The Aarewaage (in local

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

dialect: ''Woog'') is a

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

phenomenon in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

river

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...

Aarburg Aarburg is a historic town and a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. The small town lies in the southwest Aargau, in a narrow section of the Aare valley, at the confluence with the Wigger. It lies in ...

canton of Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

. In 1996, it was added to the

Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments The ''Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments'' in Switzerland aims to protect landscapes of national importance. The inventory is part of a 1977 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of ...

. At the location of the Aarewaage, the river widens into a broader natural basin and at the same time meets a rock on which

Aarburg Castle Aarburg Castle (german: Festung Aarburg) is a castle in the municipality of Aarburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is located high above the town Aarburg on a steep, rocky hillside. The castle was built around a medieval castle, w ...

is located. The large whirlpool, the "Waage", is created by the main current of the Aare passing by calmer water in the basin, increasing its water level in cycles, further increased by part of the current being diverted by the castle rock and the influx of the two streams ''Tych'' and ''Dorfbach''. Several times, the existence or appearance of the Aarewaage was threatened by planned construction work. In the 1950s, an expansion of the Ruppoldingen hydroelectric power station that wasn't carried out would have destroyed the basin. In the 1970s, a railway bridge was planned at the Aarewaage, but due to landscape preservation concerns, a tunnel was constructed instead. In December 2013, a part of the side wall at the Aarewage collapsed. The wall, which itself is a protected monument, was restored from April to May 2014.

References

Aare Aarburg Whirlpools Protected areas of Switzerland {{Aargau-geo-stub