe, which in turn flows into the North Sea. Every river north-east of it flows to the Baltic Sea. The river enters [[Brandenburg]] near the town of [[Fürstenberg/Havel|Fürstenberg]]. In its upper course and between Berlin and [[Brandenburg an der Havel]] the river forms several lakes.

The Havel's main tributary is the [[Spree (river)|Spree]], which joins the Havel in [[Spandau]], a western borough of Berlin, and is longer and delivers more water than the Havel itself above the confluence. The second largest tributary is the [[Rhin]], named in the Middle Ages by settlers from the lower Rhine. At the southern end of the [[Ruppiner See]], weirs can distribute the waters of the Rhin either east- or westwards, rejoining the Havel in two places {{convert|67|km|mi}} apart along a straight line, and more than {{convert|160|km|mi}} apart along the course of the river.

The region around and north of the middle Havel is called the [[Havelland]]. It consists of sandy heights, sometimes called ''[[Ländchen (landform)|Ländchen]]'', and low marshes, called ''[[luch (landform)|luchs]]''. A few kilometres of the river before its confluence with the Elbe near [[Havelberg]] are in the State of Saxony-Anhalt. Due to its minimal gradient it is susceptible to high waters in the Elbe.

Unless in extreme floods, if the dike of the Elbe is submerged, the discharge of the Havel is improved by the ''Gnevsdorfer Vorfluter'' (something like "Gnevsdorfer outfall"). By this canal, the mouth of the Havel, that naturally would be near Havelberg, is placed 11&nbsp;km downstream. As the course of the Elbe has a higher gradient than the Havel, the water level of the Havel in Havelberg can be kept 1.4 metres below the Elbe (at the junction of the traverse communicating canal, protected by a [[Lock (water transport)|lock]]).

Towns along the river include: [[Fürstenberg/Havel|Fürstenberg]], [[Zehdenick]], [[Oranienburg]], [[Berlin]], [[Potsdam]], [[Werder (Havel)|Werder]], [[Ketzin]], [[Brandenburg (town)|Brandenburg]], [[Premnitz]], [[Rathenow]] and Havelberg.