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The Neckar () is a 
Traditionally the fertile plains have been intensively used for agriculture and its steep valley sides as
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from:start till:50 $right text:Eyach (50 km)
from:start till:63 $right text:Fils (63 km)
from:start till:78 $right text:Rems (78 km)
from:start till:52 $right text:Murr (52 km)
from:start till:106 $left text:Enz (106 km, with Nagold 149 km)
from:start till:169 $right text:Kocher (169 km, with Lein 201 km)
from:start till:190 $right text:Jagst (190 km)
from:start till:53 $left text:Elsenz (53 km)
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Named from source to mouth. According to LUBW-BRSWEB, LUBW-FG10, LUBW-GEZG and TK25. Drainage area mostly according to LUBW-GEZG, else measured on the background map. Distances preferably according to the data sets of the LUBW-FG10, rarely measured on the background map. Namen preverably according to TK25.
* Eschach (left tributary at
For a long time it flowed on the high plains of the different 
The river deepening was also caused by the further rise of the Black Forest as well as the retracting erosion of the attacking younger Neckar route. This younger Neckar route tapped the primal Neckar system at Plochingen (hence the ''Neckarknie''), which flowed through the primal
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, mainly flowing through the southwestern state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, with a short section through Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis
Schwarzwald-Baar () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Ortenaukreis, Rottweil, Tuttlingen, Constance, the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, and the districts W ...
near Schwenningen in the ''Schwenninger Moos'' conservation area at a height of above sea level, it passes through Rottweil
Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years.
Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...
, Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...
, Kilchberg, Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
, Wernau
Wernau is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg southwestern Germany. It is situated on the Neckar river, 25 km southeast of Stuttgart.
Geography Location
Wernau is located on the southeast bank of the Neckar river, sou ...
, Nürtingen
Nürtingen () is a town on the river Neckar in the district of Esslingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
History
The following events occurred, by year:
*1046: First mention of ''Niuritingin'' in the document of Speyer. ...
, Plochingen
Plochingen ( Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stutt ...
, Esslingen, Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...
, Marbach, Heilbronn
Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state.
From the late Mid ...
and Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, before discharging on average of water into the Rhine at Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
, at above sea level, making the Neckar its 4th largest tributary, and the 10th largest river in Germany. Since 1968, the Neckar has been navigable for cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
s via 27 locks for about upstream from Mannheim to the river port of Plochingen, at the confluence with the Fils
Fils or FILS may refer to:
People
* Anton Fils (1733–1760), German composer
* Arthur Fils (born 2004), French tennis player
* Pascal Fils (born 1984), Canadian football player
Other uses
* Fils (currency), a subdivision of currency used in ...
.
From Plochingen to Stuttgart, the Neckar valley is densely populated and heavily industrialised, with several well-known companies. Between Stuttgart and Lauffen, the Neckar cuts a scenic, meandering, and in many places steep-sided, valley into fossiliferous Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
limestones and Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
. Along the Neckar's valley in the Odenwald
The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Location
The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
hills many castles can be found, including Hornberg Castle and in Haßmersheim
Haßmersheim is a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country i ...
; the now-mothballed Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant (KWO) is a mothballed nuclear power plant in Obrigheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, on the banks of the Neckar and owned by EnBW. It operated a pressurized water reactor unit from 1969 to 2005. It has been defuelled since ...
and the active Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant
Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Station is a nuclear power plant in Neckarwestheim, Germany, sometimes abbreviated GKN (for german: Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Neckar), operated by EnBW Kernkraft GmbH, a subsidiary of EnBW.
GKN 1
Unit I, in service si ...
are also located there.
Traditionally the fertile plains have been intensively used for agriculture and its steep valley sides as vineyard
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
s.
Etymology
The name ''Neckar'' may be derived from ''Nicarus'' and ''Neccarus'' fromCeltic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
''Nikros'', meaning ''wild water'' or ''wild fellow''. The grammatical gender of the name in German is masculine (der Neckar).
Geography
River course
Drainage area
Sources
The headwater region of the Neckar lies in the Schwenninger Moos between Schwenningen andBad Dürrheim
Bad Dürrheim (Low Alemannic: ''Diirä'') is a town in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated east of the Black Forest, 8 km north of Donaueschingen, and 6 km southeast of Villingen.
From 1951 ...
. The traditionally marked spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
of the river lies in the city park Möglingshöhe in Schwenningen.
Prior to the Landesgartenschau A ''Regional Garden Show'' (''Landesgartenschau'') is an exhibition on horticulture that takes place on a regular basis in several German and Austrian states. In Germany, a state horticultural show at the state level is the smaller counterpart to t ...
Villingen-Schwenningen 2010 the Neckar flowed in the city center of Schwenningen mostly underground. In order to protect the city better from the more frequent flooding through overflow of the duct, the river received more space through a new, mostly open riverbed. This riverbed runs largely on the newly constructed horticultural show ground, which was used as the occasion for the remodeling.
Headwaters
Up to shortly before Rottweil
Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years.
Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...
the Neckar is only a small rivulet on the Baar plateau. In Deißlingen
Deißlingen is a municipality of the Rottweil (district), district of Rottweil of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
In 1802-03, Deißlingen, a possession of the Free Imperial City of Rottweil, and Lauffen ob Rottweil, a property of Rottenmün ...
-Lauffen it has its only, 4 meters high waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...
, which is drained today. Afterward, the Neckar joins with the Eschach coming from the eastern slopes of the Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
which is much more water bearing. Its main tributary Glasbach, which originates at the Brogen, is hydrographically
Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary p ...
seen, the main river of the Neckar river system.
With this junction above Rottweil the Neckar enters a narrow, wooded valley and for the next 80 km it bores its way towards north between the ranges of the Black Forest and the Swabian Jura
The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...
. It has created two cut-off meander spurs at the Neckarburg which is spanned by the Neckarburgbrücke. Further down the river lies high above the river the old town of Oberndorf on a Calcareous sinter terrace, which fills one of the bowl-like side valleys. At Horb it turns from the Gäu Plateau towards north east and then follows the western side of the Swabian Jura (Albtrauf
The term Albtrauf (Alp escarpment) refers to the northwest facing escarpment of the Swabian Alps, situated in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is the most distinctive stepped slope within the alpine region of the South German Scarplands, leadi ...
). Near Weitingen the valley is traversed by the 127 m high Neckar Viaduct of the A 81. At Rottenburg it enters the wider valley of Tübingen. After Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
the valley narrows again. From here onwards, the surrounding elevated grounds are considerably more densely populated.
Middle reaches
At Plochingen
Plochingen ( Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stutt ...
the Neckar turns sharply north west at the "Neckarknie" (knee of the Neckar), the mouth of the Fils
Fils or FILS may refer to:
People
* Anton Fils (1733–1760), German composer
* Arthur Fils (born 2004), French tennis player
* Pascal Fils (born 1984), Canadian football player
Other uses
* Fils (currency), a subdivision of currency used in ...
coming down from the east, from the Swabian Jura. Beginning from here the river has been expanded into a canalised waterway. It lies up to Stuttgart in a wide, urbanized meadow, which has been built over with industry and is cut through by transportation structures. Only around the Cannstatter valley bend for a short distance it is interspersed by large park areas. Here again the valley sides show limestone-sinter.
Between Stuttgart and Lauffen the Neckar cuts a scenic, meandering, and in many places steep-sided, valley into fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
iferous Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
limestones
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when th ...
and Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
.
After Stuttgart it turns again towards the general northern direction. In a winding and narrow valley section through the Ludwigsburg (district)
Landkreis Ludwigsburg is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Heilbronn, Rems-Murr-Kreis, the district-free city Stuttgart, and the districts Böblingen and En ...
the Rems enters from the right at Remseck
Remseck am Neckar () is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Rems and Neckar, about 12 km northeast of Stuttgart, and 7 km southeast of Ludwigsburg.
The to ...
and then again from the right north of Marbach the Murr. After passing the Hessigheimer Felsengärten the water-rich Enz
The Enz is a river flowing north from the Black Forest to the Neckar in Baden-Württemberg.
It is 106 km long.
Its headstreams – the Little Enz (german: Kleine Enz) and the Great Enz or Big Enz (''Große Enz'') – rise in the Northern B ...
enters from the left at Besigheim
Besigheim () is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a t ...
. The former rapid at the Lauffener avulsion of the meander is today under water due to the canalization. In the Lowlands
Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland.
Definitions
Upland and lowland are portions of p ...
around Heilbronn
Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state.
From the late Mid ...
the Neckar runs again through a wide meadow an open landscape. At Bad Friedrichshall
Bad Friedrichshall () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated at the confluences of the Jagst and of the Kocher into the Neckar, some north of Heilbronn. Bad Friedrichshall arose by the ...
it takes up within only two kilometers the other two of its large tributaries: First its water-richest tributary, the Kocher
The Kocher () is a -longincluding its source river Schwarzer Kocher right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, mea ...
and then the officially longest, the Jagst
The Jagst () is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg. It is 190 km long. Its source is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. It winds through the towns Ellwangen, Crailsheim, Kirchberg an der ...
, in total roughly doubling its discharge.
Lower reaches
Between Bad Wimpfen
Bad Wimpfen () is a historic spa town in the district of Heilbronn in the Baden-Württemberg region of southern Germany. It lies north of the city of Heilbronn, on the river Neckar.
Geography
Bad Wimpfen is located on the west bank of the River ...
with its Stauferpfalz and Mosbach
Mosbach (; South Franconian: ''Mossbach'') is a town in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the seat of the Neckar-Odenwald district and has a population of approximately 25,000 distributed in six boroughs: Mosbach Town, Lohrbach, N ...
, the Neckar enters the Odenwald
The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Location
The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
, where, again in a gorge-like valley, high, elevated, forested slopes line its riverside and especially on the right side, deeply cut valleys enter. At the last of his distinctive knees at Eberbach it turns west, enters at Hirschhorn Hirschhorn is derived from German composite word "Hirsch" (deer) and "Horn" (horn), part of a deer's antlers. A variation is Hirshhorn. It may refer to:
* Hirschhorn (Neckar), a town in Hesse, Germany
* Hirschhorn, Rhineland-Palatinate, a municipal ...
for a short distance Hessian territory and is then up to Neckarsteinach
The four-castle town of Neckarsteinach lies on the Neckar in the Bergstraße district in the southernmost part of Hesse, Germany, 15 km east of Heidelberg.
Geography
Location
Both by way of transport and culture, Neckarsteinach's location ...
on long parts the border between Baden-Württemberg and Hessen. At Neckargemünd
Neckargemünd ( pfl, Neggergmin) is a town in Germany, in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies on the Neckar, 10 km upriver from Heidelberg at the confluence with the river Elsenz. This confluence of the t ...
the Elsenz
Elsenz is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It passes through Sinsheim and flows into the Neckar in Neckargemünd.
See also
*List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg
A list of rivers of Baden-Württemberg, Germany:
A
* Aal
* Aalbach
*Aalen ...
enters from the left, its lower reaches using a part of the Neckars former Maurer
Maurer is a German surname, translating in English to "bricklayer" or "wall builder." Notable people with the surname include:
*Adrian Maurer (1901–1943), American football player
*Alfred Maurer (politician) (1888–1954), Estonian politician
* ...
river loop which extended far south. At the city of Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, which borders in the north the Odenwald and at the south the Königstuhl (Odenwald)
The Königstuhl (), is a high hill in the Odenwald Mountains and in the city of Heidelberg, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The Königstuhl summit allows visitors views of the city of Heidelberg and the Neckar river. On days with goo ...
, the Neckarvalley is cut in the deepest by over 400m through mountains. After passing the Heidelberger historic city, the river enters the wide Upper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...
and after further about 25 kilometers in Mannheim roughly at its middle it enters the Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
from the right.
Tributaries
The largest tributaries of the Neckar are the Enz with the largest drainage area, theKocher
The Kocher () is a -longincluding its source river Schwarzer Kocher right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, mea ...
with the highest average water drainage and the longest one, the Jagst
The Jagst () is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg. It is 190 km long. Its source is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. It winds through the towns Ellwangen, Crailsheim, Kirchberg an der ...
