Surselva Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.Graubünden,

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 ...

, source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location =

Paradies Glacier The Paradies Glacier (german: Paradiesgletscher) is a 2.27 km long glacier (2007) situated in the Lepontine Alps in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. In 1973 it had an area of 3.99 km2. See also *List of glaciers in Switzerland ...

, Graubünden,

, source2_coordinates= , source2_elevation = , source_confluence = Reichenau , source_confluence_location =

Tamins Tamins ( rm, Tumein) is a village and a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Tamins is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Tuminne''. In 1225 it was mentioned as ''Tvminnis'' and in 1399 as ''Tumins''. Geogra ...

, Graubünden,

, source_confluence_coordinates= , source_confluence_elevation = , mouth =

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, mouth_location =

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = , basin_size = , tributaries_left = , tributaries_right = , custom_label = , custom_data = , extra = The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=

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, rm, label=

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 ...

and

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, rm, label=

Rumantsch Grischun 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 Gris ...

Vallader Vallader (Vallader, Sursilvan, Puter, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''vallader'' ; Sutsilvan: ') is a variety of the Romansh language spoken in the Lower Engadine valley (''Engiadina Bassa'') of southeast Switzerland, between Martina an ...

and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian and

Low Alemannic German Low Alemannic German (german: Niederalemannisch) is a branch of Alemannic German, which is part of Upper German. Its varieties are only partly intelligible to non-Alemannic speakers. Subdivisions *Lake Constance Alemannic ( de) **Northern Vora ...

; ksh, label= Ripuarian and

Low Franconian Low Franconian, Low Frankish, NetherlandicSarah Grey Thomason, Terrence Kaufman: ''Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics'', University of California Press, 1991, p. 321. (Calling it "Low Frankish (or Netherlandish)".)Scott Shay ...

, Rhing; la, Rhenus ; hu, Rajna . is one of the major European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss

canton of Graubünden The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...

in the southeastern

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border, after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

. Finally in Germany the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the

where it eventually empties into the

. It drains an area of 9,973 sq km and its name derives from the Celtic ''Rēnos''. There are also two German states named after the river,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

and

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 ...

. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe (after the

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 ...

), at about , with an average discharge of about . The Rhine and the Danube comprised much of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

's northern inland boundary, and the Rhine has been a vital navigable waterway bringing trade and goods deep inland since those days. The various castles and defenses built along it attest to its prominence as a waterway in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. Among the largest and most important cities on the Rhine are

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, and

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Name

The variants of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...

name ', which was adapted in Roman-era geography (1st century BC) as Greek ('), Latin '. The spelling with ''Rh-'' in English ''Rhine'' as well as in German ' and French ' is due to the influence of Greek orthography, while the vocalization ''-i-'' is due to the

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...

adoption of the Gaulish name as *'' Rīnaz'', via

Old Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century. After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul, its speakers in Picardy an ...

giving

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

', early

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...

(c. 1200) ' (then also spelled ' or '). The modern German diphthong ' (also used in Romansh) ' is a

Central German Central German or Middle German (german: mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany. Central German di ...

development of the early modern period, with the

Alemannic Alemannic (''Alamannic'') or Alamanni may refer to: * Alemannic German, a dialect family in the Upper German branch of the German languages and its speakers * Alemanni, a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes in the Roman period * Alamanni (surna ...

name ' keeping the older vocalism. In Alemannic, the deletion of the ending ''-n'' in pausa is a recent development; the form ' is largely preserved in Lucernese dialects. ' in Ripuarian is diphthongized, as is ' in

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

. While Spanish has adopted the Germanic vocalism ', Italian, Occitan, and Portuguese have retained the Latin '. The Gaulish name ''Rēnos'' (

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed through the compar ...

pre-Celtic The pre-Celtic period in the prehistory of Central Europe and Western Europe occurred before the expansion of the Celts or their culture in Iron Age Europe and Anatolia (9th to 6th centuries BC), but after the emergence of the Proto-Celtic languag ...

''*Reinos'') belongs to a class of river names built from the

PIE root The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) are basic parts of words that carry a lexical meaning, so-called morphemes. PIE roots usually have verbal meaning like "to eat" or "to run". Roots never occurred alone in the lang ...

' "to move, flow, run", also found in other names such as the

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

in Italy. The grammatical gender of the

Celtic 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 ...

name (as well as of its Greek and Latin adaptation) is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian. The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine; and its

Old Icelandic Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

adoption was inflected as feminine.

Geography

The length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in "Rhine-kilometers" (''Rheinkilometer''), a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance (0 km) to

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

(1036.20 km). The river is significantly shortened from its natural course due to a number of canalization projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The "total length of the Rhine", to the inclusion of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

and the

Alpine Rhine The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth at ...

is more difficult to measure objectively; it was cited as by the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat in 2010. Its course is conventionally divided as follows:

Headwaters and sources

Sources

The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein and Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein next to Reichenau in

. Above this point is the extensive catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss

, ranging from

Saint-Gotthard Massif The Gotthard Massif or Saint-Gotthard Massif (german: Gotthardmassiv or ; it, Massiccio del San Gottardo; rm, Massiv dal Gottard) is a mountain range in the Alps in Switzerland, located at the border of four cantons: Valais, Ticino, Uri and Grau ...

in the west via one valley lying in Ticino and Italy in the south to the

Flüela Pass The Flüela Pass (german: Flüelapass, rm, Pass dal Flüela, elevation ) is a high mountain pass of the Swiss Alps in Graubünden. Traditionally considered the boundary between the Albula and Silvretta Alps, the pass crosses the watershed / ...

in the east. The Rhine is one of the four major rivers taking their source in the Gotthard region, along with the

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

and

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) *Reuss (river) in Switzerland *Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss *Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line (House of Reuss), members incl ...

. Traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Anterior Rhine and the Rhine as a whole. The Posterior Rhine rises in the

Rheinwald The Rheinwald (from Latin ''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a valley in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the G ...

below the

Rheinwaldhorn The Rheinwaldhorn ( it, Adula) is the highest point in the Swiss canton of Ticino at 3,402 metres above sea level. It lies on the border between the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino, in the Adula massif, part of the St. Gotthard massif of the ...

Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine

The source of the river is generally considered north of '' Lai da Tuma/Tomasee'' on ''Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein'', although its southern tributary ''

Rein da Medel The Rein da Medel ( it, Reno di Medel; german: Medelser Rhein) is the longest headwater of the Rhine. It is located in the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Graubünden and flows through the valleys Val Cadlimo and Val Medel. ''Rein da Medel'' is th ...

'' is actually longer before its confluence with the Anterior Rhine near

Disentis Disentis (German) or Mustér (, Romansh), with its official name Disentis/Mustér is a village and a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The skiing and summer tourism resort high up in the Rhine valley is th ...

. :The Anterior Rhine ( rm, Rein Anteriur, german: Vorderrhein) springs from ''Lai da Tuma/Tomasee'', near the

Oberalp Pass Oberalp Pass ( rm, Alpsu or ''Cuolm d'Ursera''; german: Oberalppass) (2044 meters above sea level) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the cantons of Graubünden and Uri between Disentis/Mustér and Andermatt. Winter closure The ...

and passes the impressive ''

Ruinaulta Ruinaulta is a canyon created by the Anterior Rhine by Ilanz/Glion and Reichenau in the debris of the Flims Rockslide just upstream of its confluence with the Posterior Rhine at Reichenau in the Grisons, eastern Switzerland. It is sometimes k ...

'' formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide. :The Posterior Rhine ( rm, Rein Posteriur, german: Hinterrhein) starts from the

, near the ''Rheinwaldhorn''. One of its tributaries, the ''Reno di Lei'', drains the '' Valle di Lei'' on politically Italian territory. After three main valleys separated by the two gorges, ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', it reaches Reichenau in

The Anterior Rhine arises from numerous source streams in the upper

Rein da Tuma The Rein da Tuma is a river in Switzerland, in the Canton of Graubünden. It rises east of the Rossbodenstock with two or three mountain streams, that flow across the Tuma Alp into the Tomasee, Lake Toma (German: ''To ...

'', which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the ''Rein da Medel'', the ''

Rein da Maighels The Rein da Maighels (german: Maighelserrhein) is one of the main tributaries of the Rhine (see Sources of the Rhine) and is a tributary to the Rein da Curnera. The firm ''Kraftwerke Vorderrhein AG'' has built a hydropower dam creating a reserv ...

'', and the ''

Rein da Curnera The Rein da Curnera (in german: Curnerarhein) is a right tributary of the Anterior Rhine and one of the main tributaries of the Rhine (see Sources of the Rhine). It is fed from multiple sources and glaciers at the southern end of the valley. The ...

''. The Cadlimo Valley in the

canton of Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

is drained by the ''Reno di Medel'', which crosses the

geomorphologic Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

Alpine main ridge from the south. All streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. The culminating point of the Anterior Rhine's drainage basin is the

Piz Russein Piz may refer to: * Piz Gloria, a mountain-top restaurant in Switzerland * Piz Buin, a mountain * Piz Dolf, a mountain * Piz Segnas, a mountain * Piz Buin (brand), a suncream brand * Piz (river), a river in Russia * Stosh "Piz" Piznarski '' ...

of the Tödi massif of the

Glarus Alps The Glarus Alps (german: Glarner Alpen) are a mountain range in central Switzerland. They are bordered by the Uri Alps and the Schwyz Alps to the west, the Lepontine Alps to the south, the Appenzell Alps to the northeast. The eastern part of th ...

at above sea level. It starts with the creek ''Aua da Russein'' (lit.: "Water of the Russein"). In its lower course, the Anterior Rhine flows through a gorge named ''

'' (Flims Rockslide). The whole stretch of the Anterior Rhine to the Alpine Rhine confluence next to Reichenau in Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called ''Senda Sursilvana''. The Posterior Rhine flows first east-northeast, then north. It flows through the three valleys named

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 ...

and

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.

Heinzenberg Heinzenberg is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-P ...

. The valleys are separated by 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 t ...

and

Gorge. Its sources are located in the

Adula Alps , topo_map= Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , photo=MonteLeone0001.jpg , photo_caption=Monte Leone , country_type= Countries , country= , subdivision1_type= Cantons, Regions , subdivision1= , parent= Western Alps , borders_o ...

(

Rheinquellhorn The Vogelberg is a 3,218 metres high mountain of the Lepontine Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Graubünden. It is the highest summit of the Lepontine Alps south of the Rheinwaldhorn. The Vogelberg is a large ...

, and

Güferhorn The Güferhorn is a mountain in the Lepontine Alps, located between the valleys of Vals, Switzerland, Vals and Hinterrhein, Switzerland, Hinterrhein in Graubünden. At 3,379 metres above sea level it is the highest summit of the Lepontine Alps l ...

