The Alter Rhein (German for ''Old Rhine'') is the old river bed of the

Alpine Rhine The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth at ...

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

and

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

in the

Alpine Rhine Valley The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth at ...

, which was cut off when the Rhine was straightened during the 20th century. These cut-off arms have become valuable recreational areas and a nature reserve. In 1900, the short-cut at Fussach was completed, linking the natural course of the Rhine just upstream of Höchst and

St. Margrethen St. Margrethen (Saint Margrethen/Sankt Margrethen) is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Geography St. Margrethen has an area, , of . Of this area, 28.3% is used for agric ...

directly to a new outflow into

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

. The old river course downstream of this point, via

Rheineck Rheineck is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Rheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as ''castellum Rinegge''. In 1218 it was mentioned as ''Rinegg''. An older ...

Altenrhein Thal is a village and municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides the village of Thal itself, the municipality also includes the villages of Altenrhein, Buechen, Buriet and St ...

on the shore of

, became known as the ''Alter Rhein'' and continues to form the border between

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The arm is navigable from the lake to Rheineck, and is used by the Swiss shipping services on the lake to reach landing stages adjacent to

Rheineck railway station Rheineck railway station (german: Bahnhof Rheineck) is a railway station that serves the municipality of Rheineck, in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The station is located on the eastern edge of Rheineck village centre, with the A1 motorwa ...

. In 1906, the ("Rhine Valley Inland Canal") was dug, connecting

Sennwald Sennwald is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Werdenberg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Geography Sennwald has an area, , of . Of this area, 49.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 31.5% is forested. ...

. In 1923, another short-cut was completed at

Diepoldsau Diepoldsau is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Diepoldsau is first mentioned in 891 as ''Thiotpoldesouua''. Schmitter is first mentioned in 1385. It was the cross ...

, creating another dead branch, also named ''Alter Rhein''. The area between the Old and New Rhine forms the nature reserve ''Rhine Delta'' (not to be confused with the

Rhine Delta ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

in the Netherlands).

External links

* Rhine Rivers of Vorarlberg Rivers of Switzerland Tributaries of Lake Constance Rivers of the canton of St. Gallen Rivers of Austria International rivers of Europe {{Austria-river-stub