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The Mußbach is a
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
, nearly long, in the eastern Palatinate Forest and 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 ...
region in the south of German state 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 ...
. The former village of ' (annexed by
Neustadt an der Weinstrasse Neustadt (German for ''new town'' or ''new city'') may refer to: Places * Neustadt (urban district) Czech Republic *Neustadt an der Mettau, Nové Město nad Metují *Neustadt an der Tafelfichte, Nové Město pod Smrkem *Nové Město na Mora ...
in 1969) was named after it.


Course

The two springs of the Mußbach rise a few hundred metres apart on the northeastern slope of the Hoher Stoppelkopf (567 metres) in the forest district of Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse. They converge after about . The stream, which usually carries very little water, enters the ("Silver Valley") in the forest district of
Deidesheim Deidesheim ( pfl, Daisem) is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with some 3,700 inhabitants. The town lies in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration and since 1973 it has been the seat of the ''V ...
. After it reaches the Neustadt suburb of
Gimmeldingen Gimmeldingen is a village of 2636 inhabitants () and part of the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the s ...
in the ''Benjental'' valley. Here, it is joined by an unnamed right tributary. The tributary is only long, but carries much more water. Its origin is the ''Loosenbrunnen'' springs on the north flank of the 533-metre-high Weinbiet on the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest. Between 1952 and 1988, water from the spring was pumped up and used as drinking water in the local bar of ''Weinbiethaus''. The combined stream feeds a small reservoir serving tourism in the Gimmeldingen Valley and then reaches the
vines A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...
landscape flanking the
German Wine Route The German Wine RouteScheunemann J., Stewart J., Walker N. and Williams C. (2011), ''Back Roads Germany'', Dorling Kindersley, London. . or Wine Road (german: Deutsche Weinstraße) is the oldest of Germany's tourist wine routes. Located in the ...
. Here, it flows through the Neustadt suburbs of Gimmeldingen and Mußbach. The confluence with the
Rehbach Rehbach is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bad Sobernheim ...
, the northern tributary 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 ...
, is about southeast of this residential area.


History


Name

In
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 ...
, the stream and the village named after it were called ''Muosbach'', meaning something like ''swampy brook'', because natural streams
meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
and cause a high
groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
level.


Mills

In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, the water of the stream was used to drive twelve
mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
s. Their sites are now connected by the (''Mill Trail'').autor=Stadt Neustadt/Weinstr. Mühlenwanderweg
(in German)
Eselsweg, Stabenberg und Mandelblüte
(in German)
Among these are, in downstream order: * The Upper Mill in Deidesheim, so named because it was the highest of the mills on the Mußbach. * The building that is now ''Forsthaus Benjental'' was once a weapon forge, which used a water wheel to drive the iron hammer. * The Lower Mill was built in 1718 in the extreme northwest of Gimmeldingen. It was razed in a major fire in 1886. * The ''Platsche'' Mill was built in 1821 and decommissioned in 1900. Only a millstone remains. * The ''Talmühle'' ("Valley Mill") was the best preserved and was converted into a restaurant. * As early as the
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
times, a mill existed on the boundary of the former village of Lobloch (annexed by neighbouring Gimmeldingen in 1751), south of St Nicholas' Church in Gimmeldingen. Historians believe that the mill once formed the nucleus of the village. * The Wiedemann Mill at the border between Gimmeldingen and Mußbach remained in operation until the early 20th century and was then turned into a
winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...
. The former mill wheel was last seen in the 1960s.


Ecology

In the 19th and first half of the 20th century, the stream was used as an open sewer. It is now partially
restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...
, but also partially canalized.


See also

*
List of rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate A list of rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany: A * Aar * Adenauer Bach *Ahr * Alf * Alfbach *Appelbach *Asdorf * Aubach B * Birzenbach *Blattbach * Breitenbach * Brexbach * Brohlbach, tributary of the Moselle * Brohlbach, tributary of the R ...


References and sources

*


Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussbach Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate Rivers and lakes of the Palatinate Forest Anterior Palatinate Rivers of Germany