. The Kocher tributary Lein Lein may refer to:
People with that name
*Allen Lein (1913–2003), American endocrinologist and medical school professor
*Anatoly Lein (1931–2018), Soviet-born American chess Grandmaster
* Lars O. Lein (1874–1958), American farmer and politici ...
is at its end not only longer than the Kocher, but also more water-abundant. Therefore, according to hydrographic convention, the Lein would have to be regarded as the main river of the Kocher water system, making it with then 201 kilometers the longest tributary of the Neckar.
Diagram of the tributaries with 50 plus km length
Tributaries with 20 km length and more
Named from source to mouth. According to LUBW-BRSWEB, LUBW-FG10, LUBW-GEZG and TK25. Drainage area mostly according to LUBW-GEZG, else measured on the background map. Distances preferably according to the data sets of the LUBW-FG10, rarely measured on the background map. Namen preverably according to TK25.
* Eschach (left tributary at Rottweil
Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years.
Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...
-Bühlingen, 38.1 km)
*Prim
Prim may refer to:
People
* Prim (given name)
* Prim (surname)
Places
* Prim, Virginia, unincorporated community in King George County
*Dolní Přím, village in the Czech Republic; as Nieder Prim (Lower Prim) site of the Battle of Königgrätz
...
(right tributary at Rottweil, 21.1 km)
*Schlichem
Schlichem is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It passes through Schömberg, Zollernalbkreis, Schömberg and flows, away, into the Neckar in Epfendorf.
Geography Course
Its source is located north of Tieringen (district of Meßstett ...
(right tributary at Epfendorf
Epfendorf is a municipality in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Epfendorf is located in the Upper Neckar valley between Oberndorf am Neckar and Rottweil. Neighboring communities
The municipality borders to the north to ...
, 34.4 km)
* Glatt (left tributary at Horb-Neckarhausen, 34.2 km)
* Eyach (right tributary at Bf. Eyach, community Eutingen im Gäu
Eutingen is a municipality in the district of Freudenstadt in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
, 50.4 km)
* Starzel (right tributary at Rottenburg-Bieringen, 42.8 km)
*Steinlach
The Steinlach is a river with a length of in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is a tributary to the Neckar.
It has its source in the ''Eckenbachgraben'', a gap in the Swabian Alb mountain range. The source is on the territory of the town of Mössi ...
(right tributary at Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
, 25.1 km)
* Ammer (left tributary at Tübingen-Lustnau, 22.5 km)
*Echaz
The Echaz is a 23 km long river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, a tributary of the Neckar.
It has its source on the Swabian Jura, near Lichtenstein, south of Reutlingen. After flowing through Pfullingen, Reutlingen and Wannweil, it discharg ...
(right tributary at Kirchentellinsfurt
Kirchentellinsfurt is a municipality in the district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, about 7 km east of the city of Tübingen and 7 km northwest of Reutlingen. Since 2015, Bernd Haug has been the mayor of Kirchentellinsf ...
, 22.8 km)
*Erms
The Erms () is a river of the karstified Swabian Alb range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into the Neckar in Neckartenzlingen. On its way from the Karst spring to the next large municipality Bad Urach, a former Erms sedimented, especia ...
(right tributary at Neckartenzlingen
Neckartenzlingen is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
Geography
It is located 10 km north of Reutlingen, and 25 km south of Stuttgart.
Twin towns — sister cities
Neckartenzlingen is t ...
, 32.7 km)
*Aich Aich may refer to:
*Aich, Styria, a municipality in Styria, Austria
* Aich (surname), a Bengali Hindu surname
* Aich (river), a river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
* Aich's Alloy, a type of brass
*Gut Aich Priory, a Benedictine monastery in St. ...
(left tributary at Nürtingen
Nürtingen () is a town on the river Neckar in the district of Esslingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
History
The following events occurred, by year:
*1046: First mention of ''Niuritingin'' in the document of Speyer. ...
-Oberensingen, 30.4 km)
*Lauter
Lauter may refer to:
People
* Lauter (surname)
Places
*Lauter, Saxony, town in the district of Aue-Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Germany
* Lauter, Bavaria, village in the district of Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
Rivers
* Lauter (Baunach), tributary to th ...
(right tributary at Wendlingen
Wendlingen is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated on the Neckar and Lauter rivers, 27 km southeast of Stuttgart.
The town grew in size, officially, on 1 April 1940, when three separ ...
, 25.7 km)
*Fils
Fils or FILS may refer to:
People
* Anton Fils (1733–1760), German composer
* Arthur Fils (born 2004), French tennis player
* Pascal Fils (born 1984), Canadian football player
Other uses
* Fils (currency), a subdivision of currency used in ...
(right tributary at Plochingen
Plochingen ( Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stutt ...
, 62.8 km)
*Körsch
Körsch (; in its upper course: ''Sindelbach'') is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Neckar at Deizisau.
It is the second largest waterbody in Stuttgart and is formed at the convergence of the right Sindelba ...
(left tributary west of Deizisau
Deizisau is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region
(until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. Deizisau is located between the towns ...
, 26.3 km)
* Rems (right tributary at Remseck
Remseck am Neckar () is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Rems and Neckar, about 12 km northeast of Stuttgart, and 7 km southeast of Ludwigsburg.
The to ...
, 78.4 km)
* Murr (right tributary at Marbach, 51.5 km)
*Enz
The Enz is a river flowing north from the Black Forest to the Neckar in Baden-Württemberg.
It is 106 km long.
Its headstreams – the Little Enz (german: Kleine Enz) and the Great Enz or Big Enz (''Große Enz'') – rise in the Northern B ...
(left tributary at Besigheim
Besigheim () is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a t ...
, 105.5 km)
*Zaber
The Zaber () is a minor tributary of the River Neckar in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is some 22 km in length and joins the Neckar from the west at Lauffen am Neckar. It has given its name to the Zabergäu, the area between the Heuchelb ...
(left tributary at Lauffen
Lauffen am Neckar () or simply Lauffen is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is on the river Neckar, southwest of Heilbronn. The town is famous as the birthplace of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin and for its qu ...
, 22.4 km)
*Schozach
Schozach is a river in Germany. It is a right tributary of the Neckar in the southern part of the Heilbronn district of Baden-Württemberg. It has its source near the village Vorhof near Untergruppenbach in the Löwenstein Hills and flows th ...
(right tributary at Heilbronn
Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state.
From the late Mid ...
-Sontheim, 25.6 km)
*Lein Lein may refer to:
People with that name
*Allen Lein (1913–2003), American endocrinologist and medical school professor
*Anatoly Lein (1931–2018), Soviet-born American chess Grandmaster
* Lars O. Lein (1874–1958), American farmer and politici ...
(left tributary at Heilbronn-Neckargartach, 27.3 km)
* Sulm (right tributary at Neckarsulm
Neckarsulm () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, near Heilbronn, and part of the district of Heilbronn. , Neckarsulm had 26,800 inhabitants. The name Neckarsulm derives from the city's location where the Neckar and Sulm rivers ...
, 26.2 km)
*Kocher
The Kocher () is a -longincluding its source river Schwarzer Kocher right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, mea ...
(right tributary at Bad Friedrichshall-Kochendorf, 168.7 km)
*Jagst
The Jagst () is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg. It is 190 km long. Its source is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. It winds through the towns Ellwangen, Crailsheim, Kirchberg an der ...
(right tributary at Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld
Bad Friedrichshall Hauptbahnhof is a regionally important junction station and a former border station in the city of Bad Friedrichshall in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The modern Elsenz Valley Railway and Neckar Valley Railway branch ...
, 190.2 km)
* Elz (right tributary at Mosbach-Neckarelz, 39.8 km)
*Itter
Itter is a municipality in the Kitzbühel District in the Austrian state of Tyrol located 18.60 km west of Kitzbühel, 5 km southeast of Wörgl, and 2.5 km north of Hopfgarten im Brixental. The village lies on a terrace above the ...
(right tributary at Eberbach, 28.0 km)
*Laxbach
Laxbach is a short river of Hesse, Germany. It is formed in Hirschhorn at the confluence of the rivers Ulfenbach and Finkenbach. After 0.7 km it discharges into the Neckar.
See also
*List of rivers of Hesse
A list of rivers of Hesse, Ger ...
(right tributary at Hirschhorn Hirschhorn is derived from German composite word "Hirsch" (deer) and "Horn" (horn), part of a deer's antlers. A variation is Hirshhorn. It may refer to:
* Hirschhorn (Neckar), a town in Hesse, Germany
* Hirschhorn, Rhineland-Palatinate, a municipal ...
, 30.0 km with the longest headwaters)
* Steinach (right tributary at Neckarsteinach
The four-castle town of Neckarsteinach lies on the Neckar in the Bergstraße district in the southernmost part of Hesse, Germany, 15 km east of Heidelberg.
Geography
Location
Both by way of transport and culture, Neckarsteinach's location ...
, 21.9 km)
*Elsenz
Elsenz is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It passes through Sinsheim and flows into the Neckar in Neckargemünd.
See also
*List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg
A list of rivers of Baden-Württemberg, Germany:
A
* Aal
* Aalbach
*Aalen ...
(left tributary at Neckargemünd
Neckargemünd ( pfl, Neggergmin) is a town in Germany, in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies on the Neckar, 10 km upriver from Heidelberg at the confluence with the river Elsenz. This confluence of the t ...
, 53.4 km)
Cities and municipalities
The Neckar touches, from the source to the mouth, the following districts, cities and municipalities: *Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis
Schwarzwald-Baar () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Ortenaukreis, Rottweil, Tuttlingen, Constance, the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, and the districts W ...
: Villingen-Schwenningen, Dauchingen
Dauchingen is a municipality in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Some of the earliest evidence of human habitation of the area of Dauchingen are Roman and suggest a ''villa rustica'' from between the years ...
* Landkreis Rottweil
Rottweil is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg region in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald regional district. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Freudenstad ...
: Deißlingen
Deißlingen is a municipality of the Rottweil (district), district of Rottweil of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
In 1802-03, Deißlingen, a possession of the Free Imperial City of Rottweil, and Lauffen ob Rottweil, a property of Rottenmün ...
, Villingendorf
Villingendorf is a town in the Rottweil (district), district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
References
Rottweil (district)
Populated places on the Neckar basin
Populated riverside places in Germany
{{Rottweil-geo-stub ...
, Rottweil
Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years.
Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...
, Epfendorf
Epfendorf is a municipality in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Epfendorf is located in the Upper Neckar valley between Oberndorf am Neckar and Rottweil. Neighboring communities
The municipality borders to the north to ...
, Oberndorf am Neckar
Oberndorf am Neckar (; Swabian: ''Oberndorf am Näggô'') is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Neckar, north of Rottweil. It historically was and currently is a major center of t ...
, Sulz am Neckar
Sulz am Neckar is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Neckar, 22 km north of Rottweil, and 19 km southeast of Freudenstadt.
Sulz am Neckar came in the possession of the Hohe ...
* Landkreis Freudenstadt
Freudenstadt is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Rastatt, Calw, Tübingen, Zollernalbkreis, Rottweil and the Ortenaukreis.
History
The district was created ...
: Horb am Neckar
Horb am Neckar is a town in the southwest of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river, between Offenburg to the west (about away) and Tübingen to the east (about away). It has around 25,000 inhabitants, of whom ...
, Eutingen im Gäu
Eutingen is a municipality in the district of Freudenstadt in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
(Weitinger Mühle)
* Landkreis Tübingen
In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia ...
: Starzach
Starzach is a municipality in the district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Starzach is located about 20 kilometers southwest from Tübingen.
Geographical location
Starzach is located on the Neckar between Rottenburg am Neckar and ...
(municipality districts Börstingen and Sulzau), Rottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...
, Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
, Kirchentellinsfurt
Kirchentellinsfurt is a municipality in the district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, about 7 km east of the city of Tübingen and 7 km northwest of Reutlingen. Since 2015, Bernd Haug has been the mayor of Kirchentellinsf ...
