{{short description|River in Germany}} {{for|the musical instrument|lute}} {{infobox river<!-- de:Template:Infobox Fluss --> | name = Laute | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | image = | image_size = | image_caption = | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Germany | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = Lower Saxony | subdivision_type3 = Location | subdivision_name3 = Upper Harz | length_km = 6 | depth_avg = | source1_location = near Hahnenklee | source1_coordinates = | source1_elevation = ca. {{Höhe|540|DE-NN|link=true }} | mouth_location = in Lautenthal into the Innerste | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|51.8698|10.2851|display=it|region:DE_type:river}} | mouth_elevation = {{Höhe|300|DE-NN|link=true}} | basin_population = | basin_landmarks = | progression = {{RInnerste}} | basin_size = | discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | tributaries_right = | tributaries_left = | waterbodies = | ports = | bridges = | custom_label = References | custom_data = | extra = }} '''Laute''' is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Innerste.
The Laute rises in the vicinity of Hahnenklee in the Upper Harz and discharges about {{cvt|6|km}} later into the Innerste in Lautenthal. The source is at an elevation of about 540 m at the bottom of a mountain called ''Kuttelbacher Berg''. The Laute flows to the west parallel to road L 516 which is called ''Hahnenkleer Straße'' in Lautenthal. The name of the town means ''Laute Valley''. The mouth is at an elevation of about 300 m in the west of ''Wildemanner Strasse'', the high street of Lautenthal.
In 1875 a railway bridge of the Innerste Valley Railway was built over the Laute close to its mouth.<ref>Evert Heusinkveld: ''Die Innerstetalbahn Langelsheim - Altenau'', p.11. Nordhorn 2007</ref> Although the railway line was closed in 1977, the bridge is well preserved and still used by hikers. A flood of the Laute caused considerable damage in Lautenthal in 1877.<ref>Fremdenverkehrsverein Bergstadt Lautenthal e.V.: ''Lautenthal - wo der Harz am schönsten ist'', p. 38. Lautenthal 2003</ref>
<gallery> File:InnersteLaute.jpg|Laute in the east of Lautenthal File:Laute in Lauthenthal.jpg|Laute in the middle of Lautenthal File:LautenthalLauteBridge.jpg|Former railway bridge over the Laute which discharges into the Innerste (in the foreground) </gallery>
==See also== *List of rivers of Lower Saxony
==References== <references/>
Category:Rivers of Lower Saxony Category:Rivers of the Harz Category:Rivers of Germany