Alter Rhein
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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 ...
in
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 state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...
in the Alpine Rhine Valley, 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 directly to a new outflow into Lake Constance. The old river course downstream of this point, via Rheineck to
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 Sta ...
on the shore of Lake Constance, 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. 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. ...
to St. Margrethen. 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 crossi ...
, 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 in the Netherlands).


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* 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