The Gose Elbe is a 15 kilometer long oxbow arm of the Elbe in the Hamburg Vier- und Marschlanden. The Gose Elbe was separated from the main river of the Lower Elbe by a dike between the islands of Kirchwerder and Neuengamme around 1390. Directly behind the dike at the Krauel settlement there are several bracks that are still connected to each other and to the Elbe through water-bearing soil layers in the old course of the river. They emerged as washouts after a dike breach and were first mentioned in 1594 as Kraueler Brack. Under the name of the largest of the waters, the lapwing, the area has been a nature reserve since 1985.
At the Kiebitzbrack begins the Gose-Elbe-Graben, which runs in wide meanders in a westerly direction and from the bridge of the Neuengammer Heerweg is called Gose Elbe. The very winding course of the river with a wide bank edge continues in a north-westerly direction between Kirchwerder and Neuengamme in the Vierlanden, as well as afterwards between Ochsenwerder and Reitbrook in the Marschlanden.
From the bridge of the Heinrich-Stubbe-Weg the Gose Elbe can be crossed with rowing boats and canoes. At the northwest tip of Reitbrooks it flows around the nature reserve Die Reit. Behind the riding lock, which is no longer used to regulate the water level, the Gose Elbe is navigable for a short distance with motor boats, before it flows into the Dove Elbe, which is widened like a lake after about 500 meters (as a regatta route). The current of the Gose Elbe is extremely weak, due to the almost non-existent gradient and the many turns. Its water quality is good and it is rich in fish.