The Pader

May we introduce? The Pader - the shortest river in Germany!

The Pader gushes forth with around 200 springs in the Paderborn urban area. Some of them are large karst springs. Together they pour 3,000 to 9,000 litres of water per second (on average 4,200 l/s), making it the strongest inner-city spring area in Germany.

 

Worth knowing

  • A unique natural spectacle:

    Over 200 springs, which never freeze over, feed the River Pader within the historic city centre. This is a unique natural spectacle in Europe: up to 9,000 litres per second - fascinating, lively and symbolic for 1,200 years. 
     

  • Highly developed water culture:

    With the founding of the Palatinate by Charlemagne, an urban water culture developed along the Pader in a small area. People from all over Europe characterised the urban water culture with significant innovations. These include water arts and drinking water treatment as well as the outstanding cultural monuments: the Imperial Palace, the Town Hall, the Abdinghof Monastery and the Residential Palace. 
     

  • 4,6 km 

    The Pader - at 4.6 km the shortest river in Germany - characterises an entire urban water landscape. A high-quality space for recreation and experiencing nature. An ecologically valuable habitat for flora and fauna. Attractive and appealing for the people of a European city.  

  • Special geological feature: 

    Paderborn lies exactly on the important natural boundary between the low mountain range and the lowlands - marked by the bubbling Pader springs. They are among the strongest flowing springs in Europe: not a stream, but a river from the very beginning.

Experience the learning sites

Discover the special learning sites of European water culture along the Pader on the interactive map. From the headwaters to the Pader-Lippe confluence, the 13 stations are brought to life.

Live temperature measurement

The unusually constant temperature of some Pader springs has always been a source of amazement. Historical travel reports and the first geological investigations bear witness to this special feature of the Pader water, which is still perceptible today.

 

Learn more

Paderpedia

As a Citizen Sciences project, the collective knowledge of citizens about the history, culture and ecology of the Pader river landscape is continuously collected in this digital knowledge repository and communicated in a target group-orientated way.

 

To the website

Biparcous App

Students from the Theodorianum grammar school conducted interdisciplinary research as part of the DenkmalAktiv - Kulturerbe macht Schule project. With the exit game "Padergeheimnis", they bring the history of the Pader to life in an age-appropriate way in the Biparcours app.

 

Learn more