). The

Avers Rhine The Avers Rhine ( rm, Ragn da Ferrera, german: Averser Rhein) is a tributary of the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Course It rises in Avers at the confluence of the Bergalgabach with the slightly smaller Jufer ...

joins from the south. One of its headwaters, the ''Reno di Lei'' (stowed in the

Lago di Lei Lago di Lei is a reservoir in the Valle di Lei, powering the Hinterrhein storage power stations. The reservoir is almost entirely in Italy, but the barrage was built on territory ceded by Italy to Switzerland (municipality of Ferrera, Grisons ...

), is partially located in Italy. Near

Sils Sils or SILS may refer to: Places *Sils, Girona, a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Selva in Catalonia, Spain ** Lake Sils (Catalonia), an ancient lake near Sils, Catalonia, Spain ** Lake Sils, a lake in the Upper Engadine in the Grisons, Switzer ...

the Posterior Rhine is joined by the Albula, from the east, 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 ...

region. The Albula draws its water mainly from 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 Da ...

with the

Dischmabach The Dischmabach is a river of approximately 15 km long in the river system of Albula. It drains the Dischma valley, its catchment area lies mainly in the area of the Swiss municipality of Davos. The source Dischmabach has two equal headwa ...

as the largest source stream, but almost as much from the Gelgia, which comes down 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 ...

. Numerous larger and smaller tributary rivers bear the name of the ''Rhine'' or equivalent in various Romansh idioms like ''Rein'' or ''Ragn''. Examples: * Anterior Rhine area: ''Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein'', ''

'', ''

'', ''Rein da Cristallina'', ''Rein da Nalps'', ''Rein da Plattas'', ''Rein da Sumvitg'', ''Rein da Vigliuts'', ''

Valser Rhine The Valser Rhine (german: Valser Rhein) is a source of the river Rhine in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The river originates from the Länta Glacier and the Grauhorn Glacier at the northern foot of the Rheinwaldhorn and initially flows thr ...

'' * Posterior Rhine basin: ''Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein'', '' Reno di Lei'', ''Madrischer Rhein'', ''

'', ''Jufer Rhein'' * Albula-Landwasser area: In the

Dischma The Dischma is a valley on the territory of the Swiss municipality of Davos. The name is derived from the la, decimus ("Tenth"). It is documented as ''decimata'' in the 12th century. Location Dischma is the average of the three long, gentl ...

valley, near Davos, far east of the Rhine, there's a place called ''Am Rin'' ("Upon Rhine"). A tributary of the Dischma is called ''Riner Tälli''. Nearby, on the other side of the

Sertig The Sertig Valley is located in the municipality of Davos, south of the town, in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Graubünden. It is a lateral valley of the Landwasser valley. The small village of Sertig Dörfli (at 1,861 m) is accessible by road. ...

, is the ''Rinerhorn''.

Alpine Rhine

Next to Reichenau in

the

Anterior Rhine The Vorderrhein (German; English: ''Anterior Rhine''; Sursilvan: ; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Anteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Anteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn anteriour'') is one of the two sources of the Rhine. Its catchment are ...

and the

Posterior Rhine The Hinterrhein (German; Italian: ''Reno Posteriore''; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Posteriur''; Sursilvan: ''Rein Posteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Posteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn posteriour''; en, Posterior Rhine) is one of the ...

join and form the Alpine Rhine. The river makes a distinctive turn to the north near

Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers , twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxembourg), ...

. This section is nearly 86 km long, and descends from a height of 599 meters to 396 meters. It flows through a wide glacial Alpine valley known as the Rhine Valley (german: Rheintal). Near

Sargans Sargans is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291. Sargans was also ...

a natural dam, only a few meters high, prevents it from flowing into the open

Seeztal {{coord, 47.08, N, 9.37, E, display=title The Seeztal (or Seez Valley) is a valley of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, extending to the east of Lake Walen for some 10 km, formed by the river Seez. The valley appears to be a left branch ...

valley and then through

Lake Walen The Walensee, also known as ''Lake Walen'' or ''Lake Walenstadt'' from Walenstadt, is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland, with about two thirds of its area in the Canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the Canton of Glarus. Other towns an ...

and

Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used to ...

into the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...

. The Alpine Rhine begins in the westernmost part of the Swiss canton of Graubünden, and later forms the border between Switzerland to the west and Liechtenstein and later Austria to the east. As an effect of human work, it empties into

on Austrian territory and not on the border that follows its old natural river bed. The mouth of the Rhine into Lake Constance forms an

inland delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ...

. The delta is delimited in the west by the ''

Alter Rhein The Alter Rhein (German for ''Old Rhine'') is the old river bed of the Alpine Rhine in St. Gallen and Vorarlberg in the Alpine Rhine Valley, which was cut off when the Rhine was straightened during the 20th century. These cut-off arms have bec ...

'' ("Old Rhine") and in the east by a modern canalized section. Most of the delta is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and

bird sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...

. It includes the Austrian towns of

Gaißau Gaißau is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area af ...

, Höchst and

Fußach Fußach is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area a ...

. The natural Rhine originally branched into at least two arms and formed small islands by precipitating sediments. In the local

dialect, the singular is pronounced "Isel" and this is also the local pronunciation of ''Esel'' ("

Donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

"). Many local fields have an official name containing this element. Aerial image of the mouth of the Rhine into Lake Constance

A regulation of the Rhine was called for, with an upper canal near

Diepoldsau Diepoldsau is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Diepoldsau is first mentioned in 891 as ''Thiotpoldesouua''. Schmitter is first mentioned in 1385. It was the cross ...

and a lower canal at Fußach, in order to counteract the constant flooding and strong

sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...

in the western Rhine Delta. The

Dornbirner Ach The Dornbirner Ach (also called ''Dornbirner Ache'') is a stream in Vorarlberg, Austria, with its source in the mountains near the alpine village (belongs to Dornbirn). It flows through one of the largest and most gorgeous gorges in Central Europ ...

had to be diverted, too, and it now flows parallel to the canalized Rhine into the lake. Its water has a darker color than the Rhine; the latter's lighter suspended load comes from higher up the mountains. It is expected that the continuous input of sediment into the lake will silt up the lake. This has already happened to the former Lake Tuggenersee. The cut-off Old Rhine at first formed a

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

landscape. Later an artificial ditch of about two km was dug. It was made navigable to the Swiss town of

Rheineck Rheineck is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Rheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as ''castellum Rinegge''. In 1218 it was mentioned as ''Rinegg''. An older ...

