The Schönebecker Aue's source is on the Lange Heide plateau near Heilshorn [de; nds] (in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, district Osterholz) in Lower Saxony.

From a height of approx 40m above NAP, the Aue flows through the so-called Bremen Switzerland in the lowland meadows around the castle Schloss Schönebeck [de].

Here the stream carved the Auetal (Aue valley), which is a major recreational area for the population of Bremen-Nord [de; nds; pl].

[3][better source needed] The weir at Schloss Schönebeck, as well as pipe laying at Vegesack railway station had previously caused impassable obstacles for migrating fish.

For years before that, the "opening" of the Aue into a harbor basin near to Vegesack railway station was a controversial discussion point in Bremen communal politics.