Ilse (Oker)

Ilse

File:Ilse in Ilsenburg.JPG
A wintry Ilse in Ilsenburg, the Krug Bridge in the background
Location	Harz, Germany
Length	40 km (25 mi)dep1
Source	below the Brocken
Source height	ca. 900 m
Mouth	Near Börßum into the Oker
Mouth height	82 m
Descent	ca. 818 m
Basin	Weser
Progression	Oker → Aller → Weser → North Sea
Small towns	Ilsenburg
Villages	Osterwieck, Veckenstedt, Wasserleben, Hornburg

The Ilse is a river that rises at about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level on the northern slopes of the Brocken. During its first few kilometres it flows as a narrow brook, almost invisible to the observer, down the side of the Brocken. Known here as the Verdeckte Ilse ("hidden Ilse") it gurgles its way under blocks of granite that hide the stream bed from above.

The Ilse then rushes through the narrow Ilse valley, hemmed in to the east by the rugged, cross-topped Ilsestein, passes by Ilsenburg into the Harz Foreland, flows through Veckenstedt, Wasserleben, Osterwieck and Hornburg and discharges into the Oker near Börßum together with the Schiffgraben from the Großes Bruch. Its total length is around 40 kilometres (25 mi).

Local folklore personifies the river as the beautiful Princess Ilse, who has her home in the rocks of the Ilsestein. The Ilse is mentioned in literary works such as the Harzreise ("Harz Journey") by Heinrich Heine.