Lake Constance

Lake Constance consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee ("upper lake"), the Untersee ("lower lake"), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein ("Lake Rhine"). The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

near the Alps. Specifically, its shorelines lie in the German states of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and

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 ...

, the Austrian state of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

, and the Swiss cantons of

Thurgau Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part ...

and

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

. The Rhine flows into it from the south following the Swiss-Austrian border. It is located at approximately .

Obersee

The flow of cold, grey mountain water continues for some distance into the lake. The cold water flows near the surface and at first doesn't mix with the warmer, green waters of Upper Lake. But then, at the so-called ''Rheinbrech'', the Rhine water abruptly falls into the depths because of the greater density of cold water. The flow reappears on the surface at the northern (German) shore of the lake, off the island of

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Ge ...

. The water then follows the northern shore until

Hagnau am Bodensee Hagnau am Bodensee is a commune and a village in the district of Bodensee in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous countr ...

. A small fraction of the flow is diverted off the island of

Mainau Mainau also referred to as Mav(e)no(w), Maienowe (in 1242), Maienow (in 1357), Maienau, Mainowe (in 1394) and Mainaw (in 1580) is an island in Lake Constance (on the Southern shore of the Überlinger See near the city of Konstanz, Baden-Wür ...

into Lake Überlingen. Most of the water flows via the ''Constance hopper'' into the ''Rheinrinne'' ("Rhine Gutter") and Seerhein. Depending on the water level, this flow of the Rhine water is clearly visible along the entire length of the lake. The Rhine carries very large amounts of debris into the lake. In the mouth region, it is therefore necessary to permanently remove gravel by dredging. The large

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

loads are partly due to the extensive

land improvements Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpos ...

upstream. Three countries border the Obersee, namely Switzerland in the south, Austria in the southeast and the German states of

in the northeast and

in the north and northwest.

Seerhein

The

Seerhein The Seerhein ("Lake Rhine") is a river about four kilometres long, in the basin of Lake Constance. It is the outflow of the Upper Lake Constance and the main tributary of the Lower Lake Constance. The water level of the lower lake is about 30&n ...

is only long. It connects the Obersee with the 30 cm lower Untersee. Distance markers along the Rhine measure the distance from the bridge in the old city center of

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

. For most of its length, the Seerhein forms the border between Germany and Switzerland. The exception is the old city center of Constance, on the Swiss side of the river. The Seerhein emerged in the last thousands of years, when erosion caused the lake level to be lowered by about 10 meters. Previously, the two lakes formed a single lake, as the name still suggests.

Untersee

Like in the Obersee, the flow the Rhine can be traced in the Untersee. Here, too, the river water is hardly mixed with the lake water. The northern parts of the Untersee (Lake Zell and Gnadensee) remain virtually unaffected by the flow. The river traverses the southern, which, in isolation, is sometimes called ''Rhinesee'' ("Lake Rhine"). The

Radolfzeller Aach The Radolfzeller Aach (also known as Hegauer Aach) is a right or north tributary of the Rhine in the south of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is approximately 32 km long. Course The source of the river is the ''Aachtopf'' in Aach, the la ...

adds large amounts of water from the

system to the Untersee. Reichenau Island was formed at the same time as the Seerhein, when the water level fell to its current level. Lake Untersee is part of the border between Switzerland and Germany, with Germany on the north bank and Switzerland on the south, except both sides are Swiss in

Stein am Rhein Stein am Rhein (abbreviated as Stein a. R.) is a historic town and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. The town's medieval centre retains the ancient street plan. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserve ...

, where the

High Rhine The High Rhine (german: Hochrhein) is the name used for the part of the Rhine that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel. The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine ...

flows out of the lake.

High Rhine

Rheinfall mit Rheinfallbrücke und Schloss Laufen

The Rhine emerges from Lake Constance, flows generally westward, as the ''Hochrhein'', passes the

Rhine Falls The Rhine Falls (german: Rheinfall , a singular noun) is a waterfall located in Switzerland and the List of waterfalls by flow rate, most powerful waterfall in Europe. The falls are located on the High Rhine on the border between the cantons of Ca ...

, and is joined by its major tributary, the

. The Aare more than doubles the Rhine's water discharge, to an average of nearly , and provides more than a fifth of the discharge at the Dutch border. The Aare also contains the waters from the summit of

Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and thi ...

, the highest point of the Rhine basin. The Rhine roughly forms the

German-Swiss border The German-speaking part of Switzerland (german: Deutschschweiz, french: Suisse alémanique, it, Svizzera tedesca, rm, Svizra tudestga) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switz ...

from Lake Constance with the exceptions of the canton of Schaffhausen and parts of the cantons of

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

and

Basel-Stadt Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as t ...

, until it turns north at the so-called

Rhine knee The Rhine knee or Rhine's knee (german: Rheinknie) is the name of several distinctive bends in the course of the river Rhine. Basel In Basel, the Rhine changes its westerly direction of flow in an angle of 90 degrees to a northerly direction, alo ...

