The Helme is a river in central Germany that is about 65 kilometres (40 mi) long and which forms a left-hand, western tributary of the Unstrut in the states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt.

Northwest of the Kyffhäuser hills it is impounded into a reservoir and a flood retention basin by the Kelbra Dam in the Goldene Aue.

From there the Helme – now in the state of Saxony-Anhalt – continues eastwards flowing through Roßla towards Allstedt, where it then swings south and enters Thuringia again.

The catchment of the Helme encompasses the entire southern Harz region in the north and the Goldene Aue in the middle; while the southern part is fed from a number of smaller hill ranges: in the southwest there are the northern slopes of the hill region south of the towns of Epschenrode - Trebra - Bliedungen - Fronderode, a little further east are the north and east slopes of the Butterberg southwest of Großwerther.

(1) Political fragmentation of 3 states, any of them are managing their own natural resources, which means (2) Impossibility of an sound multidisciplinary integrated Watershed management and so a harmonious regional development; that means (3) powerful soil erosion and accelerate degradation of once fertile agricultural land, (4) silting and contamination of very important lakes and multiuse dams, shortening their live span, (5) Brain-drain, emigration of well educated creative young people, because of high unemployment levels, because is outskirt of places where decisions are made (in the 3 "far away" federal states), because of the creation of artificial superfluous borders between federal states that nobody wants.