The ( with a length of approximately 180 km. It is formed in eastern
Austria at the confluence of two headstreams (''Schwarza'' and ''Pitten''). Between
Katzelsdorf und
Leithaprodersdorf , the Leitha forms part of the border between Lower Austria and Burgenland, which was the Austrian-Hungarian border until 1921.
Near
Nickelsdorf , the river passes into modern
Hungary , where it flows into an arm of the
Danube river near
Mosonmagyaróvár .
Besides Mosonmagyaróvár, other cities on its course are
Wiener Neustadt and
Bruck An Der Leitha .
Several canals diverge from the Leitha and its tributaries. The canals fed
Spinning companies in the past, and they now feed small
Hydroelectric Power Plants . Between
Seibersdorf and
Hof Am Leithaberge , most of the water in the Leitha is removed for this purpose. From there on, the Leitha only really flows when it is at its high watermark. Downriver from
Katzelsdorf the river is bed almost completely dry as well.
The
Placename s
Lajtabánság ,
Cisleithania and
Transleithania all come from the Leitha. After the
1867 Ausgleich between
Austria and
Hungary , which created the
Dual Monarchy , ''Transleithanien'' ("beyond the Leitha") was the
Viennese colloquial word for the region beyond the Leitha (meaning Hungary), while ''Cisleithanien'' ("on this side of the Leitha") was the region around Vienna (meaning Austria). In the same way, it was also the name for
Kingdom Of Hungary . These names reflect the Viennese and Austrian perspectives towards the rest of the
Empire , because the center of Vienna lay on this side, and the other half, Hungary, lay on ''that'' side. Also,
Galicia and
Bukovina , which were counted as part of Cisleithania, lie far to Hungary's east. Moreover, the
River March formed the border between
Moravia and Hungary, this area is now in Slovakia.