* Landkreis Reutlingen
Reutlingen, nicknamed "The Gate to the Swabian Alb" (german: "Das Tor zur Schwäbischen Alb"), is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
The former free imperial city (until 1802) reached the ...
: Reutlingen
Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818.
Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...
(municipality districts Altenburg, Oferdingen and Mittelstadt), Pliezhausen
Pliezhausen is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
Geography
Pliezhausen is located between the Neckar and the Schönbuch.
Constituent communities
The original municipality Pliezhausen consists of th ...
* Landkreis Esslingen
Esslingen is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the centre of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Rems-Murr, Göppingen, Reutlingen, Böblingen and the district-free city Stuttgart.
Until 15 October 1964 the ...
: Neckartenzlingen
Neckartenzlingen is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
Geography
It is located 10 km north of Reutlingen, and 25 km south of Stuttgart.
Twin towns — sister cities
Neckartenzlingen is t ...
, Neckartailfingen
Neckartailfingen is a municipality in Germany, located approximately south of Stuttgart. It is located on the river Neckar.
History
Neckartailfingen was first mentioned in 1090 in the Hirsau codex (Codex Hirsaugiensis) as ''Tagelvingen''. ...
, Nürtingen
Nürtingen () is a town on the river Neckar in the district of Esslingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
History
The following events occurred, by year:
*1046: First mention of ''Niuritingin'' in the document of Speyer. ...
, Oberboihingen
Oberboihingen is a municipality in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
Geography
It is located 20 km southeast of Stuttgart on the railway line between Stuttgart and Tübingen.
Curiosities
At the station ...
, Unterensingen
Unterensingen is a municipality in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
Geography
It is located 19 km southeast of Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German ...
, Wendlingen am Neckar
Wendlingen is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated on the Neckar and Lauter rivers, 27 km southeast of Stuttgart.
The town grew in size, officially, on 1 April 1940, when three s ...
, Köngen
Köngen is a municipality in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. About nine kilometers from the district city Esslingen am Neckar and about six kilometers away from Nürtingen. It is part of the Stuttgart Region and the E ...
, Wernau (Neckar)
Wernau is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg southwestern Germany. It is situated on the Neckar river, 25 km southeast of Stuttgart.
Geography Location
Wernau is located on the southeast bank of the Neckar river, sou ...
, Plochingen
Plochingen ( Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stutt ...
, Deizisau
Deizisau is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region
(until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. Deizisau is located between the towns ...
, Altbach
Altbach is a municipality in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region. (until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the European Metropolitan Region Stuttgart.
Geography Geographical location
Altb ...
, Esslingen am Neckar
Esslingen am Neckar ( Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest town in the district. Within Baden-Württemberg it is t ...
* Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
(urban district), city districts Obertürkheim, Hedelfingen, Wangen, Untertürkheim
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swa ...
, Stuttgart-Ost, Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's b ...
, Münster, Hofen, Mühlhausen)
* Rems-Murr-Kreis
Rems-Murr is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall, Ostalbkreis, Göppingen, Esslingen, the district-free city Stuttgart and the distr ...
: Fellbach
Fellbach () is a mid-sized town on the north-east edge of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of approximately 45.430 is the second largest town in the District Rems-Murr-Kreis. The area of the town is .
Fellbach was fir ...
(municipality district Oeffingen; only right shore)
* Landkreis Ludwigsburg
Landkreis Ludwigsburg is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Heilbronn, Rems-Murr-Kreis, the district-free city Stuttgart, and the districts Böblingen and Enz ...
: Remseck am Neckar
Remseck am Neckar () is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Rems and Neckar, about 12 km northeast of Stuttgart, and 7 km southeast of Ludwigsburg.
The ...
, Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...
(municipality districts Poppenweiler, Hoheneck and Neckarweihingen), Marbach am Neckar
Marbach am Neckar is a town about 20 kilometres north of Stuttgart. It belongs to the district of Ludwigsburg, the Stuttgart region and the European metropolitan region of Stuttgart. Marbach is known as the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller, to w ...
, Benningen am Neckar
Benningen am Neckar is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
History
By 85 AD, the Neckar-Odenwald line was the frontier of the Roman Empire. The Romans built the Limes Germanicus to secure this borde ...
, Freiberg am Neckar
Freiberg am Neckar is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Neckar, 18 km north of Stuttgart, and 4 km north of Ludwigsburg.
Administrative structure
The town of ...
, Pleidelsheim
Pleidelsheim is a municipality in the state of Baden-Württemberg, about north of Stuttgart. Pleidelsheim is situated on the right bank of the Neckar river across from Ingersheim. This historical town has buildings that date back to the 14th ...
, Ingersheim
Ingersheim is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, belonging to the Stuttgart Region.
Geography
Geographical location
Ingersheim is located on the western bank of the Neckar about 20 kilometers ...
, Mundelsheim
Mundelsheim is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. It is located in the Ludwigsburg district, about 30 km north of Stuttgart and 20 km south of Heilbronn, on the Neckar river. It belongs to the Stuttgart Metropo ...
, Hessigheim
Hessigheim is a municipality in the Ludwigsburg district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Hessigheim was first mentioned in 744 as a property of first Lorsch Abbey to Princely Abbey of Fulda. The town was pledged to the Electoral Palatina ...
, Besigheim
Besigheim () is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a t ...
, Walheim
Walheim is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with a considerable viticulture. Besides the village Walheim there are no other places belonging to the municipal area of Walheim.
Geography and climate
Walheim is s ...
, Gemmrigheim
Gemmrigheim is municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Gemmrigheim was first mentioned in historical documentation in 1085 as a possession of the , though the village was probably established in the 5 ...
, Kirchheim am Neckar
Kirchheim is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe afte ...
* Landkreis Heilbronn
Landkreis Heilbronn () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Neckar-Odenwald, Hohenlohe, Schwäbisch Hall, Rems-Murr, Ludwigsburg, Enz, Karlsruhe and Rhein-Necka ...
: Neckarwestheim
Neckarwestheim is a municipality with 3524 inhabitants in the Heilbronn district, Baden-Württemberg, in south-west Germany. It is located on the Neckar river and is well known as the location of a nuclear power station, the Neckarwestheim Nuclea ...
, Lauffen am Neckar
Lauffen am Neckar () or simply Lauffen is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is on the river Neckar, southwest of Heilbronn. The town is famous as the birthplace of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin and for its qu ...
, Talheim
Talheim () is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
, Nordheim
* Heilbronn
Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state.
From the late Mid ...
(urban district)
* Landkreis Heilbronn: Neckarsulm
Neckarsulm () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, near Heilbronn, and part of the district of Heilbronn. , Neckarsulm had 26,800 inhabitants. The name Neckarsulm derives from the city's location where the Neckar and Sulm rivers ...
, Untereisesheim
Untereisesheim is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe a ...
, Bad Friedrichshall
Bad Friedrichshall () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated at the confluences of the Jagst and of the Kocher into the Neckar, some north of Heilbronn. Bad Friedrichshall arose by the ...
, Bad Wimpfen
Bad Wimpfen () is a historic spa town in the district of Heilbronn in the Baden-Württemberg region of southern Germany. It lies north of the city of Heilbronn, on the river Neckar.
Geography
Bad Wimpfen is located on the west bank of the River ...
, Offenau
Offenau () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia ...
, Bad Rappenau
Bad Rappenau (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Rappene'') is a city municipality in the Heilbronn (district), district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated about northwest of Heilbronn.
Geography
...
(municipality district Heinsheim
Bad Rappenau (; South Franconian: ''Rappene'') is a city municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated about northwest of Heilbronn.
Geography
Bad Rappenau is situated in the northeastern K ...
), Gundelsheim
* Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis
Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from east clockwise) Main-Tauber-Kreis, Hohenlohe-Kreis, Heilbronn, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Odenwaldkreis (Hesse) and Landkre ...
: Haßmersheim
Haßmersheim is a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country i ...
, Neckarzimmern
Neckarzimmern is a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neckarzimmern also was the main site of dispersal for the German Anti-Friction Bearings Industry during the Allied bombing of Germany. Thi ...
, Mosbach
Mosbach (; South Franconian: ''Mossbach'') is a town in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the seat of the Neckar-Odenwald district and has a population of approximately 25,000 distributed in six boroughs: Mosbach Town, Lohrbach, N ...
(municipality districts Neckarelz
Neckarelz is a suburb of Mosbach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Geography
Neckarelz is in northern Baden-Württemberg, between the Odenwald and Kraichgau, at the confluence of the Neckar and Elz rivers. On the other side of the Neckar, are t ...
and Diedesheim), Obrigheim
Obrigheim ( South Franconian: ''Owweringe'') is a town in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
It is the location of the Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant (KWO) is a mothballed nucl ...
, Binau
Binau is a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
There are signs of human settlement in the area dating from the Bronze Age.
Binau is first mentioned in historical records in 769. The c ...
, Neckargerach
Neckargerach is a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country ...
, Zwingenberg
* Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The administrative headquarters are based in the city Heidelberg, which is a district-free city. As of 2019, the district is the most populous in Baden-Württe ...
: Eberbach, Schönbrunn (Baden)
Schönbrunn () is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It consists of the villages Allemühl, Haag, Moosbrunn, Schönbrunn and Schwanheim. It is situated in the southern part of the Odenwald hills, south of t ...
* Kreis Bergstraße
Kreis is the German word for circle.
Kreis may also refer to:
Places
* , or circles, various subdivisions roughly equivalent to counties, districts or municipalities
** Districts of Germany (including and )
** Former districts of Prussia, al ...
(Hessen): Hirschhorn Hirschhorn is derived from German composite word "Hirsch" (deer) and "Horn" (horn), part of a deer's antlers. A variation is Hirshhorn. It may refer to:
* Hirschhorn (Neckar), a town in Hesse, Germany
* Hirschhorn, Rhineland-Palatinate, a municipal ...
(Neckar), Neckarsteinach
The four-castle town of Neckarsteinach lies on the Neckar in the Bergstraße district in the southernmost part of Hesse, Germany, 15 km east of Heidelberg.
Geography
Location
Both by way of transport and culture, Neckarsteinach's location ...
* Rhein-Neckar-Kreis: Neckargemünd
Neckargemünd ( pfl, Neggergmin) is a town in Germany, in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies on the Neckar, 10 km upriver from Heidelberg at the confluence with the river Elsenz. This confluence of the t ...
* Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
(urban district), city districts Schlierbach, Ziegelhausen
Heidelberg-Ziegelhausen is a residential district (of fourteen) at the eastern perimeter of the city of Heidelberg, Germany.
Ziegelhausen lies on the northern banks of the Neckar River and extends northward into the Odenwald Forest. It has a sma ...
, Neuenheim, Altstadt, Bergheim, Wieblingen
Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students.
...
* Rhein-Neckar-Kreis: Dossenheim
Dossenheim () is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis (district) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
It is located on Bergstraße and Bertha Benz Memorial Route.
Geography
Location
Dossenheim lies 5 kilometers north of Heidelberg along the Be ...
(municipality districts Schwabenheim), Edingen-Neckarhausen
Edingen-Neckarhausen is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Neckar.
Geography
Edingen-Neckarhausen lies about 12 km south-east of Mannheim and somew ...
, Ladenburg
Ladenburg is a town in northwestern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies on the right bank of the river Neckar, northwest of Heidelberg and east of Mannheim.
The town's history goes back to the Celtic and Roman Ages, when it was called Lopo ...
, Ilvesheim
Ilvesheim is a town of about 8700 residents (2012) in the district of Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
It is one of the first towns located along the famous Bertha Benz Memorial Route.
History
Ilvesheim was first mentioned in a ...
* Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
(urban district), city districts Seckenheim, Feudenheim, Neuostheim
Neuostheim/Neuhermsheim is a suburb of the city of Mannheim, Germany, composed of Neuostheim and Neuhermsheim and is considered to be one of the more attractive neighbourhoods of Mannheim. It is located 3.5 km (2.2 mi) east of the city centre. ...
