The Arbesbach, also known as the ''Erbsenbach'' and ''Sieveringerbach'', is a stream in

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, seve ...

, the 19th district of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 ...

. The stream, partially enclosed in a canal, is the most important tributary of the . Almost all of its lie within the suburb of

Sievering Sievering is a suburb of Vienna and part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. Sievering was created in 1892 out of the two erstwhile independent suburbs Untersievering and Obersievering. These still exist as Katastralgemeinden. For many y ...

Geography

Geology

The Arbesbach, which makes its way through the

Vienna Woods The Vienna Woods (german: Wienerwald) are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna. The and range of hills is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area w ...

, is characteristic for streams in low mountainous areas (). Because the ground does not absorb much rainfall, the level of water in the stream can change rapidly when it rains heavily, resulting in

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

ing. The Arbesbach rises in the woods and runs over relatively steep ground that has been heavily eroded.

Course

Headwaters

Several springs in the area between the and the flow together to form the headwaters of the Arbesbach. The most northerly springs rise to the south of the Jägerwiese and between the Latisberg and . These meet to the north of the Hartgrabenwiese and are quickly joined by another three springs, which rise at Am Himmel () and to the south of the Rohrerwiese. The Arbesbach flows from this point onward along the left-hand side of the Sieveringer Straße. The most easterly tributary, the Gereutebach, rises to the east of the Dreimarkstein and runs along the Spießweg before flowing into the Arbesbach at the point where the stream crosses to the right-hand side of the road to run between it and the Spießweg.

Middle and lower reaches

From the point at which it reaches the Gspöttgraben in Obersievering, the Arbesbach is partially enclosed. From number 223 in the Sieveringer Straße onwards, the stream still follows its own course, but it is almost entirely enclosed. Just past the Agnesgasse (at number 168 in the Sieveringer Straße), the Arbesbach empties into a canal behind the row of houses on the side of the street with odd house numbers. The canal is 1.3 metres wide and 1.8 metres deep. Originally, the Arbesbach continued along this side of the street as far as the Sievering parish church, where it turned off behind the right-hand line of houses before diagonally crossing to the opposite side of the street again at the Brechergasse. Thereafter, the stream flowed past the former Helenenbad near the Schatzlsteig towards the Windhabergasse and then carried on where there is now a footpath between the Windhabergasse and the Sieveringer Straße. Upon reaching the Börnergasse, the Arbesbach finally left the main street and turned into the Gräfweg. From there, its course took it along the Arbesbachgasse, which is named after the stream. It continued in a line from here to empty into the Krottenbach below the former private lunatic asylum.

History

The name Arbesbach hearkens back to the

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

''erbiz'' or ''arwis'' (

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

). This is a reference to the plants that used to grow along the banks of the stream, which were for the most part wild peas. In the past, the untamed Arbesbach frequently caused flooding in Sievering as a result of the geology of the Wienerwald. The streams in the Wienerwald were also often used to dispose of refuse and sewerage. In order to combat the risk of flooding and to reduce the annoyance caused by smells emerging from the stream, efforts to enclose the Arbesbach began between 1894 and 1896. The first section to be enclosed measured 1,364 metres and extended from the point where the stream meets the Krottenbach to house number 83 in the Sieveringer Straße. By 1908, there were already plans to extend the cover, because the smells had become too strong. These plans could however not be realised due to local residents’ demands for compensation. The extension of the cover as far as number 175a in the Sieveringer Straße, a further , only took place between 1954 and 1955. Following a flood in summer 1959, the cover was extended as far as the Agnesgasse in the 1960s.

References

* Gantner, Christian: ''Vom Bach zum Bachkanal.'', Magistrat der Stadt Wien/MA30, Wien 2004, * Kothbauer, Karl: ''Döbling - und seine Ried- und Flurnamen''. Dissertation Wien 2001 {{coord, 48, 15, 24, N, 16, 18, 39, E, region:AT_type:waterbody, display=title Döbling Rivers of Vienna Rivers of Austria