The Hinterrhein (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

;

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Reno Posteriore''; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Posteriur''; Sursilvan: ''Rein Posteriur'';

Rumantsch Grischun Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Putèr: ; Sutsilvan: , , ; Jauer: ) is a Gallo-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the ...

Vallader Vallader (Vallader, Sursilvan, Puter, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''vallader'' ; Sutsilvan: ') is a variety of the Romansh language spoken in the Lower Engadine valley (''Engiadina Bassa'') of southeast Switzerland, between Martina ...

, and Puter: ''Rain Posteriur'';

Surmiran Surmiran (Surmiran, Vallader, Sutsilvan, Rumantsch Grischun: ''surmiran''; Puter: ''surmiraun'') is a dialect of the Romansh language Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rum ...

: ''Ragn posteriour''; en, Posterior Rhine) is one of the two initial

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of the

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

(shorter in length but bigger by volume) rising in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.

Course

Flowing from the village Hinterrhein near the

San Bernardino Pass San Bernardino Pass ( it, Passo del San Bernardino, german: Bernhardinpass, ) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina (Misox) valleys between Thusis (canton of Graubünden) and B ...

through the

Rheinwald The Rheinwald (from Latin ''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a valley in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the G ...

valley, the river flows into a gorge called

Roflaschlucht The Rofla Gorge ( rm, Puntcrap, german: Roflaschlucht) is an ancient and narrow section of the river Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur between Sufers and Andeer in the canton of Graubünden. This narrow gorge was another obstacle on the approach to t ...

. In this gorge an equally sized tributary, the

Avers Rhine The Avers Rhine ( rm, Ragn da Ferrera, german: Averser Rhein) is a tributary of the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Course It rises in Avers at the confluence of the Bergalgabach with the slightly smaller Jufer ...

, adds waters from the deep

Val Ferrera The Ferrera Valley ( rm, Val Ferrera, german: Ferreratal) is a valley in the Swiss canton of Graubünden between Schams and Avers. It is 10 km long and is drained by the Avers Rhine. The only villages in the valley are Innerferrera and Aus ...

and the very remote alp

Avers Avers ( rm, Avras; wae, Òòver(s), , ) is a high Alpine valley region and a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It includes Juf, the highest-altitude year-round settlement in Europe. History Avers is first ...

and its side valley Valle di Lei on Italian territory. After the

Rofla Gorge The Rofla Gorge ( rm, Puntcrap, german: Roflaschlucht) is an ancient and narrow section of the river Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur between Sufers and Andeer in the canton of Graubünden. This narrow gorge was another obstacle on the approach to t ...

, the valley widens into a section called

Schams thumb , The Schams north of Cagliatscha_Castle.html"_;"title="Andeer.__In_the_top_left,_the_ruins_of_Cagliatscha_Castle">Andeer.__In_the_top_left,_the_ruins_of_Cagliatscha_Castle_ The_Schams_(_rm.html" ;"title="Cagliatscha_Castle_.html" ;"tit ...

. The Hinterrhein then reaches

Andeer Andeer () is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Clugin and Pignia merged into Andeer.Viamala Viamala or Via Mala ( Romansh: literally, "bad path") is a narrow gorge along the river Hinterrhein between Zillis-Reischen and Thusis in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, as well as the ancient and notorious pathway which traverse ...

just before

Thusis Thusis ( it, Tosana, '' Romansh: Tusàn'') is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Mutten merged into the municipality of Thusis. History Thusis is first mentioned ...

. Now another tributary of slightly bigger volume reaches the Hinterrhein as the

Landwasser The Landwasser is a river in Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. Its origin was Lake Davos before this was turned into a reservoir for a power station. Nowadays it is prolonged by the creek Flüelabach at its source and changes its name near Da ...

, draining a system of valleys, which is commonly known as Davos joins via the Albula coming from the

Albula Pass The Albula Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass d'Alvra'' or , german: Albulapass) (el. 2312 m) is a Swiss mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden. It lies at the heart of the Albula Alps, on the watershed between the Albula, tributary of the Rhine and th ...

, which is also the name of a railway line that has become a

UNESCO world heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Another big tributary of Albula river is Gelgia from the

Julier pass The Julier Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass dal Güglia'', German: ''Julierpass'', Italian ''Passo del Giulia'') (el. 2284 m) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, in the Albula Alps. It connects the Engadin valley with central Graubünden, the nearest inhab ...

area. After flowing to

Rothenbrunnen Rothenbrunnen (''Giuvaulta'' in romansh) is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Rothenbrunnen is first mentioned in 1472 as ''Hof Juvalt''. In 1572 it was mentioned as ''zum Roten Brunnen''. Geogr ...

through a valley called

Domleschg Domleschg is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Almens, Paspels, Pratval, Rodels and Tomils merged to form the new municipality of Domleschg.

(a valley with an incredible number of castles, showing the importance of transit in the area) the river is again left alone from civilisation in the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

''Isla Bella'' near

Rhäzüns Rhäzüns is a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. History Rhäzüns is first mentioned about 840 as ''Raezunne''. It formed a single parish with Bonaduz until the Reformation. It was part of the Grey League f ...

, before it joins the

Anterior Rhine The Vorderrhein (German; English: ''Anterior Rhine''; Sursilvan: ; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Anteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Anteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn anteriour'') is one of the two sources of the Rhine. Its catchment are ...

at Reichenau.

Significance

To learn about the importance of travel along the Hinterrhein, a multiday trekking route is signposted along the river from Thusis to

Splügen Splügen ( Romansh: ''Spleia'', Italian: ''Spluga'') is a former municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2006 Splügen incorporated its neighbouring municipality of Medels im Rheinwald. On 1 January ...

, where it turns south to

Splügen Pass The Splügen Pass (german: Splügenpass; it, Passo dello Spluga; rm, Pass dal Spleia ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the ...

, a historically important transit route to Italy. Nowadays there is no traffic across the Splügen pass in winter, whereas the route across its age-old rival, the

, was given a long

road tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

in 1967 that made it possible to keep the road open all year.Road closures on passes in Graubünden
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References

Rivers of Switzerland Rivers of Graubünden Andeer Rheinwald Schams Sufers Zillis-Reischen Rongellen Sils im Domleschg Thusis Fürstenau, Switzerland Cazis Domleschg Rothenbrunnen Rhäzüns Domat/Ems Bonaduz {{Switzerland-river-stub