, Oststadt, Neckarstadt-Ost, Innenstadt/Jungbusch, Neckarstadt-West
River history
The primal Neckar started off as anescarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...
riverlet due to the slow rise of the Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
and the connected slow erosive retraction of the South German Scarplands
The South German Scarplands is a geological and geomorphological natural region or landscape in Switzerland and the south German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The landscape is characterised by escarpments.
It is variously referred to ...
.
For a long time it flowed on the high plains of the different Gäu Plateaus
The Gäu PlateausElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972, pp 186-188. ASIN B0011Z9KJA.
(german: Neckar- und Taubergäuplatten) form the largest natural region in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Not surp ...
created through the hard chalks of the Muschelkalk
The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; french: calcaire coquillier) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million ye ...
. At Horb the river was redirected to the northeast due to the rift structure of the so-called ''Swabia
Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
n Lineament ''See also Line (geometry)''
A lineament is a linear feature in a landscape which is an expression of an underlying geological structure such as a fault. Typically a lineament will appear as a fault-aligned valley, a series of fault or fold-aligne ...
'', which lies roughly parallel to the escarpment of the Swabian Jura
The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...
. Following that the Neckar cut into the Muschelkalk plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
between Rottweil and Rottenburg as well as the younger Keuper
The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolomite, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Late ...
and Jura layers in the northeast, and created narrow water gap
A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...
s in the area of the morphologically hard chalks and sandstones.
The river deepening was also caused by the further rise of the Black Forest as well as the retracting erosion of the attacking younger Neckar route. This younger Neckar route tapped the primal Neckar system at Plochingen (hence the ''Neckarknie''), which flowed through the primal lone
Lone may refer to:
People
*Lone (given name), a given name (including a list of people with this name)
* Lone (musician), Matt Cutler, an electronic musician from Nottingham, United Kingdom
*Lone (surname), a surname (including a list of people w ...
to the primal Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. Another influence on this river area was the Schurwald
The Schurwald is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany, which at its highest point is 513.2 m above sea level.
It is one of the most important Recreation areas for the Stuttgart area. Over the centuries, the vast forests ...
, a dissected cuesta
A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer ...
of the filder rift, working as a river guideline.
Today's lower reaches used to be those of the primal Enz
The Enz is a river flowing north from the Black Forest to the Neckar in Baden-Württemberg.
It is 106 km long.
Its headstreams – the Little Enz (german: Kleine Enz) and the Great Enz or Big Enz (''Große Enz'') – rise in the Northern B ...
. Until, through the erosive retraction of a tributary of the primal Enz near Besigheim, the Neckar river network was tapped. That is how the Enz became a tributary of the Neckar. Another trace of the former north western extent of the Danube river network is the Eschach running from north west to south east, hence towards the primal Danube. With the retraction of the escarpment, it was tapped by a Neckar tributary and redirected by about 90° to the east. Considering river history, it was never a headstream of the Neckar.
Until 2000 years ago the Neckar flowed through a pastureland in the Oberrheinische Tiefebene
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...
in a tangle of meanders, slings, old waters and cut of arms between the Rhine in the west and the foot of the Odenwald in the east until it finally entered the Rhine only north of Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
at Trebur
Trebur is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hessen, Germany. It is 13 km southeast of Mainz, and 8 km south of Rüsselsheim.
Geography Location
Trebur is located in the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region. The cities of Mainz, Wiesbade ...
; roughly 50 km north of today's confluence in Mannheim. On large stretches you can still see it on aerial photos.
In the 13th century, the confluence was south of Mannheim. A great flood changed the course of the Neckar in around 1275. Since then it enters the Rhine north of the city. The last change here took place in connection with the straightening of the Rhine
"Straightenin" is a song by American hip hop trio Migos. It was released through Quality Control and Motown on May 14, 2021, as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''Culture III''.
Background
In March 2021, Quavo previewed the song' ...
by the Friesenheimer breakthrough west of today's Friesenheimer Island. Previously the Neckar entered the Rhine in the area of today's industrial port of Mannheim. Its new riverbed was also the reason for the relocation of the Neckar. After the old Neckar was cut off in early 1869, it followed the path of the new Neckar breakthrough, which was finished by 1880.
River landscape
Natural landscape
Narrow and widening valleys alternate along the Neckar's course. The narrows are mostly deepenings into the Muschelkalk plateau and theBuntsandstein
The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphy, allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface ...
below. Widenings developed in the area of morphologically soft clay and marl. Wide valley meadows also developed through the strong backfilling with Aue clay since the start of settlement in the Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
and the accompanying deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
and soil erosion
Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and ...
. In the area of the narrows the 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 cut-off meander spurs stand out. The meanders were formed through the primal Neckar, which sluggishly flowed through the almost even Muschelkalk
The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; french: calcaire coquillier) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million ye ...
plateau, forming the basic structures during the deepening phases and cutting into the hard Muschelkalk. The best known cut-off meander spur is the one at Lauffen
Lauffen am Neckar () or simply Lauffen is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is on the river Neckar, southwest of Heilbronn. The town is famous as the birthplace of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin and for its qu ...
; it cut through in historical times and created a waterfall (historic: ''Laufen''). At the cutbanks one can find rocks, formed by the limestone of the upper Muschelkalk. For example, the rock gardens at Hessigheim
Hessigheim is a municipality in the Ludwigsburg district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Hessigheim was first mentioned in 744 as a property of first Lorsch Abbey to Princely Abbey of Fulda. The town was pledged to the Electoral Palatina ...
. They lie on the marls and clays of the middle Muschelkalks and can sag in whole stone packages, so-called ''Schollen'', down towards the Neckar. In the Odenwald narrow ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.gorges lead into the Neckar from both sides, as for example, the Wolfschlucht and the Margarethenschlucht.
Due to the risk of flooding the valley plains remained unsettled for a long time, but the nutritious and, due to its good structure, very
The diverse usage of
Immediately above Mannheim interventions were necessary due to regular floods. After 1622, smaller corrections were made at the back then-existing Neckar loops between
The 550-meter-long Wilhelmskanal ("Wilhelms canal") was constructed in Heilbronn from 1819 to 1821. The reason was the bypassing of the entire weir area and many mills. After further river construction measures, the Neckar became navigable all the way between the Rhine and Cannstatt. A lock gate at the upper end of the canal could turn it during floods into a port of refuge which was, already in 1829, expanded into a port of transshipment. In 1827 the Mannheimer Stapel was lifted through which the Neckar navigators gained back free access to the Rhine river. The Mannheimer Akte, Rheinschiffahrtsakte ("Mannheim Act") from 1831 and in consequence of it the ("Neckar navigation regulations") from 1832 brought, through simplified regulations and tariffs a significant rise for the navigation. But because of its shallows and rapids the river was considered one of the most dangerous in Germany. In 1836 the ("Neckar shipping guild") was dissolved, which had since 1810 tried to gain a monopoly on the Neckar trade. With the ratification of the in 1842 all Guilds were dissolved and thereby economic freedom created.
From 1841/42 onwards the Heilbronn-based Neckar-Dampfschifffahrt introduced a regular passenger and general cargo transport from Heilbronn to Mannheim. Despite the usage of modern steam ships, horses still pulled the heavy barges on the towpath upriver. The reason was that the steam ships were not yet strong enough herefore.
The competition of rail transport made steam ships as well as towing barges gradually uneconomic in the second half of the 19th century. Rafting on the other hand kept its importance, but adapted to the age of the railroad. Because trunks from the Black forest did more and more go by train to Heilbronn and only from there continued their trip on the water, a new rafting harbour was constructed in Heilbronn in 1875. Above Esslingen the rafting was only of little importance. The last raft passed the city on 28. Oktober 1899.
A new recovery for the Neckar navigation came with the chain boat navigation begun in 1878. Despite the construction of a railroad line along the Neckar. Between Mannheim and Heilbronn steam towboats with attached barges were now able to pull themselves upriver on a 115 km long chain which had been put into the river. Through that, the trip between Mannheim and Heilbronn was shortened to two to three days. On the horse drawn ships it had previously taken five to eight days. But often the water depth was not deep enough. The vernacular name for the chain boats was Neckaresel ("Neckar donkey"). The last chain boat navigation was still done 1933 – 1935 between Neckargerach and the barrage Kochendorf.
The world's first motorboat made during the summer of 1886 by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach was named "Neckar" when their ''Standuhr'' (Longcase clock, grandfather clock) petrol engine was tested on the river near Bad Cannstatt.
The motorized cargo ship, cargo navigation began on the Neckar in 1925. The first motor cargo ship on the river was ordered by the brothers Ludwig (1887–1955) and Jakob Götz (1890–1977) already in 1924 at the Neckarwerft, Anderssen Werft ("Anderssen shipyard"). It was put into service in 1925 and christened "Gebrüder Götz". The motor cargo ship was operated by the shipping company drove for the shipping company Ludwig und Jakob Götz, founded in 1920. One of the best known Shipping line, shipping companies on the Neckar, which was also involved in the upgrading of the river to a heavy shipping waterway.
In 1946 the first transportation order for coal after the second world war on the Neckar was awarded and shipped by Johann Friedrich Boßler with his motor cargo ship Elisabeth.
In order to provide the rising industrial area around Stuttgart a waterway connection for fully rigged ships, first plannings for channelling of the Neckar between Mannheim and Plochingen began already in 1904. The goal was to be mostly independent from natural impacts as for example low waters or floating ice. With the Württembergian side Otto Konz (1875–1965) was assigned who remained connected to the Neckar upgrading the rest of his life. A memorandum from 1910 allowed for ships up to 1000 tons, according to plans from 1919 the transportation was planned for the 1200-t-ship.
Because the Neckar was earmarked as a Reichswasserstraße (literally:"realm waterway") in the Weimar Constitution in 1919 (officially from 1. April 1921), Neckarbaudirektion (literally: "Neckar construction department") was introduced in 1920 whose head Otto Konz became. The department was directly subordinated to the German Reich (often called "Weimar Republic"). In 1921 the German Reich, the Neckar adjoining states Württemberg, Baden and Hessen agreed in a state treaty the upgrading of the Neckar to a heavy shipping waterway. In order to finance the construction project they founded the Neckar AG with a construction loan from the German Reich, the three States and several municipalities in the same year. As compensation the AG received the right to use the simultaneously expanded hydropower until 2034 and to redeem the construction loan with the profits; this right transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany. As chairman of the Neckar AG were elected Otto Hirsch from the Württembergian ministry of internal affairs and Otto Konz. In consideration of the world famous cityscape of Heidelberg and in order to bring the further barrages in unison with nature and landscape, the architect Paul Bonatz worked for the project (1877–1956).
Construction began immediately along the entire distance in 1921. Along a stretch of 113 km length the first eleven barrages between Mannheim and the new canal harbour in Heilbronn were finished in 1935. This canal harbour became later through the further expansion the barrage channel Heilbronn.
The expansion of the Neckar to a heavy shipping waterway lead to a shipbuilding industry exclusively for the passenger traffic on the river. Already in 1926 the brothers Georg (1881–1946) and Andreas Boßler (1884–1961) founded the Boßler family, Personenschiffahrt Gebr. Bossler, which makes the Gebrüder Bossler pioneers for passenger navigation on the Neckar.
While the river was upgraded and the barrages constructed, the Neckar-Enz-Stellung, a defensive fortification against enemies approaching from the West was constructed between 1935 and 1938. It was based between Eberbach and
Neckar at Stuttgart-Untertürkheim through heavily industrialized area
The Neckar (Ne) is being administered after taking over step-by-step from the Neckar AG since 1970 from Mannheim to Plochingen as a Bundeswasserstraße (literally "federal waterway") by the water- and navigation offices 
In contrast to other waterways as for example the Moselle, Mosel or Main (river), Main there are no boat locks except for Bad Cannstatt. Therefore, yachts and sailing boats are normally locked in the river boat locks. The rails installed at the other 26 barrages to pull boats from one side to the other are often in a bad condition or even unusable. In some places canoes can, if allowed by the locks staff, use the lock as well. This is especially used on group trips.
Since 2004 the remote control center in Stuttgart-Obertürkheim (Fernbedienzentrale, FBZ) controls all locks from Deizisau to Stuttgart-Hofen on the upper Neckar.