, leaving Switzerland. The High Rhine begins in

at the western end of the Untersee. Unlike the Alpine Rhine and Upper Rhine, it flows to the west. It descends from 395 m to 252 m. Some stretches of the High Rhine between Stein am Rhein and Eglisau form the border between Switzerland on the south bank and Germany in the north. On other stretches, both sides are Swiss; in fact most of the

canton of Schaffhausen The canton of Schaffhausen, also canton of Schaffouse (german: Kanton Schaffhausen; rm, Chantun Schaffusa; french: Canton de Schaffhouse; it, Canton Sciaffusa) is the northernmost canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the c ...

is on the north bank. Between Eglisau and Basel, the High Rhine consistently forms the border. The

are situated below

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

. With an average water flow of 373 m³/s (mean summer discharge 700 m³/s) it is the largest

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 ...

in Europe in terms of

potential energy In physics, potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors. Common types of potential energy include the gravitational potentia ...

. The High Rhine is characterized by numerous dams. On the few remaining natural sections, there are still several

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

. Near

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

in the

canton of Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

, the

joins the Rhine. With an average discharge of 557 m³/s, the Aare is more voluminous than the Rhine, which has an average discharge of 439 m³/s. Nevertheless, the Alpine Rhine is considered the main branch, because it is longer.

Upper Rhine

In the center of Basel, the first major city in the course of the stream, is located the "

"; this is a major bend, where the overall direction of the Rhine changes from west to north. Here the High Rhine ends. Legally, the Central Bridge is the boundary between High and Upper Rhine. The river now flows north as Upper Rhine through the

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 ...

, which is about 300 km long and up to 40 km wide. The most important tributaries in this area are the

Ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

below of Strasbourg, the

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...

in Mannheim and the

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

across from Mainz. In Mainz, the Rhine leaves the Upper Rhine Valley and flows through the Mainz Basin. Fähre-Altrip Schiffe

The southern half of the Upper Rhine forms the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between France (

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

) and Germany (Baden-Württemberg). The northern part forms the border between the German states of

in the west on the one hand, and

and

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 ...

on the other hand, in the east and north. A curiosity of this border line is that the parts of the city of Mainz on the right bank of the Rhine were given to Hesse by the occupying forces in 1945. The Upper Rhine was a significant cultural landscape in Central Europe already in Classical Antiquity, antiquity and during the Middle Ages. Today, the Upper Rhine area hosts many important manufacturing and service industries, particularly in the centers Basel, Strasbourg and Mannheim-Ludwigshafen. Strasbourg is the seat of the European Parliament, and so one of the three European capitals is located on the Upper Rhine. The Upper Rhine region was changed significantly by a Rhine straightening program in the 19th century. The rate of flow was increased and the ground water level fell significantly. Dead branches were removed by construction workers and the area around the river was made more habitable for humans on flood plains as the rate of flooding decreased sharply. On the French side, the Grand Canal d'Alsace was dug, which carries a significant part of the river water, and all of the traffic. In some places, there are large compensation pools, for example, the huge ''Bassin de compensation de Plobsheim'' in Alsace. Rhein Mainzer Becken stromab von Mainz bei Eltville und Erbach vor Bingen Foto 2008 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden IMG 0263

Rhein Mainzer Becken stromab von Mainz bei Eltville und Erbach vor Bingen Foto 2008 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden IMG 0263

The Upper Rhine has undergone significant human change since the 19th century. While it was slightly modified during the Roman occupation, it was not until the emergence of engineers such as Johann Gottfried Tulla that significant modernization efforts changed the shape of the river. Earlier work under Frederick the Great surrounded efforts to ease shipping and construct dams to serve coal transportation. Tulla is considered to have domesticated the Upper Rhine, a domestication that served goals such as reducing stagnant bogs that fostered waterborne diseases, making regions more habitable for human settlement, and reduce high frequency of floods. Not long before Tulla went to work on widening and straightening the river, heavy floods caused significant loss of life. Four diplomatic treaties were signed among German state governments and French regions dealing with the changes proposed along the Rhine, one was "the Treaty for the Rectification of the Rhine flow from Neuberg to Dettenheim"(1817), which surrounded states such as Bourbon France and the Bavarian Palatinate. Loops, oxbows, branches and islands were removed along the Upper Rhine so that there would be uniformity to the river. The engineering of the Rhine was not without protest, farmers and fishermen had grave concerns about valuable fishing areas and farmland being lost. While some areas lost ground, other areas saw swamps and bogs be drained and turned into arable land. Johann Tulla had the goal of shortening and straightening the Upper Rhine. Early engineering projects the Upper Rhine also had issues, with Tulla's project at one part of the river creating rapids, after the Rhine cut down from erosion to sheer rock. Engineering along the Rhine eased flooding and made transportation along the river less cumbersome. These state projects were part of the advanced and technical progress going on in the country alongside the industrial revolution. For the German state, making the river more predictable was to ensure development projects could easily commence. The section of the Upper Rhine downstream from Mainz is also known as the "Island Rhine". Here a number of river islands occur, locally known as "Rheinauen".

