(the Albus of the ancients), a large river of Germany, which rises in the Rieser Gebirge, or Giant's Mountains, between Silesia and Bohemia, and is known at its source by the Slavonic name of the Labbe. Its principal sources are the White Fountain, at the base of the Schnee-Kuppe, and the eleven fountains of the Elbe in the Navarian meadow. To the number of streams which descend into Bohemia from the neighbouring mountains it owes its early increase. After its junction with the river Eger, it becomes navigable; and, entering Saxony, it passes successively Dresden, Meissen, Torgau, and Wittenberg. In its course, which is northerly, it receives as tributaries the Mulda and the Saale; and running through the territory of Magdeburg and the duchies of Mecklenburg and Launburg, it discharges itself at last into the German Ocean, about 70 miles below Hamburg, after a course of 500 miles. The Elbe has always been an important river in a military point of view. With respect to commerce, it is of inestimable value to the countries of N.W. and central Germany, being the channel by which they export their surplus products and receive their imports from abroad. It gives to Hamburg its command of the navigation far into the interior, although the voyage is difficult on account of the numerous sand-banks with which the estuary and the rivers are encumbered. It communicates with the Havel by the canal of Plauen, in the territory of Magdeburg; and at Hamburg it is connected in like manner with the Trave at Lubeck. It is also joined to the Weser by a canal running between Vegesak and Stade. By the railway from Leipnitz to Vienna it communicates with the Danube; and the other railways that touch upon other quarters of the river supply channels for distributing merchandise through the various districts which they traverse.

About 40 miles from its source, the elevation of the river above the level of the sea is only 658 feet; at Schandau it is 341 feet; at Dresden, 279 feet; and at Arneburg in Brandenburg only 176 feet.

Formerly 3 entrepots (Pirna, Dresden, and Magdeburg) and 35 tolls, and numerous corporations of privileged watermen, opposed almost insurmountable difficulties to the navigation: the Austrians and the Saxons could alone navigate the Upper Elbe, that is, from Magdeburg to where it ceases to be navigable, and the Prussians and Hamburgers had the sole privilege of navigating the Lower Elbe. But the navigation of the river was definitively regulated by a convention concluded on the 13th June 1821, between all the bordering states, viz., Austria, Saxony, Prussia, Hanover, Denmark (for Holstein and Launenburg), the grand duchy of Mecklenburg-Schweren, and the three principalities of Anhalt. This convention established the principle of free navigation, allowing every merchant, to whatever bordering state he might belong, with his own vessel and crew to navigate the whole course of the river without interruption; the 35 tolls were reduced to 1½; the heavy dues which were levied upon goods of the first necessity were reduced to those which are paid, one for the cargo (Elbe Toll), and the other for the ship (Recognitionsgeldör); and each state was bound to watch over the portion of river which passed through their territories, and to preserve it from everything injurious to the commerce or navigation. But notwithstanding these regulations, merchants are still exposed to vexatious burdens and interruptions. Wood, stones, fruits, and earthenware, are the principal articles that are brought down the Elbe. Corn, salt, and colonial produce are the principal articles which are carried up, and on these the greater part of the duties are levied.

Numerous steam-boats now traverse the Elbe, and communicate between that river and London, Rotterdam, Havre, &c.