The Hinterrhein (

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

; Italian: ''Reno Posteriore'';

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

: ''Ragn Posteriur'';

Sursilvan Sursilvan (; also ''romontsch sursilvan'' ; Sursilvan, Vallader, Surmiran, Sutsilvan, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''sursilvan''; Puter: ''sursilvaun'') is a group of dialects of the Romansh language spoken in the Swiss district of Surselva. It is t ...

: ''Rein Posteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Posteriur'';

Surmiran Surmiran (Surmiran, Vallader, Sutsilvan, Rumantsch Grischun: ''surmiran''; Puter: ''surmiraun'') is a dialect of the Romansh language. It is spoken in Surmeir and in the Albula Valley in the Grisons Canton, in Switzerland ). Swiss law ...

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

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

of the

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

(shorter in length but bigger by volume) rising in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of Graubünden in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Course

Flowing from the village

Hinterrhein Hinterrhein can refer to: * Hinterrhein (river), a tributary of the Rhine * Hinterrhein, Switzerland, a municipality * Hinterrhein (district), the district including that Swiss municipality {{Disambig ...

near the San Bernardino Pass through the Rheinwald valley, the river flows into a gorge called

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

. In this gorge an equally sized tributary, the

Avers Rhine The Avers Rhine ( rm, Ragn da Ferrera, german: Averser Rhein) is a tributary of the Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Graubünden. Course It rises in Avers GR, Avers at the confluence of the Ber ...

, adds waters from the deep

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

and the very remote alp Avers and its side valley

Valle di Lei Lago di Lei is a reservoir in the Valle di Lei, powering the Hinterrhein Pumped-storage hydroelectricity, storage power stations. The reservoir is almost entirely in Italy, but the barrage was built on territory ceded by Italy to Switzerland (muni ...

on Italian territory. After the

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

, the valley widens into a section called

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

. The Hinterrhein then reaches

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

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

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

, draining a system of valleys, which is commonly known as

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

joins via the Albula coming from the

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

, which is also the name of a railway line that has become a UNESCO world heritage. Another big tributary of Albula river is Gelgia from the

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

area. After flowing to

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

through a valley called

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

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

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

''Isla Bella'' near

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

, before it joins the Anterior Rhine at Reichenau.

Significance

To learn about the importance of travel along the Hinterrhein, a multiday trekking route is signposted along the river from Thusis to Splügen, where it turns south to Splügen Pass, a historically important transit route to Italy. Nowadays there is no traffic across the Splügen pass in winter, whereas the route across its age-old rival, the San Bernardino Pass, was given a long road tunnel in 1967 that made it possible to keep the road open all year.Road closures on passes in Graubünden
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References

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