Middle Rhine

The Rhine is the longest river in Germany. It is here that the Rhine encounters some more of its main tributaries, such as the

, the

and, later, the Moselle (river), Moselle, which contributes an average discharge of more than . Northeastern France drains to the Rhine via the Moselle; smaller rivers drain the Vosges Mountains, Vosges and Jura Mountains uplands. Most of Luxembourg and a very small part of Belgium also drain to the Rhine via the Moselle. As it approaches the Dutch border, the Rhine has an annual mean discharge of and an average width of . Between Bingen am Rhein and Bonn, the Middle Rhine flows through the Rhine Gorge, a formation which was created by erosion. The rate of erosion equaled the tectonic uplift, uplift in the region, such that the river was left at about its original level while the surrounding lands raised. The gorge is quite deep and is the stretch of the river which is known for its many castles and vineyards. It is a List of World Heritage Sites in Europe, UNESCO World Heritage Site (2002) and known as "the Romantic Rhine", with more than 40 castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages and many quaint and lovely country villages.

The Mainz Basin ends in Bingen am Rhein; the Rhine continues as "Middle Rhine" into the Rhine Gorge in the Rhenish Slate Mountains. In this sections the river falls from 77.4 m above sea level to 50.4 m. On the left, is located the mountain ranges of Hunsrück and Eifel, on the right Taunus and Westerwald. According to geologists, the characteristic narrow valley form was created by erosion by the river while the surrounding landscape was lifted (see water gap). Major tributaries in this section are the Lahn and the Moselle. They join the Rhine near Koblenz, for the right and left respectively. Almost the entire length of the Middle Rhine runs in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The dominant economic sectors in the Middle Rhine area are viniculture and tourism. The Rhine Gorge between Rüdesheim am Rhein and Koblenz is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Near Sankt Goarshausen, the Rhine flows around the famous rock Lorelei. With its outstanding architectural monuments, the slopes full of vines, settlements crowded on the narrow river banks and scores of castles lined up along the top of the steep slopes, the Middle Rhine Valley can be considered the epitome of the Rhine romanticism.

Lower Rhine

In Bonn, where the Sieg flows into the Rhine, the Rhine enters the North German Plain and turns into the Lower Rhine. The Lower Rhine falls from 50 m to 12 m. The main tributaries on this stretch are the Ruhr and the Lippe. Like the Upper Rhine, the Lower Rhine used to meander until engineering created a solid river bed. Because the levees are some distance from the river, at high tide the Lower Rhine has more room for widening than the Upper Rhine. The Lower Rhine flows through

. Its banks are usually heavily populated and industrialized, in particular the agglomerations

, Düsseldorf and Ruhr area. Here the Rhine flows through the largest conurbation in Germany, the Rhine-Ruhr region. One of the most important cities in this region is

with the largest river port in Europe (Duisport). The region downstream of Duisburg is more agricultural. In Wesel, 30 km downstream of Duisburg, is located the western end of the second east–west shipping route, the Wesel-Datteln Canal, which runs parallel to the Lippe. Between Emmerich am Rhein, Emmerich and Cleves the Emmerich Rhine Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in Germany, crosses the river. Near Krefeld, the river crosses the Uerdingen line, the line which separates the areas where Low German and High German are spoken. Until the early 1980s, industry was a major source of water pollution. Although many plants and factories can be found along the Rhine up into

, it is along the Lower Rhine that the bulk of them are concentrated, as the river passes the major cities of

and

. Duisburg is the home of Europe's largest inland port and functions as a hub to the sea ports of

, Antwerp and Amsterdam. The Ruhr (river), Ruhr, which joins the Rhine in Duisburg, is nowadays a clean river, thanks to a combination of stricter environmental controls, a transition from heavy industry to light industry and cleanup measures, such as the reforestation of slag heaps, Slag and Brownfield land, brownfields. The Ruhr currently provides the region with drinking water. It contributes to the Rhine. Other rivers in the Ruhr Area, above all, the Emscher, still carry a considerable degree of pollution.

Delta

Abbinden der Maas von der Waal 1904 aus Hochwasserschutzgründen

The Dutch name for Rhine is "Rijn". The Rhine turns west and enters the

, where, together with the rivers Meuse (river), Meuse and Scheldt, it forms the extensive Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta, with the largest river delta in Europe. Crossing the border into the Netherlands at Spijk (Rijnwaarden), Spijk, close to

and Arnhem, the Rhine is at its widest, although the river then splits into three main distributary, distributaries: the Waal (river), Waal, Nederrijn ("Nether Rhine") and IJssel. From here, the situation becomes more complicated, as the Dutch name ''Rijn'' no longer coincides with the main flow of water. Two-thirds of the water flow volume of the Rhine flows farther west, through the Waal and then, via the Merwede and Nieuwe Merwede (De Biesbosch), merging with the Meuse, through the Hollands Diep and Haringvliet estuary, estuaries, into the

. The Beneden Merwede branches off, near Hardinxveld-Giessendam and continues as the Noord (river), Noord, to join the Lek (river), Lek, near the village of Kinderdijk, to form the Nieuwe Maas; then flows past

and continues via Het Scheur and the Nieuwe Waterweg, to the North Sea. The Oude Maas branches off, near Dordrecht, farther down rejoining the Nieuwe Maas to form Het Scheur. The other third of the water flows through the Pannerdens Kanaal and redistributes in the IJssel and Nederrijn. The IJssel branch carries one ninth of the water flow of the ''Rhine'' north into the IJsselmeer (a former bay), while the Nederrijn carries approximately two-ninths of the flow west along a route parallel to the Waal. However, at Wijk bij Duurstede, the Nederrijn changes its name and becomes the Lek (river), Lek. It flows farther west, to rejoin the Noord (river), Noord into the Nieuwe Maas and to the North Sea. The name ''Rijn'', from here on, is used only for smaller streams farther to the north, which together formed the main river Rhine in Roman Empire, Roman times. Though they retained the name, these streams no longer carry water from the Rhine, but are used for draining the surrounding land and polders. From Wijk bij Duurstede, the old north branch of the Rhine is called Kromme Rijn ("Bent Rhine") past Utrecht (city), Utrecht, first Leidse Rijn ("Rhine of Leiden") and then, Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine"). The latter flows west into a sluice at Katwijk, where its waters can be discharged into the