The hydropower of the Neckar drove numerous mills, of which some are surviving to today:
* In
* In Kiebingen the Rottenburg am Neckar, Rottenburger clock factory Industrialisation in Rottenburg#Junghans, Junghans did run since 1903 their Wasserkraftwerk Kiebingen, own power plant, which still produces electricity today. For the clock factory the plant run by water and steam was over-dimensioned, therefore the overproduction was sold. Today the historic powerhouse is under monumental protection. Despite its age, the power plant is a very modern plant with three characteristics: The turbines have an innovative scoop shape which has been developed with computer simulations, special Thordon-Turbine bearings and inflatable rubber dam. A fish pass recreates since the modernization the pervasiveness for the fish migration at the weir.EnBw: ''Wasserkraft Standorte''
/ref> * The hydroelectric plant Tübingen-Hirschau is located between Hirschau and Tübingen as well as the ''Wasserkraftwerk Rappenberghalde'' which was constructed in 1930. It was refurbished in 1999 and today the two Kaplan turbines produce together with the residual water turbine at the weir upstream in Hirschau 7 million kWh electricity per year. Per second more than 22 cubic metres of water flow through a 1.7 km long supply canal to the plant. The plant uses the incline of the Neckar of 7.5 meters.
* The Wasserkraftwerk Neckarwerk in 
* The Oberesslingen Hydro Power Plant, Kraftwerk Oberesslingen is a run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plant between two Neckar islands at river kilometer 195.6 in Oberesslingen. The plant was constructed in 1929 in the frame of the upgrading to a heavy waterway according to a design made by the architect Paul Bonatz. It has a capacity of 2.1 MW and delivers per year about 12.3 GWh energy. The average flow ist 45 cubic meter per second.
* In Esslingen a new run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plant has been constructed on the Hechtkopf. With a power of 1.25 MW and a yearly electricity production of 7.1 GWh 4000 people can be supplied with electricity. With the construction of this new power plant the last of the barrages on the Neckar has been equipped with turbines. It is framed by a weir in the Neckar on one side and the historical bridge house over the Hammerkanal (hammer canal) on the other side.
* The Drehstromübertragung Lauffen–Frankfurt was on August 25, 1891, the worldwide first Electric power transmission, transmission of electric energy with high voltage alternating three-phase current. On the occasion of the International Electrotechnical Exhibition, International Electrotechnical Exhibition 1891 the electricity generated by the hydropower plant at the Mühlgraben in 
* At the Heidelberger Karlstor is another barrage with lock; the corresponding power plant is the only underwater hydropower plant at the Neckar. The construction permission the Neckar AG 1994 received for it in 1994 had a number of requirements. Neither were visible changes at the weir which is under monumental protection, nor should the new power plant change the historic cityscape of Heidelberg. The technical solution was a power plant embbeded invisibly under the riverbed.
* At the weir in
Der Neckar
poem by Friedrich Hölderlin *Friedrich Hölderlin wrote a poem entitled "Der Neckar". *The Neckar is mentioned prominently in Gustav Mahler's 1893 "Rheinlegendchen" ('Little Rhine Legend'), first published in 1899 in a cycle of 12 songs under the title ''Humoresken'' ('Humoresques'), today known as one of Mahler's ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Mahler), Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn'' (Songs from ''The Youth's Magic Horn'').
Digitalisat
* Hanns Heiman: ''Die Lage der Neckarschiffer seit Einführung der Schleppschiffahrt''. ''Die Neckarschiffer'' Band 2, Universitätsverlag Winter, C. Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, Heidelberg 1907,
Digitalisat
* Jan Bürger: ''Der Neckar. Eine literarische Reise''. C. H. Beck, München 2013, . * Der Neckar. Das Land und sein Fluss, hrsg. von der Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg. Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2007, . *Franz X. Bogner: ''Das Land des Neckars.'' Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2004, . * Walter Hailer (Hrsg.): ''Der Neckar – unser Lebensraum''. Ministerium für Umwelt und Verkehr, Stuttgart; Geschäftsstelle IKoNE, Besigheim 2003. * Jörg Bischoff, Norbert Kustos: ''Der Neckar von der Quelle bis zur Mündung''. Ellert & Richter Verlag, Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2001, (Bildband). * Hartmut Müller: ''Der Neckar''. (= Literaturreisen). Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, . * Helmut Betz: ''Historisches vom Strom'' Band. V – ''Die Neckarschiffahrt vom Treidelkahn zum Groß-Motorschiff'', Krüpfganz, Duisburg 1989, * * Andrea Wehr (Hrsg.): ''Neckar-Lesebuch. Geschichten und Gedichte dem Neckar entlang''. Silberburg, Tübingen und Stuttgart 1994, . *Willi Zimmermann: ''Der Neckar. Schicksalsfluss der Stadt [Heilbronn]''. Heilbronner Stimme, Heilbronn 1985, . * Willi Zimmermann: ''Heilbronn und sein Neckar im Lauf der Geschichte''. In: ''Historischer Verein Heilbronn. 21. Veröffentlichung'', Heilbronn 1954. * Südwestdeutscher Kanalverein für Rhein, Donau und Neckar: ''Neckarkanal 1935'', Verlag Julius Hoffmann ca. 1935, Broschur ca. 21 cm × 21 cm, 109 Seiten. * Martin Eckoldt: ''Zur Gewässerkunde des kanalisierten Neckars'', Mitteilung Nr. 62, Koblenz, 1955, Hrsg. Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde, Koblenz. * Behrendt: ''Hydrologie am Neckar'', aus Zeitschrift für Binnenschifffahrt und Wasserstrassen Nr. 9, 1973. * M. Eckoldt (Hrsg.): ''Flüsse und Kanäle. Die Geschichte der deutschen Wasserstraßen.'' DSV-Verlag 1998 *Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest: ''Kompendium der Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest. Organisatorische und technische Daten, Binnenschifffahrt, Aufgaben, Wasserstraßen.'' Eigenverlag, Mainz Juni 2007
Tourism Information about the river Neckar
(German) {{Authority control Neckar basin, Rivers of Baden-Württemberg Rivers of Hesse Federal waterways in Germany Rivers of Germany
Cultural landscape
Due to the risk of flooding the valley plains remained unsettled for a long time, but the nutritious and, due to its good structure, very arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...
was intensively used for agriculture, and to a large degree the valley plains are still used agriculturally today. The fertile soil allows the cultivation of lucrative specialty crops like vegetables or hops
Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...
, for example, between Rottenburg and Tübingen.
Gravel pit
A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used eithe ...
quarrying in the valley plains takes away agricultural land, but created large lakes, nowadays used for recreational purposes. These borrow pit
Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock on the surface of Earth. Digging is actuall ...
s also became habitat for birds, amphibians and aquatic creatures. Such large borrow pits can be found for example near Kirchentellinsfurt
Kirchentellinsfurt is a municipality in the district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, about 7 km east of the city of Tübingen and 7 km northwest of Reutlingen. Since 2015, Bernd Haug has been the mayor of Kirchentellinsf ...
and between Freiberg am Neckar
Freiberg am Neckar is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Neckar, 18 km north of Stuttgart, and 4 km north of Ludwigsburg.
Administrative structure
The town of ...
and Pleidelsheim
Pleidelsheim is a municipality in the state of Baden-Württemberg, about north of Stuttgart. Pleidelsheim is situated on the right bank of the Neckar river across from Ingersheim. This historical town has buildings that date back to the 14th ...
. The gravel bodies of the Neckar have an additional role as water reservoir and are in many places used for drinking water production. The paths usually went over the heights and only crossed the valleys where there were fords over the Neckar.
This changed with the onset of industrialisation
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
in the 19th century. It brought fundamental conflicts regarding the land usage of the flat valley plain. Large even spaces became sought after for industrial sites. The Neckar was mostly straightened in order to prevent flooding and to gain areas for industrial buildings. The river itself was expanded over the course of centuries. With the development into a heavy shipping lane in the early 20th century, the last freely flowing parts between Plochingen and the mouth disappeared and the whole river in this part nowadays is characterized by dam areas. In the strongly textured Neckar area the valley became the only possibility for modern transportation infrastructure. Construction of railway lines and avenues in the valley plains changed the Neckar valley from a cultural to an industrial landscape.
One example is the densely populated and industrialised Neckar valley between Plochingen
Plochingen ( Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stutt ...
and Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's b ...
, which harbors large companies such as Daimler AG
The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
(the maker of Mercedes Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
cars) and Mahle GmbH
MAHLE GmbH is a German automotive parts manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide. As a manufacturer of components and systems for the combustion engine and its periphery, the company is one ...
and recreational facilities with large area consumption like the MHPArena
The MHPArena () is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and home to Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.
Before 1993 it was called the Neckarstadion (), named after the nearby river Neckar. Between 1993 and July 2008 it was c ...
, the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle (sometimes shortened to Schleyer-Halle) is an indoor arena located in Stuttgart, Germany. The capacity of the arena is nearly 15,000 people. The venue was built in 1983 and is named for Hanns Martin Schleyer, a German fo ...
or the Cannstatter Wasen
The Cannstatter Wasen is a 35 hectare festival area on the banks of the Neckar river in the part of Stuttgart known as Bad Cannstatt.
The Cannstatter Wasen form part of the Neckar Park Fairground.
Each year the Wasen hosts the Cannstatter Vol ...
, the second-largest fair of Germany. The term ''Wasen'' gives a clue, that there used to be a floodplain on which the fair was held. Distinctive points in the industrial landscape of the Neckar valley are the high chimneys of the coal-fired power station
A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts Nameplate capacity, capacity. They ...
Altbach/Deizisau and Heilbronn
Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state.
From the late Mid ...
as well as the assembly halls of the Daimler-engine plant in Untertürkheim and the Audi plant in Neckarsulm.
Along the Neckar's valley in the Odenwald
The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Location
The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
hills many castles can be found, including Hornberg Castle and Guttenberg Castle in Haßmersheim
Haßmersheim is a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country i ...
; the now-mothballed Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant (KWO) is a mothballed nuclear power plant in Obrigheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, on the banks of the Neckar and owned by EnBW. It operated a pressurized water reactor unit from 1969 to 2005. It has been defuelled since ...
and the active Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant
Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Station is a nuclear power plant in Neckarwestheim, Germany, sometimes abbreviated GKN (for german: Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Neckar), operated by EnBW Kernkraft GmbH, a subsidiary of EnBW.
GKN 1
Unit I, in service si ...
are also located there.
In contrast to the plains, the mostly steep slopes are often forested and in forestry use. The sun-exposed south-facing sites are frequently used for vineyards and are terraced with dry walls. There the local red wine grapes Trollinger
Trollinger, Schiava, or Vernatsch, is a red German wine, German/Italian wine List of grape varieties, grape variety that was likely first originally cultivated in the wine regions of South Tyrol wine, South Tyrol and Trentino, but today is almo ...
, Schwarzriesling and Lemberger Lemberger is a surname of German origin demonym for a person from the Polish city Lwów (German: ''Lemberg''), now Lviv, Ukraine. Notable people with the surname include:
* Georg Lemberger (c.1490–1500 – c.1540–1545), German painter and wood ...
are cultivated, which are also traditionally mostly drunk in Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
. Especially the middle Neckar around Besigheim and Lauffen is characterized by in parts extremely steep vineyards, which can be cultivated only by hand.
The vine terrasses at the Neckar together with the drainage area of the tributaries deliver the largest part of the cultivation area of the Württemberg wine region. The vineyards at the lower reaches from Heinsheim to Heidelberg are part of the Baden wine region. Until the end of the 19th century, vineyard cultivation was more extensive in the Neckar valley including unfavorable sites. Today these have been abandoned and gone fallow, reclaimed by wildlife. One example is the southern slopes of the Spitzberg above the Neckar near Tübingen.
The river's course provides a popular route for cyclists
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...
, especially during the summer months. The slopes of the Neckar are preferred areas for high-level residential areas because they allow wide, unobstructed views.
