White Elster

The White Elster (, ) is a long river in central Europe, right tributary of the Saale. Its source is in the westernmost part of the Czech Republic, near Aš. After a few kilometres, it flows into eastern Germany where it cuts through the Vogtland in (according to the "Encyclopædia Britannica") a "deep and picturesque valley". In Germany it flows through the states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. The White Elster flows through the cities of Plauen, Greiz, Gera, Zeitz, Pegau and Leipzig, and into the river Saale in Halle.
Name.
Although "Elster" is German for "magpie", the origin of the name has nothing to do with the bird. It is of Slavic origin: "alstrawa" = hurrying water. The White Elster never meets the Black Elster, which flows from Lusatia into the River Elbe. The rivers have the names "white" and "black" to distinguish between them.
History.
The White Elster proved disastrous to the French troops when they retreated from Leipzig in October 1813, as a part of the Napoleonic Wars. Józef Poniatowski, Marshal of France, drowned in the river on 19 October 1813.