. This branch once formed the line along which the Limes Germanicus were built. During periods of lower sea levels within the various ice ages, the Rhine took a left turn, creating the Channel River, the course of which now lies below the English Channel. The Rhine-Meuse Delta, the most important natural region of the

begins near Millingen aan de Rijn, close to the Dutch-German border with the division of the Rhine into Waal (river), Waal and Nederrijn. The region between the Dutch-German border and Rotterdam, where the Waal, Lek, and Meuse run more or less parallel, is colloquially known as the "Great Rivers". Since the Rhine contributes most of the water, the shorter term ''Rhine Delta'' is commonly used. However, this name is also used for the river delta where the Rhine flows into

, so it is clearer to call the larger one ''Rhine-Meuse delta'', or even ''Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta'', as the Scheldt ends in the same delta. The shape of the Rhine delta is determined by two River bifurcation, bifurcations: first, at Millingen aan de Rijn, the Rhine splits into Waal (river), Waal and Pannerdens Kanaal, which changes its name to Nederrijn at Angeren, and second near Arnhem, the IJssel branches off from the Nederrijn. This creates three main flows, two of which change names rather often. The largest and southern main branch begins as Waal and continues as Boven Merwede ("Upper Merwede"), Beneden Merwede ("Lower Merwede"), Noord (river), Noord ("the North"), Nieuwe Maas ("New Meuse"), Het Scheur ("the Rip") and Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway"). The middle flow begins as Nederrijn, then changes into Lek (river), Lek, then joins the Noord, thereby forming Nieuwe Maas. The northern flow keeps the name IJssel until it flows into Lake IJsselmeer. Three more flows carry significant amounts of water: the Nieuwe Merwede ("New Merwede"), which branches off from the southern branch where it changes from Boven to Beneden Merwede; the Oude Maas ("Old Meuse"), which branches off from the southern branch where it changes from Beneden Merwede into Noord, and Dordtse Kil, which branches off from Oude Maas. Before the St. Elizabeth's flood (1421), the Meuse (river), Meuse flowed just south of today's line Merwede-Oude Maas to the North Sea and formed an archipelago-like estuary with Waal and Lek. This system of numerous bays, estuary-like extended rivers, many islands and constant changes of the coastline, is hard to imagine today. From 1421 to 1904, the Meuse and Waal merged further upstream at Gorinchem to form Merwede. For flood protection reasons, the Meuse was separated from the Waal through a lock and diverted into a new outlet called "Bergse Maas", then Amer (river), Amer and then flows into the former bay Hollands Diep. The northwestern part of the estuary (around

), is still called ''Maasmond'' ("Meuse Mouth"), ignoring the fact that it now carries only water from the Rhine. This might explain the confusing naming of the various branches. The hydrography of the current delta is characterized by the delta's main arms, disconnected arms (Hollandse IJssel, Linge, Vecht (Utrecht), Vecht, etc.) and smaller rivers and streams. Many rivers have been closed ("dammed") and now serve as drainage channels for the numerous polders. The construction of Delta Works changed the Delta in the second half of the 20th century fundamentally. Currently Rhine water runs into the sea, or into former marine bays now separated from the sea, in five places, namely at the mouths of the Nieuwe Merwede, Nieuwe Waterway (Nieuwe Maas), Dordtse Kil, Spui (river), Spui and IJssel. The Rhine-Meuse Delta is a tidal delta, shaped not only by the

of the rivers, but also by tidal currents. This meant that high tide formed a serious risk because strong tidal currents could tear huge areas of land into the sea. Before the construction of the Delta Works, tidal influence was palpable up to Nijmegen, and even today, after the regulatory action of the Delta Works, the tide acts far inland. At the Waal, for example, the most landward tidal influence can be detected between Brakel, Gelderland, Brakel and Zaltbommel.

Geologic history

Alpine orogeny

The Rhine flows from the Alps to the North Sea#Geological history, North Sea Basin. The geography and geology of its present-day watershed has been developing since the Alpine orogeny began. In southern Europe, the stage was set in the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, with the opening of the Tethys Ocean, between the Eurasian and African plate tectonics, tectonic plates, between about 240 Before Present, MBP and 220 MBP (million years before present). The present Mediterranean Sea descends from this somewhat larger Tethys sea. At about 180 MBP, in the Jurassic Period, the two plates reversed direction and began to compress the Tethys floor, causing it to be subducted under Eurasia and pushing up the edge of the latter plate in the Alpine Orogeny of the Oligocene and Miocene Periods. Several microplates were caught in the squeeze and rotated or were pushed laterally, generating the individual features of Mediterranean geography: Iberia pushed up the Pyrenees; Italy, the Alps, and Anatolia, moving west, the mountains of Greece and the islands. The compression and orogeny continue today, as shown by the ongoing raising of the mountains a small amount each year and the active volcanoes. In northern Europe, the North Sea Basin had formed during the Triassic and Jurassic periods and continued to be a sediment receiving basin since. In between the zone of Alpine orogeny and North Sea Basin subsidence, highlands resulting from an earlier orogeny (Variscan orogeny, Variscan) remained, such as the Ardennes, Eifel and Vosges. From the Eocene onward, the ongoing Alpine orogeny caused a north–south rift system to develop in this zone. The main elements of this rift are the Upper Rhine Graben, in southwest Germany and eastern France and the Lower Rhine Embayment, in northwest Germany and the southeastern

. By the time of the Miocene, a river system had developed in the Upper Rhine Graben, that continued northward and is considered the first Rhine river. At that time, it did not yet carry discharge from the Alps; instead, the watersheds of the Rhone and

drained the northern flanks of the Alps.