Renaturation
The diverse usage of raw water
Raw water is water found in the environment that has not been treated and does not have any of its minerals, ions, particles, bacteria, or parasites removed. Raw water includes rainwater, ground water, water from infiltration wells, and water from ...
and waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...
, as well for the production of hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
brought with it substantial interventions into the ecological structure of the river. Multiple initiatives are advocated for the land restoration
Land restoration, which may include renaturalisation or rewilding, is the process of ecological restoration of a site to a natural landscape and habitat, safe for humans, wildlife, and plant communities. Ecological destruction, to which land resto ...
the Neckar, the ecological enhancement of the river network, the improvement of the water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
, improved flood control
Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...
and the creation of attractive local recreational areas alongside the river. Only recently within the frame of the nationwide campaign lively rivers and the initiative ''Lebendiger Neckar'' (German: lively Neckar), it was begun to free it from its partly-existing concrete corset. The river has in parts been redeveloped as a local recreational area and habitat for animals and plants. It still remains a symbol of endangered nature with the highest power plant density in Germany. At an oxygen content of below 4 mg/L power plant owners have to run specially designed turbines to inject air into the water. As of 2003, no mass die-off of fish due to lack of oxygen had occurred for 20 years.
Climate
The Neckar valley functions as acold air basin
Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
, which means that under cloudless skies the heavier, cold, night air which develops on the sparsely vegetated plateaus and hills, flows into the basin and concentrates there. Especially during the cold season, such "cold lakes" can contribute to the creation of fog while all around on the plateaus the sun shines. The orography
Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discipl ...
of the Neckar valley facilitates such inversive weather conditions.
The Neckar valley is known for its Viticulture, wine cultivation climate and the cultivation of Trollinger
Trollinger, Schiava, or Vernatsch, is a red German wine, German/Italian wine List of grape varieties, grape variety that was likely first originally cultivated in the wine regions of South Tyrol wine, South Tyrol and Trentino, but today is almo ...
, Lemberger, Kerner (grape), Kerner, Müller-Thurgau amongst other locally grown grape varieties. Wine cultivation has receded over the 20th century and cultivation of the "Württemberger Wein" is mostly restricted to the south-facing slopes with high radiation gain in the Neckar valley and its side valleys, as wine cultivation is labor-intensive and in Württemberg competitive only in the best sites.
Navigation
Various excavations of harbor installations and findings lead to the conclusion that the Neckar navigation already existed during the Roman Age in the first century. Especially on the lower Neckar. Main purpose was probably the transportation of construction material for the Limes and provisions. Later the Neckar navigation was probably restarted by the Franks.Historical Development
Timber floating from 1100
Starting from 1100 the usage of the Neckar as a waterway with Burlak, line boats and rafts has been attested. The river was already blocked by weirs in the surroundings of several cities during the High Middle Ages. In Heilbronn a harbour was mentioned for the first time in 1146. The Neckar privilege granted by Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Louis IV in 1333 allowed the free imperial city the construction of a weir. After its construction, the continuous traffic on the river was for several centuries blocked. An annoyance for the neighbours. The permission of passage for raftsman therefore had to be determined contractually. In 1342 Württemberg, the Margraviate of Baden, Markgrafschaft Baden and the free imperial city signed an agreement for the opening of the Neckar for rafts between Besigheim and Heilbronn. A treaty from 1476 between the free imperial city Esslingen, Württemberg and Austria fixed free rafting trade as well. The last raft went through Tübingen down the Neckar river on October 26, 1899. The wood from the eastern Northern Black Forest was shipped through the Neckar and then Rhine up to Holland. Because of the developing seafaring the shipbuilding had a large demand for wood. The firewood from theSchurwald
The Schurwald is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany, which at its highest point is 513.2 m above sea level.
It is one of the most important Recreation areas for the Stuttgart area. Over the centuries, the vast forests ...
was combined to up to 260 Meter long rafts in Plochingen.
Navigation from the 16th century onward
The Neckar gained importance as a waterway in the middle of the 16th century due to the beginning upper German trade. Despite many interventions in the river course in order to improve navigation, the river which had a towpath, was because of dangerous rapids and shallows only navigable for smaller barges and this mostly only up to Heilbronn. Making the upper Neckar navigable was then pushed ahead by Christoph, Duke of Württemberg who got the necessary permission from Emperor Karl V. in 1553. The city of Heilbronn still insisted on its rights so that the river was blocked at Heilbronn which meant that the upper Neckar and therefore Württemberg remained cut off from the navigation coming from the Rhine. All shipped goods were subject to Heilbronner staple right. In the late 16th century, Duke of Württemberg, Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg, Frederick I had plans for the navigation passage but discarded those in 1598 and instead planned to construct a württembergian trade port in Bad Friedrichshall#Kochendorf, Kochendorf. – which was as unsuccessful as his successors plans to build one inUntereisesheim
Untereisesheim is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe a ...
. During the times of need in the 17th century, the navigation was insignificant.
Immediately above Mannheim interventions were necessary due to regular floods. After 1622, smaller corrections were made at the back then-existing Neckar loops between Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
s Feudenheim and today's Friedrich-Ebert-Bridge. Floods still occurred and threatened the city, lastly in 1784 and 1789. The situation was then relaxed through the straightening of the river bed by means of for breakthroughs in combination with the lowering of the river bed as well as fortifications and dams.
After consolidation of the situation in the 18th century, electoral palatinate market ships regularly travelled on the lower Neckar river. On the upper Neckar boats regularly travelled between Heilbronn and Cannstatt for several years around 1720; the expansion of the navigation to the Württembergian Plochingen further up the river failed due to the free imperial city of Esslingen. While the electoral palatinate shipping on the lower Neckar was quite successful, the shipping on the upper Neckar was soon stopped again as the river was not suitably enough expanded for a navigation and moreover no funding was available for the further upgrading. Württemberg and the Electoral Palatinate signed a trade agreement in order to start up the Neckar navigation between Mannheim and Cannstatt during a time of economical rise in the late 18th century. In 1782 the previous two and the free imperial city of Heilbronn agreed upon facilitations in the Neckar trade but which were only of administrative nature. The Neckar still remained blocked at the weir in Heilbronn.
The Napoleonic times around 1800 brought a downfall to the Neckar navigation. On the one hand – because most parts of the lower Neckar area had fallen to Grand Duchy of Baden, Baden and the free imperial cities of Heilbronn and Esslingen to Kingdom of Württemberg, Württemberg – the many disputes and obstructions of the former small states did not hamper the trade anymore. But during the Continental System the navigation was restricted and ships and material were confiscated. The introduction of the Mannheimer Stapels ("Mannheim stable") in 1808 meant that the merchants of Mannheim gained control over almost all Neckar trade. During the German Campaign of 1813 only small ships travelled on the Neckar, mainly military transports. The Congress of Vienna demanded the freedom of traffic on the Neckar and Rhine rivers in 1814/1815.
Continuous navigability with the Wilhelmskanal in 1821
The 550-meter-long Wilhelmskanal ("Wilhelms canal") was constructed in Heilbronn from 1819 to 1821. The reason was the bypassing of the entire weir area and many mills. After further river construction measures, the Neckar became navigable all the way between the Rhine and Cannstatt. A lock gate at the upper end of the canal could turn it during floods into a port of refuge which was, already in 1829, expanded into a port of transshipment. In 1827 the Mannheimer Stapel was lifted through which the Neckar navigators gained back free access to the Rhine river. The Mannheimer Akte, Rheinschiffahrtsakte ("Mannheim Act") from 1831 and in consequence of it the ("Neckar navigation regulations") from 1832 brought, through simplified regulations and tariffs a significant rise for the navigation. But because of its shallows and rapids the river was considered one of the most dangerous in Germany. In 1836 the ("Neckar shipping guild") was dissolved, which had since 1810 tried to gain a monopoly on the Neckar trade. With the ratification of the in 1842 all Guilds were dissolved and thereby economic freedom created.
From 1841/42 onwards the Heilbronn-based Neckar-Dampfschifffahrt introduced a regular passenger and general cargo transport from Heilbronn to Mannheim. Despite the usage of modern steam ships, horses still pulled the heavy barges on the towpath upriver. The reason was that the steam ships were not yet strong enough herefore.
The competition of rail transport made steam ships as well as towing barges gradually uneconomic in the second half of the 19th century. Rafting on the other hand kept its importance, but adapted to the age of the railroad. Because trunks from the Black forest did more and more go by train to Heilbronn and only from there continued their trip on the water, a new rafting harbour was constructed in Heilbronn in 1875. Above Esslingen the rafting was only of little importance. The last raft passed the city on 28. Oktober 1899.
A new recovery for the Neckar navigation came with the chain boat navigation begun in 1878. Despite the construction of a railroad line along the Neckar. Between Mannheim and Heilbronn steam towboats with attached barges were now able to pull themselves upriver on a 115 km long chain which had been put into the river. Through that, the trip between Mannheim and Heilbronn was shortened to two to three days. On the horse drawn ships it had previously taken five to eight days. But often the water depth was not deep enough. The vernacular name for the chain boats was Neckaresel ("Neckar donkey"). The last chain boat navigation was still done 1933 – 1935 between Neckargerach and the barrage Kochendorf.
The world's first motorboat made during the summer of 1886 by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach was named "Neckar" when their ''Standuhr'' (Longcase clock, grandfather clock) petrol engine was tested on the river near Bad Cannstatt.
The motorized cargo ship, cargo navigation began on the Neckar in 1925. The first motor cargo ship on the river was ordered by the brothers Ludwig (1887–1955) and Jakob Götz (1890–1977) already in 1924 at the Neckarwerft, Anderssen Werft ("Anderssen shipyard"). It was put into service in 1925 and christened "Gebrüder Götz". The motor cargo ship was operated by the shipping company drove for the shipping company Ludwig und Jakob Götz, founded in 1920. One of the best known Shipping line, shipping companies on the Neckar, which was also involved in the upgrading of the river to a heavy shipping waterway.
In 1946 the first transportation order for coal after the second world war on the Neckar was awarded and shipped by Johann Friedrich Boßler with his motor cargo ship Elisabeth.
Upgrading to a heavy shipping waterway between 1921 and 1968
In order to provide the rising industrial area around Stuttgart a waterway connection for fully rigged ships, first plannings for channelling of the Neckar between Mannheim and Plochingen began already in 1904. The goal was to be mostly independent from natural impacts as for example low waters or floating ice. With the Württembergian side Otto Konz (1875–1965) was assigned who remained connected to the Neckar upgrading the rest of his life. A memorandum from 1910 allowed for ships up to 1000 tons, according to plans from 1919 the transportation was planned for the 1200-t-ship.
Because the Neckar was earmarked as a Reichswasserstraße (literally:"realm waterway") in the Weimar Constitution in 1919 (officially from 1. April 1921), Neckarbaudirektion (literally: "Neckar construction department") was introduced in 1920 whose head Otto Konz became. The department was directly subordinated to the German Reich (often called "Weimar Republic"). In 1921 the German Reich, the Neckar adjoining states Württemberg, Baden and Hessen agreed in a state treaty the upgrading of the Neckar to a heavy shipping waterway. In order to finance the construction project they founded the Neckar AG with a construction loan from the German Reich, the three States and several municipalities in the same year. As compensation the AG received the right to use the simultaneously expanded hydropower until 2034 and to redeem the construction loan with the profits; this right transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany. As chairman of the Neckar AG were elected Otto Hirsch from the Württembergian ministry of internal affairs and Otto Konz. In consideration of the world famous cityscape of Heidelberg and in order to bring the further barrages in unison with nature and landscape, the architect Paul Bonatz worked for the project (1877–1956).
Construction began immediately along the entire distance in 1921. Along a stretch of 113 km length the first eleven barrages between Mannheim and the new canal harbour in Heilbronn were finished in 1935. This canal harbour became later through the further expansion the barrage channel Heilbronn.
The expansion of the Neckar to a heavy shipping waterway lead to a shipbuilding industry exclusively for the passenger traffic on the river. Already in 1926 the brothers Georg (1881–1946) and Andreas Boßler (1884–1961) founded the Boßler family, Personenschiffahrt Gebr. Bossler, which makes the Gebrüder Bossler pioneers for passenger navigation on the Neckar.
