Stepenitz (Trave)

Stepenitz
The Stepenitz between Mühlen Eichsen and Rüting
Location	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany
Reference no.	DE: 9628
Basin features
Main source	Northwest of Schwerin and the Neumühler See ca. 49 m above sea level (NHN) 53°39′55″N 11°16′49″E / 53.66539°N 11.28037°E / 53.66539; 11.28037Coordinates: 53°39′55″N 11°16′49″E / 53.66539°N 11.28037°E / 53.66539; 11.28037
River mouth	Into the Pötenitzer Wiek 53°54′25″N 10°58′00″E / 53.90694°N 10.96667°E / 53.90694; 10.96667
Progression	Trave → Baltic Sea
River system	Trave
Basin size	701 km²
Landmarks	Cities: Lübeck Small towns: Dassow Villages: Brüsewitz, Cramonshagen, Dalberg-Wendelstorf, Mühlen Eichsen, Rüting, Stepenitztal
Tributaries	Left: Radegast, Maurine Right: Poischower Mühlenbach
Waterbodies	Lakes: Rehmsee, Cramoner See, Dalbergkuhle, Wendelstorfer See, Groß Eichsener See, Dassower See Reservoirs: Speicher Faulmühle
Physical characteristics
Length	52 km

The Stepenitz is a right-hand tributary of the River Trave in the northwest of the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and within the borough of Lübeck in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Th river rises northwest of city of Schwerin and the lake of Neumühler See near the Brüsewitz settlement of Eulenkrug and north of a hill ridge at a height of about 49 m above sea level (NHN). From there it first flows through the Rehmsee and then a succession of other lakes, including the Speicher Faulmühle, the Cramoner See, the Wendelstorfer See and the Groß Eichsener See. Continuing to head northwest, it collects the River Radegast in Börzow and the Maurine four kilometres before Dassow. The river section from Rüting to Dassow has numerous meanders.

Just behind the Dassow Bridge in Lübeck the Stepenitz empties into the Dassower See. Through this lake its waters reach the Pötenitzer Wiek, a bay of the Trave river, the Priwall Peninsula and Mecklenburg, where the Stepenitz discharges into the Trave at sea level. A few hundred metres further north, by Travemünde, the Trave reaches the Baltic. The length of the river from source to its mouth on the Dassower See is 52 kilometres. Its catchment covers an area of 701 km².