The Erlenbach () is a river in the Palatinate Forest, in the ( Palatinate region of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. It is the strongest headwater of the

Speyerbach The Speyerbach is a left tributary of the Rhine in the Palatinate part of Rhineland-Palatinate. In Speyer, the river split into ''Gießhübelbach'' and ''Woogbach''. The Woogbach changes its name to ''Nonnenbach'', then flows into Gießhübe ...

, which is the largest river in the

Anterior Palatinate The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the wes ...

. The Erlenbach rises at a height of about 460 m on the eastern slope of the Eschkopf (609 m), hence on the eastern side of the Palatinate

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

. If flows generally to the north and after only 5 km flows into the

shortly after the latter's nominal spring at Speyerbrunn. Hydrologically speaking, the origin of the Erlenbach is the real origin of the Speyerbach. The distance from the Erlenbach's spring to the Speyerbach's confluence with the

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

is 60 km. The drainage basin of the Erlenbach/Speyerbach system measures 596 km².

External links

Large Online Project "Speyerbach"
(since 2005)
Elmstein Valley
Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate Palatinate Forest Rivers and lakes of the Palatinate Forest Anterior Palatinate Rivers of Germany {{RhinelandPalatinate-river-stub