While the river was upgraded and the barrages constructed, the Neckar-Enz-Stellung, a defensive fortification against enemies approaching from the West was constructed between 1935 and 1938. It was based between Eberbach and Besigheim
Besigheim () is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a t ...
on the natural obstacle of the Neckar river and from thereon followed the Enz
The Enz is a river flowing north from the Black Forest to the Neckar in Baden-Württemberg.
It is 106 km long.
Its headstreams – the Little Enz (german: Kleine Enz) and the Great Enz or Big Enz (''Große Enz'') – rise in the Northern B ...
upriver up to Enzweihingen.
Upgrading works were begun near Plochingen at the upper end of the intended waterway and plans existed to make the Fils
Fils or FILS may refer to:
People
* Anton Fils (1733–1760), German composer
* Arthur Fils (born 2004), French tennis player
* Pascal Fils (born 1984), Canadian football player
Other uses
* Fils (currency), a subdivision of currency used in ...
between Plochingen and Göppingen navigable. The area for a harbour in Göppingen remained reserved in spatial planning until 1978. The construction chairman Konz also ordered the planning of a tunnel through the Swabian Jura
The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...
for a waterway Ulm at the Danube in order to create a waterway between upper Rhine and upper Danube, as the State treaty from 1921 had planned. But those plans were dropped from 1968 onwards.
After 1935 the upgrading slowed down. Until 1943 only six barrages above Heilbronn were constructed, but without locks. Hirsch was forced out of office and murdered in the KZ Mauthausen in 1941. Konz went into provisional retirement because of national socialist repressions. The constructions were mostly stopped during the second world war. Only in 1948 the barrage construction above Heilbronn was continued, until 1952 again led by Otto Konz. The section up to Stuttgart was finished in 1958 and Stuttgart harbour was opened by the president Theodor Heuß together with Otto Konz. With the opening of the Plochingen harbour in 1968 the expansion goal for the Neckar was reached after 47 years of construction. The river was dammed up at 27 locks and thereby had become a heavy shipping waterway from Mannheim to Plochingen.
Every barrage consists of a weir with two to six openings and different gates, a double lock and a remote-controlled hydropower plant next to each other. At seven barrages, where a larger damming up was not possible due to the landscape, a parallel barrage and hydropower canal varying in length from 1.5 to 7.5 km has been constructed. At two further barrages a breakthrough exists which cuts of a river bend. In total only 17% of the entire distance from the Rhine up to the mouth of the Rems lie in an artificial waterbed, which means the river character dominates. On the last 32 km of the waterway in the area of the less water carrying upper river which is at the same time heavily used economically, almost the entire river bed had to be constructed artificially.
Today
Neckar at Stuttgart-Untertürkheim through heavily industrialized area
The Neckar (Ne) is being administered after taking over step-by-step from the Neckar AG since 1970 from Mannheim to Plochingen as a Bundeswasserstraße (literally "federal waterway") by the water- and navigation offices Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
and Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
. The Federal Republic is owner of the waterway. Sport boats including paddle and rowing boats are subject to the Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen-Ordnung, valid on the Neckar which for example defines the need of identification and the rules for the right of way. 159 water abstraction points and 628 water intakes show the heavy water economical usage.
On the Neckar, which is nowadays classified as a "Wasserstraße des Typs Va" (waterway Type Va) from km 201.5 at Plochingen to its mouth (km 0), 7332 river boats transported in 2012 7.5 million tons. The largest parts of these tons were made up of construction material (1,9 Millionen t) and coal (1,6 Millionen t) as well as salt (1,3 Millionen t). 21.000 Twenty-foot equivalent unit, TEU Containers were transported. Leisure ships run by various companies travel on the river for tourists. On the upper Neckar the passenger navigation is handled by the company Neckar-Käpt'n.
Harbour
Plochingen harbour
On December 8, 1954, the ''Neckarhafen Plochingen GmbH'' was founded. From 1960 until 1963 the last barrage was constructed nearDeizisau
Deizisau is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region
(until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. Deizisau is located between the towns ...
. The construction of the ''Neckarhafen Plochingen'' started on April 29, 1964. The first ship landed in Plochingen on July 12, 1968, after it had been blessed with the name "Plochingen" by Gertrud Hartung, the mayor's wife. In the harbour 15 companies generated an annual revenue of about 500 to 600 Million Euro in 2004.
Stuttgart harbour
The Stuttgart Harbour, Neckarhafen Stuttgart was constructed in two steps, from 1954 until 1958 and from 1966 until 1968. The harbour area covers a total area of 100 ha. The three basins including the federal waterway have a water surface of 30,7 ha.Cannstatt harbour
The first Cannstatter "Hafen am Mühlgrün" was inaugurated by duke Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg, Eberhard Louis in 1713. It remained insignificant.Heilbronn harbour
The Heilbronn harbour with a total factory area of 78 ha and a quay length of 7,2 km based on the turnover the 7th largest inland harbour in Germany (2010) and the largest of the Neckar. Over 50% of the Neckar turnover is done here. In total about 4 million tons per year. About 60% of the turnover are domestic trade, the rest are international goods and commodities. Additionally to commodities and construction material (coal, mineral salts, Salt) grain, iron, steel and timber are loaded.Mannheim harbour
The Mannheim harbour is one of the most important inland harbours in Europe and the second-largest in Germany. The harbour has a total water surface of 267,9 ha, additionally there is 863,5 ha land area. About 500 companies with 20.000 employees have settled in the harbour area. In 1968 the first Intermodal container, Container-Terminal in an inland harbour was opened here. Furthermore, a RoRo-facility and since 1991 a combined transport terminal. On the water side 7.64 million tons of goods were turned over in 2010. The largest stakes have bituminous coal 2.2 million t, food- and fodder with 0.92 million t and chemical goods with 1.59 million t. At the container terminal on the water side 120.568 units were turned over. The harbour basin spreads out around the mouth of the Neckar along the Rhine and Neckar. The overall complex includes the Ludwigshafen Harbour, Ludwigshafener Rheinhafen, which is situated directly on the opposite side of the Rhine river.Barrages
The maximum size of the river boats driving on the Neckar is limited by the locks of the 27 barrages. Those are in general 110 m long and 12 m wide; the allowed dimensions are therefore 105 m x 11.45 m. Since 1952 almost every Barrage got a second lock. 23 of those locks use almost 50% of the water of one chamber to fill the other empty chamber in order to save water (so-called twin locks). In order to prevent jams at the mouth of the Neckar, the first barrage Schleuse Feudenheim, Feudenheim received a further lock in 1973 (190 m × 12 m). The barrages have an average distance of 7 km between each other (between 0.9 and 13.7 km, see table) and are used to cover the difference in altitude of 160.70 m to the Rhine at low water. The waterway depth is since 2000 continuously 3.80 m. This means that the Stuttgart harbour can be reached by the large motor ships of the Rhine, which have a draft of 2.6 m and a loading capacity of 2200 t. In the coming years it is planned to refurbish the locks and partly extend them. In total the federal government invests 575 Million Euro for this project. For its execution, the Amt für Neckarausbau Heidelberg was founded in 2007. In order to make the Neckar navigable for 135 m long ships, one of each dual lock chamber is going to be lengthened. Furthermore, the old chambers are going to be refurbished and certain sections and turn around spots expanded. The barrages between Mannheim and Heilbronn are supposed to be lengthened until 2026. The Gundelsheim lock received the title "most water sport friendly lock" in 2012. Table of the locks at the Neckar with river kilometers and aimed stowage height in meters above Normalnull (Normalnull, NN) and difference in level (:de:Fallhöhe (Wasserbau), de) in meters.
In contrast to other waterways as for example the Moselle, Mosel or Main (river), Main there are no boat locks except for Bad Cannstatt. Therefore, yachts and sailing boats are normally locked in the river boat locks. The rails installed at the other 26 barrages to pull boats from one side to the other are often in a bad condition or even unusable. In some places canoes can, if allowed by the locks staff, use the lock as well. This is especially used on group trips.
Since 2004 the remote control center in Stuttgart-Obertürkheim (Fernbedienzentrale, FBZ) controls all locks from Deizisau to Stuttgart-Hofen on the upper Neckar.
Stream gauge and flood
Crucial for the professional and recreational navigation on the Neckar are its stream gauges. According to the Hochwassermeldeordnung (HMO, flood report regulation) of the State Baden-Württemberg the following flood warning, Hochwassermeldehöhen are valid at the stream gauge: Gauge Plochingen The gauge in Plochingen (since 1905) was the only gauge at the waterway that lay in free descent. In 1962 the moveable barrage in Deizisau was constructed. In order to keep water level differences caused by the barrage, a ridge was constructed about 100 m below the Plochingen street bridge and moved the gauge there. The large flood in February 1970 destroyed the ridge made of stones. Because the costs for a new ridge made out of concrete seemed to be too high, a more economic solution was found. Out of the stream gauges and discharge of the gauges in Wendlingen (Neckar-km 206,5 – for the upper Neckar) and Reichenbach (Fils-km 2,5 – for the Fils) water gauges and discharges are algorithmically calculated and published. Flood * 1824: The most serious flood in the Neckar area happened in October 1824. Estimates conclude for a HQ4000, that means a return period of 4000 years. A study has been done to clustering simultaneous occurrences of the Extreme Floods in the Neckar Catchment and the results shows the Neckar catchment has been divided into three major clusters. The first cluster mainly covers the western part and is bounded by the Black Forest and Swabian Alps. The second cluster is mostly located in the eastern part of the upper Neckar. The third cluster contains the remaining lowland areas of the Neckar basinFreeze up
* 1709: From January 18 until January 28 and from January 31 until February 13 as well as shortly after February 13 until March 23 the Neckar was frozen up.Structures
Mills
The hydropower of the Neckar drove numerous mills, of which some are surviving to today:
* In Rottweil
Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years.
Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...
a powder mill existed since the 15th century which merged to the Powder factory Rottweil in 1863.
* In Gundelsheim (Württemberg), Gundelsheim the building of the ''Alten Neckarmühle'' (old Neckar mill) dates back to 1604. The milling was stopped following the Neckar regulation. The last miller was Meister Batz around 1935/36. There is no equipment in place anymore, for a time it was used gastronomically. Worth seeing are a large stone with a coat of arms and old inscriptions.
Power stations
At least since the early 20th century, power stations replaced the historical mills. Since then the Neckar has been used for commercial electricity production through hydroelectric power. Several transregionally known hydro plants can be found at the Neckar: * In Horb the construction of a hydroelectric plant was begun at the island front at the level of the Schillerstraße in February 2010. It started producing electricity on April 13, 2011. The hydroelectric plant is expected to produce 2.3 kWh yearly in the future – enough in order to supply about 600 four-person households with electricity. Together with the already existing, refurbished facilities it has an average total power of 437 kW. The total investments were about 5.5 million Euro. * In Rottenburgs district Bad Niedernau the Wasserkraftwerk Bad Niedernau can be found. * InRottenburg am Neckar
Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...
the two power plants Flusskraftwerk Beim Preußischen, Beim Preußischen and Flusskraftwerk Tübinger Straße, Tübinger Straße.
* In Kiebingen the Rottenburg am Neckar, Rottenburger clock factory Industrialisation in Rottenburg#Junghans, Junghans did run since 1903 their Wasserkraftwerk Kiebingen, own power plant, which still produces electricity today. For the clock factory the plant run by water and steam was over-dimensioned, therefore the overproduction was sold. Today the historic powerhouse is under monumental protection. Despite its age, the power plant is a very modern plant with three characteristics: The turbines have an innovative scoop shape which has been developed with computer simulations, special Thordon-Turbine bearings and inflatable rubber dam. A fish pass recreates since the modernization the pervasiveness for the fish migration at the weir.EnBw: ''Wasserkraft Standorte''/ref> * The hydroelectric plant Tübingen-Hirschau is located between Hirschau and Tübingen as well as the ''Wasserkraftwerk Rappenberghalde'' which was constructed in 1930. It was refurbished in 1999 and today the two Kaplan turbines produce together with the residual water turbine at the weir upstream in Hirschau 7 million kWh electricity per year. Per second more than 22 cubic metres of water flow through a 1.7 km long supply canal to the plant. The plant uses the incline of the Neckar of 7.5 meters.
