Editing Elbe (section)

==History==
[[Ptolemy]] recorded the Elbe as ''{{lang|gem|Albis}}'' ([[Germanic languages|Germanic]] for "river") in [[Germania]] Magna, with its source in the ''{{lang|de|Asciburgis}}'' mountains ([[Giant Mountains]]), where the Germanic ''{{lang|de|[[Vandalii]]}}'' then lived.
[[File:Koenigstein Saxony pic01 2007 04 22.jpg|thumb|The Elbe near [[Königstein Fortress]] in Germany]]

The Elbe has long served as an important delineator of European geography. The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] knew the river as the ''{{lang|la|Albis}}''; however, they made only one serious [[Early Imperial campaigns in Germania|attempt to move the border of their empire]] forward from the [[Rhine]] to the Elbe, and this attempt failed with the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in 9&nbsp;AD, after which they never seriously tried again. In the [[Middle Ages]] the Elbe formed the eastern limit of the [[Carolingian Empire|Empire]] of [[Charlemagne]] (King of the Franks from 769 to 814). The river's navigable sections were essential to the success of the [[Hanseatic League]] in the [[Late Middle Ages]], and much trade was carried on its waters.

From the early 6th century [[Slavic tribes]] (known as the [[Polabian Slavs]]) settled in the areas east of the rivers Elbe and Saale (which had been depopulated since the 4th century). In the 10th century the [[Ottonian Dynasty]] (dominant from 919 to 1024) began conquering these lands; a slow process of [[Germanization]] ensued, including the [[Wendish Crusade]] of 1147.

The Elbe delineated the western parts of Germany from the eastern so-called [[East Elbia]], where [[soccage]] and [[serfdom]] were more strict and prevailed longer than westwards of the river, and where feudal lords held bigger estates than in the west. Thus incumbents of huge land-holdings became characterised{{when|date=November 2019}} as East Elbian [[Junker]]s. The [[Northern Germany|Northern German]] area north of the Lower Elbe used to be called [[Nordalbingia|North Albingia]] in the Middle Ages. When the four [[Lutheran]] [[Landeskirche|church bodies]] there united in 1977 they chose the name [[North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church]]. Other, administrative units were named after the river Elbe, such as the [[Kingdom of Westphalia|Westphalian]] ''Elbe [[département]]'' (1807–1813) and ''Lower Elbe département'' (1810), and the French département [[Bouches-de-l'Elbe]] (1811–1814).

On 10 April 1945, [[Walther Wenck|General Wenck]] of the German [[12th Army (Wehrmacht)|Twelfth Army]] located to the west of Berlin to guard against the advancing American and British forces. But, as the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]] moved eastwards and the Eastern Front moved westwards, the German armies making up both fronts backed towards each other. As a result, the area of control of Wenck's army to his rear and east of the Elbe River had become a vast [[refugee camp]] for Germans fleeing from the approaching Soviet Army. Wenck took great pains to provide food and lodging for these refugees. At one stage, the Twelfth Army was estimated to be feeding more than a quarter of a million people every day. During the night of 28 April, Wenck reported to the [[OKW|German Supreme Army Command]] in Fuerstenberg that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. According to Wenck, no attack on Berlin was possible as support from Busse's Ninth Army could no longer be expected. Instead, starting April 24, Wenck moved his army towards the Forest of [[Halbe, Brandenburg|Halbe]], broke into the [[Battle of Halbe|Halbe pocket]] and linked up with the remnants of the [[9th Army (Wehrmacht)|Ninth Army]], [[Hellmuth Reymann]]'s "Army Group Spree", and the [[Potsdam]] garrison. Wenck brought his army, remnants of the Ninth Army, and many civilian refugees across the Elbe and into territory occupied by the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]].

In 1945, as [[World War II]] drew to a close, Germany came under attack from the armies of the [[western Allies]] advancing from the west and those of the [[Soviet Union]] advancing from the east. On 25 April 1945 these two forces linked up near [[Torgau]], on the Elbe. The victorious countries marked the event unofficially as [[Elbe Day]]. From 1949 to 1990 the Elbe formed part of the [[Inner German border]] between [[East Germany]] and [[West Germany]].

During the 1970s the Soviet Union stated that [[Adolf Hitler]]'s ashes had been scattered in the Elbe following disinterment from their original burial-site.<ref>Hans Meissner, ''Magda Goebbels, First Lady of the Third Reich'', 260–277</ref><ref>
{{cite news |title= Official: KGB chief ordered Hitler's remains destroyed | author= Maxim Tkachenko |newspaper= CNN |date= 11 December 2009 |url= http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/11/russia.hitler.remains/index.html |access-date= 11 December 2009 }}
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