The Odenbach is a

orographically 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 discip ...

right bank

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

of the Glan in the counties of

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

and

Kusel Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat. The well-known operatic tenor Fritz Wunderlich was ...

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 ...

Geography

Course

The Odenbach rises about north of

in the

North Palatine Uplands The North Palatine Uplands (german: Nordpfälzer Bergland), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (''Pfälzer Bergland''), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palat ...

near the hamlet of Sonnenhof. It flows – mainly in a north-northwesterly direction – through the municipalities of Schneckenhausen, Schallodenbach and Niederkirchen in the county of Kaiserslautern and through Hefersweiler, Reipoltskirchen,

Ginsweiler Ginsweiler is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein. ...

and

Adenbach Adenbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein. Ge ...

in the county of Kusel, before emptying into the Glan in the eponymous village of

Odenbach Odenbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany ...

after a distance of just under 23 kilometres.

Catchment

The catchment of the Odenbach covers an area of and consist of 50% arable land, 25.6% pasture, 20.2% woodland and 4.2% settlements.Gewässerzustandsbericht 2010
Struktur- und Genehmigungsdirektion Nord (SGD Nord) ImageSize = width:600 height:150 PlotArea = width:90% height:66% bottom:25% left:5% DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:100 Legend = columns:1 columnwidth:250 left:12% top:95% TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:0 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 # The formatting blanks in the Colors-section are in fact figure spaces (U+2007) Colors = id:Wald value:teal legend:20,2_% Waldfläche id:Acker value:yelloworange legend:50,0_% Ackerland id:Wiese value:green legend:25,6_% Grünland id:Orte value:red legend: 4,2_% Siedlungsbereich PlotData = from:00.0 till:20.2 color:Wald from:20.2 till:70.2 color:Acker from:70.2 till:95.8 color:Wiese from:95.8 till:100.0 color:Orte

Tributaries

The most important tributary of the Odenbach is the , which alone drains 21% of the catchment of the Odenbach. The other streams have a catchment of less than . The following table shows the tributaries of the Odenbach from source to mouth, as listed by the Water Management Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate. The table gives the name, whether it is a left or right tributary, its length, its catchment area,, the location of its confluence, the height of its confluence and its waterbody number.

Transport routes

The L 201 runs through the Odenbach valley.

Leisure pursuits

The Odenbach Valley Cycleway runs through the Odenbach valley for . It runs from

Otterberg Otterberg is a town in the district of Kaiserslautern in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 7,350 (as of 6/2006) inhabitants. It is situated approximately north of Kaiserslautern. Otterberg is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde ...

via Niederkirchen to OdenbachTourenplaner Rheinland-Pfalz
Die Pfalz

Sights

The best known sights in the valley are the two

water castle A water castle is a castle whose site is largely defended by water. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle st ...

s: Wasserburg reipoltskirchen.jpg CoA Hohenfels-Reipoltskirchen.svg * Reipoltskirchen Castle, built in the 12th century, lies on a rocky

hill spur A spur is a lateral ridge or tongue of land descending from a hill, mountain or main crest of a ridge. It can also be defined as another hill or mountain range which projects in a lateral direction from a main hill or mountain range. Examples of ...

above the Odenbach. It was the seat of the lords of Hohenfels-Reipoltskirchen and is first recorded in 1276. The site has largely survived and been restored. It is used by the municipality of Reipoltskirchen ''inter alia'' as the

Standesamt A Standesamt (German, plural "Standesämter") is a German civil registration office, which is responsible for recording births, marriages, and deaths. Soon after the German Empire was created in 1871 from the previous collection of German states ...

. Its

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German ...

is used by

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

s as an

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

. Odenbach 2.jpg Wappen Grafschaft Veldenz.svg * Odenbach Castle, at the confluence of the river with the Glan, was built in the 2nd half of the 12th century by the

counts of Veldenz The County Palatine of Veldenz was a principality in the contemporary Land Rhineland-Palatinate with full voting rights to the Reichstag. The county was located partially between Kaiserslautern, Sponheim and Zweibrücken, partially on the Mose ...

and blown up in 1683 by troops of the French king,

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. The ruins include the renovated remains of the ''

'', which is built of impressive

rusticated ashlar Two different styles of rustication in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence; smooth-faced above and rough-faced below.">Florence.html" ;"title="Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence">Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence; smooth-faced above and r ...

blocks and, as the ''Weiherturm'', has become the symbol of the village of Odenbach.

References

External links

Verlauf des Odenbachs
at

auf dem {{GeoQuelle, DE-RP, WW, ref=no Western Palatinate Kaiserslautern (district) Kusel (district) Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate North Palatinate Rivers of Germany