The Otterbach is a stream, 42 kilometres long, in

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

in the German state of

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

, that flows eastwards and northeastwards towards the

Upper Rhine The Upper Rhine (german: Oberrhein ; french: Rhin Supérieur) is the section of the Rhine between Basel in Switzerland and Bingen in Germany, surrounded by the Upper Rhine Plain. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometres 170 to 529 (the sc ...

Course

The Otterbach rises in the area of the Upper

Mundat Forest The term 'Mundat Forest' refers to two forests that overlie the modern border between Germany and France near Wissembourg, Alsace. The ''Upper Mundat Forest'' is a small part of the mountainous Palatinate Forest. The smaller ''Lower Mundat Fores ...

in the southeast of the Palatine Forest. Its source lies at a height of about 300 metres on the hillside east of

Guttenberg Castle There are several possible meanings for Guttenberg, Guttenburg or Gutenburg: People * David Guttenberg (born 1951), U.S. state politician (Alaska) * Enoch zu Guttenberg (1946–2018), German conductor, father of Karl-Theodor * Fred Guttenberg, Am ...

between the Hohe Derst (561 m high, to the north) and the Hoher Kopf (497 m high, to the south). After breaking out of the low mountain range into the

Upper Rhine Valley 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 ...

, the Otterbach flows through the two villages named after it,

Oberotterbach Oberotterbach is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Geography The village is located between the Palatine Forest biosphere reserve and the Rhine river. The municipality of Oberotterbac ...

and

Niederotterbach Niederotterbach is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous coun ...

, then through

Vollmersweiler Vollmersweiler is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Location The village is located in the southern Palatinate between Karlsruhe and Landau. Since 1972 the community has belonged to the Kandel mun ...

and

Freckenfeld Freckenfeld is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe a ...

, where it passes the northern edge of the

Bienwald The Bienwald is a large forested area in the southern Pfalz region of Germany near the towns of Kandel and Wörth am Rhein. The western edge defines the eastern extent of the Wissembourg Gap, a corridor of open terrain between the Bienwald and ...

woods. In

Minfeld Minfeld is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Sons and daughters of the community * Johann Casimir Häffelin (1737-1827), bishop, cardinal, Bavarian Minister of the Holy See, diplomat Personalities ...

it is joined from the left by the

Dierbach Dierbach is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Euro ...

, and then forms the border between the districts of

Kandel Kandel () is a town in the Germersheim district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France and approximately 18 km north-west of Karlsruhe, and 15 km south-east of Landau. Kandel is twinned with the small Lancashire ...

and Wörth. In Kandel, the Bruchbach enters it from the right. The Otterbach

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 ...

s markedly on its way through

Jockgrim Jockgrim is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approximately 15 km north-west of Karlsruhe. Jockgrim is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("colle ...

. After it has passed through Neupotz, it is impounded southeast of

Leimersheim Leimersheim is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History In the early 18th century, there were two Jewish families living in Leimersheim, and by the early 19th century, there were ten families. By 1 ...

to form the Fischmal, a reservoir 1½ kilometres long and up to 100 metres wide that is a

biotope A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...

for many aquatic birds and plants. Whilst some of the Otterbach's waters are diverted to the right through a pumping station on the Rhine embankment directly into the

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

itself, the left-hand branch of the river flows through the village of Leimersheim and is united there with the Erlenbach coming from the left to form the Michelsbach. This is a former loop of the Old Rhine that discharges after a good twelve kilometres from the left into the Rhine. Despite the route of its lower reaches, the Otterbach is counted as a direct tributary of the Rhine (or the Leimersheim Old Rhine - ''Leimersheimer Altrheins'' - flowing eastwards), something that is also acknowledged by the GKZs (Michelsbach 2375''4'', Otterbach 2375''22'').{{GeoQuelle, DE-RP, WW.

References

Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate Anterior Palatinate South Palatinate Rivers of Germany

Course

See also

References