| Kwisa | |
|---|---|
 Bridge atGryfów Śląski | |
 Confluence of Kwisa and Bóbr | |
| Location | |
| Country | Poland |
| Region | Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Lubusz Voivodeship |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Izerskie Garby,Jizera Mountains 50°51′8″N15°24′9″E / 50.85222°N 15.40250°E /50.85222; 15.40250 |
| Mouth | Bóbr atŻelisław 51°34′33″N15°23′39″E / 51.57583°N 15.39417°E /51.57583; 15.39417 |
| Length | 127 km (79 mi) |
| Basin size | 1,026 km2 (396 sq mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Bóbr→Oder→Baltic Sea |
TheKwisa[ˈkfʲisa] (German:Queis,Upper Sorbian:Hwizdź,pronounced[ˈhwʲistʃ]) is a river in south-westernPoland, a left tributary of theBóbr, which itself is a left tributary of theOder river.
It rises in theJizera Mountains, part of theWestern Sudetes range, where it runs along the border with theCzech Republic. At the slope of theSmrk massif it turns northwards, flowing along the towns ofŚwieradów-Zdrój,Mirsk,Gryfów Śląski,Leśna, where it is dammed at theLake Leśnia reservoir, toLubań,Nowogrodziec andKliczków. It finally joins the Bóbr river approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north-west ofMałomice and 5 km (3.1 mi) south-east ofŻagań. For most of its length it is inLower Silesian Voivodeship, but it also flows throughLubusz Voivodeship for several kilometres before reaching its mouth.
From about 937 the southeastern outskirts of theSaxonMarca Geronis, established in the conquered lands settled by the West SlavicMilceni tribes, reached to the left banks of the Queiß-Kwisa. After the partition of the march in 965, the lands west of the river belonged to the ImperialMargravate of Meissen, while the adjacent territory to the east was gradually incorporated into theSilesian region recently conquered by of theEarly Polish state under thePiast dukeMieszko I until 992. His successorBolesław I Chrobry further extended the Polish reach of power to the west, campaigning the Milceni lands aroundBautzen (Budissin), which after several years ofGerman–Polish struggle EmperorHenry II the Saint ceded to him according to the 1018Peace of Bautzen.
Nevertheless, theLand Budissin, later calledUpper Lusatia, was reconquered by EmperorConrad II in 1031 and again held by the Meissen margraves until KingHenry IV of Germany in 1071 enfeoffed DukeVratislaus II of Bohemia, his ally in the loomingSaxon Rebellion. The Bohemian rule was again confirmed by EmperorFrederick Barbarossa in favour of DukeVladislaus II in 1158, accompanied by the royal title. Meanwhile, the territory east of the Kwisa had been incorporated into the PolishDuchy of Silesia in 1138, which after the Emperor's 1163 expedition to Poland was held by theSilesian Piast descendants of DukeWładysław II the Exile. From that time on the river marked the border between the historical regions ofLower Silesia—i.e. theDuchy of Legnica from 1248, theDuchy of Jawor from 1274—in the east and Upper Lusatia in the west.
Together with the lower Bóbr, the Kwisa was therefore one of the rivers considered as a possible marker of the Polish–German border afterWorld War II during the negotiations at the 1945Potsdam Conference, that finally led to the establishment of theOder–Neisse line about 50 km (30 mi) to the west.
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