Rur (-German, in Dutch: Roer, not to be confused with the Ruhr) is a river in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a tributary to the river Meuse. About 90% of the river is in Germany.

Geography

The source of the Rur is in the National Park Hautes Fagnes/Hohes Venn, near the 696 m high Signal de Botrange in Belgium at 660 m altitude. South of Monschau it flows into Germany, through North Rhine-Westphalia. It flows first through the northern part of the Eifel hills. After 39 km it reaches an artificial lake, the second largest of Germany. After approx. 160 km it flows into the Netherlands, and after 170 km it flows into the river Meuse in the city Roermond.

Major tributaries of the river Rur are the Inde and the Wurm. Cities along the Rur are Monschau, Düren, Jülich, Heinsberg (all in Germany) and Roermond (Netherlands).

Département de la Roer

From 1798 until 1814, when Belgium, the Netherlands and parts of Germany were incorporated into France (see the 130 départements of the First French Empire), there was a département de la Roer (Rur-departement). The capital was Aachen. The département was subdivided in the following arrondissements and cantons:

• Aachen, cantons: Aachen, Burtscheid, Düren, Eschweiler, Froitzheim , Geilenkirchen , Gemünd , Heinsberg, Linnich , Monschau and Sittard.
• Cleves, cantons: Cleves, Geldern , Goch , Horst, Kalkar , Kranenburg, Wankum , Wesel and Xanten.
• Krefeld, cantons: Krefeld, Bracht , Erkelenz , Kempen , Moers , Neersen, Neuss, Odenkirchen, Rheinberg , Uerdingen, Viersen
• Cologne, cantons: Cologne, Bergheim , Brühl, Dormagen , Elsen , Jülich, Kerpen, Lechenich, Weiden and Zülpich.

Its territory is presently part of Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Netherlands (cantons Horst and Sittard, in Limburg).