* The Wasserkraftwerk Neckarwerk in Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
was constructed together with the weir within the frame of the Neckar regulation as one of the first roller dams in Germany in 1910/1911. It is used for electricity generation as well as control of the river. Through the weir the water level of the Neckar in Tübingen center is managed. Before the construction of the weir the Neckar was full of gravel banks and hat a very flat waterfront. This can be seen on many photographs and drawings prior to the construction. Moreover, floods, which now and then flooded the back then only few buildings in Wöhrd and sometimes threatened the Neckar bridge have been eliminated with this weir and the other weirs (e.g. in Rottenburg). For fish a fish ladder has been constructed later on. The pedestrian bridge over the weir is an important connection of the two waterfronts between Lustnau and the central Eberhards or Neckar bridge. It also provides a nice view of Neckar, historic city center, abbey church and castle.
* The Oberesslingen Hydro Power Plant, Kraftwerk Oberesslingen is a run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plant between two Neckar islands at river kilometer 195.6 in Oberesslingen. The plant was constructed in 1929 in the frame of the upgrading to a heavy waterway according to a design made by the architect Paul Bonatz. It has a capacity of 2.1 MW and delivers per year about 12.3 GWh energy. The average flow ist 45 cubic meter per second.
* In Esslingen a new run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plant has been constructed on the Hechtkopf. With a power of 1.25 MW and a yearly electricity production of 7.1 GWh 4000 people can be supplied with electricity. With the construction of this new power plant the last of the barrages on the Neckar has been equipped with turbines. It is framed by a weir in the Neckar on one side and the historical bridge house over the Hammerkanal (hammer canal) on the other side.
* The Drehstromübertragung Lauffen–Frankfurt was on August 25, 1891, the worldwide first Electric power transmission, transmission of electric energy with high voltage alternating three-phase current. On the occasion of the International Electrotechnical Exhibition, International Electrotechnical Exhibition 1891 the electricity generated by the hydropower plant at the Mühlgraben in Lauffen am Neckar
Lauffen am Neckar () or simply Lauffen is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is on the river Neckar, southwest of Heilbronn. The town is famous as the birthplace of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin and for its qu ...
was upvolted to 15 kV and transported over 175 km to Frankfurt am Main where it did run an artificial waterfall. The power plant was moved up river during the upgrading of the Neckar. The original generator is now located in the Deutsches Museum, Deutschen Museum (German Museum) in Munich.
* The hydropower plant Heilbronn lies on the old Neckar in the city center and not on the canal. Therefore, no lock exists here.
* At the Heidelberger Karlstor is another barrage with lock; the corresponding power plant is the only underwater hydropower plant at the Neckar. The construction permission the Neckar AG 1994 received for it in 1994 had a number of requirements. Neither were visible changes at the weir which is under monumental protection, nor should the new power plant change the historic cityscape of Heidelberg. The technical solution was a power plant embbeded invisibly under the riverbed.
* At the weir in Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
the weir bridge connects the city districts Wieblingen and Neuenheim.
Additionally, the Neckar is and has been a cooling water supply for coal and nuclear power plants. Near Esslingen am Neckar, Esslingen-Zell the Neckar cools the Altbach Power Station, one of the most modern bituminous coal power plants in Europe. It consists of two blocks and is located on the area of the two municipalities Altbach
Altbach is a municipality in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region. (until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the European Metropolitan Region Stuttgart.
Geography Geographical location
Altb ...
and Deizisau
Deizisau is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region
(until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. Deizisau is located between the towns ...
. It can including its gas turbines and the combination block 4 produce a maximum of about 1270 MW of electrical power.
The Heizkraftwerk Stuttgart-Gaisburg, the incineration facility of the Kraftwerk Stuttgart-Münster, Kraftwerks Stuttgart-Münster, the Kraftwerk Marbach, the Kraftwerk Walheim, the Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Station, the Kraftwerk Heilbronn and the mothballed Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant (KWO) is a mothballed nuclear power plant in Obrigheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, on the banks of the Neckar and owned by EnBW. It operated a pressurized water reactor unit from 1969 to 2005. It has been defuelled since ...
source their cooling or evaporation water from the Neckar as well.
Bridges
Famous bridges include the Neckar Valley Bridge Weitingen, near the townHorb am Neckar
Horb am Neckar is a town in the southwest of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river, between Offenburg to the west (about away) and Tübingen to the east (about away). It has around 25,000 inhabitants, of whom ...
and the Old Bridge (Heidelberg), Old Bridge, in Heidelberg.
The ladder is amongst the best known historic bridges. It already existed in the High Middle Ages and was erected in today's form in 1788. Further historic Neckar bridges are the Neckarbrücke (Lauffen am Neckar), Neckarbrücke in Lauffen am Neckar, in the core dating back to 1532, the Neckar bridge in Sulz constructed in 1742, the Pliensaubrücke, the Alte Agnesbrücke (old Agnes bridge) and the Ulrichsbrücke in Köngen. The oldest still remaining Neckar bridge is the Sehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt Esslingen am Neckar#Innere Brücke, Innere Brücke in Esslingen. The 230 meter long construction was built in the 13th century and consists of eleven stone arches.
The Neckartalbrücke Heilbronn is with 1348 meter the longest Neckarbridge. The prestressed concrete construction built in 1967 is ailing and since early 2018 being replaced by a new bridge.
In Neckargröningen the 85-meter longest free spanning wooden pedestrian bridge was created in 1990. The unusual structure has a triangle profile. Die älteste Spannbeton-Eisenbahnbrücke Deutschlands – erbaut 1957 – steht in Heilbronn.
In the year 1905, there were already 119 bridges over the Neckar, of which, with a total length of 230 meters, the longest was the Neckargartacher Neckarbrücke built between 1903 and 1905. In 1985 the heavy waterway was crossed by 159 railroad-, street- and pedestrian-bridges and also by 126 overhead power lines and 67 Düker. In total there are today about 400 Neckar bridges of various sizes, half of it on the upper and half of it on the middle and lower reaches.
Castles and palaces
From Mannheim overHeidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, Eberbach, Mosbach up to Heilbronn the Castle Road runs almost parallel to the Neckar and passes on this about 100 km long section of the lower Neckar numerous castles and palaces. Most notably the Heidelberg Castle zu nennen. Unter den Neckarburgen sind aber auch die vier Burgen in Neckarsteinach, Dilsberg Castle, Burg Eberbach, Burg Hirschhorn, Zwingenberg Castle, Burg Stolzeneck, die Minneburg, Burg Dauchstein, Schloss Neuburg (Baden), die Hornberg Castle (the castle of Götz von Berlichingen) and the Guttenberg Castle (Deutsche Greifenwarte), Horneck Castle, Germany, Horneck Castle, and Burg Ehrenberg (Neckar), Burg Ehrenberg.
In the further course upriver to Stuttgart and continuing on, on the upper Neckar stand the Burg Horkheim and the Neippergsches Schloss Klingenberg, Neippergsche Schloss Klingenberg, Schloss Lichtenegg (Epfendorf), Schloss Lichtenegg, the Esslinger Burg, Burg Remseck, Schloss Liebenstein, the Weiler Burg, the Burg Herrenzimmern, Ruine Herrenzimmern, the Schloss Hohentübingen, the Weitenburg, Schloss Weitenburg, the Ruine Albeck near Sulz am Neckar
Sulz am Neckar is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Neckar, 22 km north of Rottweil, and 19 km southeast of Freudenstadt.
Sulz am Neckar came in the possession of the Hohe ...
as well as the ruins Wehrstein and Neckarburg.
Towers
* Rottweil Test Tower * Fernmeldeturm MannheimThe Neckar in literature
Der Neckar
poem by Friedrich Hölderlin *Friedrich Hölderlin wrote a poem entitled "Der Neckar". *The Neckar is mentioned prominently in Gustav Mahler's 1893 "Rheinlegendchen" ('Little Rhine Legend'), first published in 1899 in a cycle of 12 songs under the title ''Humoresken'' ('Humoresques'), today known as one of Mahler's ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Mahler), Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn'' (Songs from ''The Youth's Magic Horn'').
Literature
* Hanns Heiman: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte des Neckarschiffergewerbes und der Neckarschiffahrt''. ''Die Neckarschiffer'' Band 1, Universitätsverlag Winter, C. Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, Heidelberg 1907,Digitalisat
* Hanns Heiman: ''Die Lage der Neckarschiffer seit Einführung der Schleppschiffahrt''. ''Die Neckarschiffer'' Band 2, Universitätsverlag Winter, C. Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, Heidelberg 1907,
Digitalisat
* Jan Bürger: ''Der Neckar. Eine literarische Reise''. C. H. Beck, München 2013, . * Der Neckar. Das Land und sein Fluss, hrsg. von der Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg. Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2007, . *Franz X. Bogner: ''Das Land des Neckars.'' Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2004, . * Walter Hailer (Hrsg.): ''Der Neckar – unser Lebensraum''. Ministerium für Umwelt und Verkehr, Stuttgart; Geschäftsstelle IKoNE, Besigheim 2003. * Jörg Bischoff, Norbert Kustos: ''Der Neckar von der Quelle bis zur Mündung''. Ellert & Richter Verlag, Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2001, (Bildband). * Hartmut Müller: ''Der Neckar''. (= Literaturreisen). Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, . * Helmut Betz: ''Historisches vom Strom'' Band. V – ''Die Neckarschiffahrt vom Treidelkahn zum Groß-Motorschiff'', Krüpfganz, Duisburg 1989, * * Andrea Wehr (Hrsg.): ''Neckar-Lesebuch. Geschichten und Gedichte dem Neckar entlang''. Silberburg, Tübingen und Stuttgart 1994, . *Willi Zimmermann: ''Der Neckar. Schicksalsfluss der Stadt [Heilbronn]''. Heilbronner Stimme, Heilbronn 1985, . * Willi Zimmermann: ''Heilbronn und sein Neckar im Lauf der Geschichte''. In: ''Historischer Verein Heilbronn. 21. Veröffentlichung'', Heilbronn 1954. * Südwestdeutscher Kanalverein für Rhein, Donau und Neckar: ''Neckarkanal 1935'', Verlag Julius Hoffmann ca. 1935, Broschur ca. 21 cm × 21 cm, 109 Seiten. * Martin Eckoldt: ''Zur Gewässerkunde des kanalisierten Neckars'', Mitteilung Nr. 62, Koblenz, 1955, Hrsg. Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde, Koblenz. * Behrendt: ''Hydrologie am Neckar'', aus Zeitschrift für Binnenschifffahrt und Wasserstrassen Nr. 9, 1973. * M. Eckoldt (Hrsg.): ''Flüsse und Kanäle. Die Geschichte der deutschen Wasserstraßen.'' DSV-Verlag 1998 *Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest: ''Kompendium der Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest. Organisatorische und technische Daten, Binnenschifffahrt, Aufgaben, Wasserstraßen.'' Eigenverlag, Mainz Juni 2007
Maps
*Landesvermessungsamt Baden-Württemberg: ''Freizeitkarte F513 Mannheim Heidelberg – Naturpark Neckartal-Odenwald (Westblatt).'' Stuttgart 2006, . * Landesvermessungsamt Baden-Württemberg: ''Freizeitkarte F514 Mosbach – Naturpark Neckartal-Odenwald (Ostblatt).'' Stuttgart 2006, . * Erhard Jübermann: ''Wassersport-Wanderkarten, Blatt 3, Deutschland-Südwest''. Geocenter, 2004, . *Gerhard Römer (Hrsg.), Irene-Annette Bergs (Bearb.): ''Der Neckar in alten Landkarten''. Ausstellungskatalog. Baden State Library, Karlsruhe 1988, .References
External links
Tourism Information about the river Neckar
(German) {{Authority control Neckar basin, Rivers of Baden-Württemberg Rivers of Hesse Federal waterways in Germany Rivers of Germany