Stream capture

The watershed of the Rhine reaches into the Alps today, but it did not start out that way.Berendsen and Stouthamer (2001) In the Miocene period, the watershed of the Rhine reached south, only to the Eifel and Westerwald hills, about north of the Alps. The Rhine then had the Sieg (river), Sieg as a tributary, but not yet the Moselle. The northern Alps were then drained by the

. Through stream capture, the Rhine extended its watershed southward. By the Pliocene period, the Rhine had captured streams down to the Vosges Mountains, including the

and the

. The northern Alps were then drained by the Rhone. By the early Pleistocene period, the Rhine had captured most of its current Alpine watershed from the Rhône, including the

. Since that time, the Rhine has added the watershed above

(Vorderrhein, Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein, Alpenrhein; captured from the Rhône), the upper reaches of the Main, beyond Schweinfurt and the Moselle in the Vosges Mountains, captured during the Saale Ice-age from the Meuse (river), Meuse, to its watershed. Around 2.5 million years ago (ending 11,600 years ago) the Ice Ages began. Since approximately 600,000 years ago, six major glacial periods have occurred, in which sea level dropped as much as and much of the continental margins were exposed. In the Early Pleistocene, the Rhine followed a course to the northwest, through the present North Sea. During the so-called Anglian glaciation (~450,000 yr BP, marine oxygen isotope stage 12), the northern part of the present

was blocked by the ice and a large lake developed, that overflowed through the English Channel. This caused the Rhine's course to be diverted through the English Channel. Since then, during glacial times, the river mouth was located offshore of Brest, France and rivers, like the River Thames and the Seine, became tributaries to the Rhine. During interglacials, when sea level rose to approximately the present level, the Rhine built deltas in what is now the Netherlands. The most recent glacier, glacial period ran from ~74,000 (BP = Before Present), until the end of the Pleistocene (~11,600 BP). In northwest Europe, it saw two very cold phases, peaking around 70,000 BP and around 29,000–24,000 BP. The last phase slightly predates the global last ice age maximum (Last Glacial Maximum). During this time, the lower Rhine flowed roughly west through the Netherlands and extended to the southwest, through the English Channel and finally, to the Atlantic Ocean. The English Channel, the Irish Channel and most of the

were dry land, mainly because sea level was approximately lower than today. Most of the Rhine's current course was not under the ice during the last Ice Age; although, its source must still have been a glacier. A tundra, with Ice Age flora and fauna, stretched across middle Europe, from Asia to the Atlantic Ocean. Such was the case during the Last Glacial Maximum, ca. 22,000–14,000 yr BP, when ice-sheets covered Scandinavia, the Baltics, Scotland and the Alps, but left the space between as open tundra. Loess (wind-blown topsoil dust) arose from the south and North Sea plain settling on the slopes of the Alps, Urals and the Rhine Valley, rendering the valleys facing the prevailing winds especially fertile.

End of the last glacial period

As northwest Europe slowly began to warm up from 22,000 years ago onward, frozen subsoil and expanded alpine glaciers began to thaw and fall-winter snow covers melted in spring. Much of the discharge was routed to the Rhine and its downstream extension. Rapid warming and changes of vegetation, to open forest, began about 13,000 BP. By 9000 BP, Europe was fully forested. With globally shrinking ice-cover, ocean water levels rose and the English Channel and North Sea re-inundated. Meltwater, adding to the ocean and land subsidence, drowned the former coasts of Europe transgression (geology), transgressionally. About 11000 years ago, the Rhine estuary was in the Strait of Dover. There remained some dry land in the southern

, known as Doggerland, connecting mainland Europe to Britain. About 9000 years ago, that last divide was overtopped / dissected. Man was already resident in the area when these events happened. Since 7500 years ago the situation of tides, currents and land-forms has resembled the present. Rates of sea level rise dropped such that natural sedimentation by the Rhine and coastal processes widely compensate for transgression by the sea. In the southern

, due to ongoing tectonic subsidence, the coastline and sea bed are sinking at the rate of about per century (1 meter or 39 inches in last 3000 years). About 7000–5000 BP, a general warming encouraged migration of all former ice-locked areas, including up the

and down the Rhine by peoples to the east. A Black Sea deluge hypothesis, sudden massive expansion of the Black Sea as the Mediterranean Sea burst into it through the Bosporus may have occurred about 7500 BP.

Holocene delta

At the beginning of the Holocene (~11,700 years ago), the Rhine occupied its Late-Glacial valley. As a meandering river, it reworked its ice-age floodplain. As sea-level rise continued in the Netherlands, the formation of the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta began (~8,000 years ago). Coeval absolute sea-level rise and tectonic subsidence have strongly influenced delta evolution. Other factors of importance to the shape of the delta are the local tectonic activities of the Peel Boundary Fault, the substrate and geomorphology, as inherited from the Last Glacial period and the coastal-marine dynamics, such as barrier and tidal inlet formations. Since ~3000 yr BP (= years Before Present), human impact is seen in the delta. As a result of increasing land clearance (Bronze Age agriculture), in the upland areas (central Germany), the sediment load of the Rhine has strongly increased and delta growth has sped up.Gouw and Erkens (2007) This has caused increased flooding and sedimentation, ending peat formation in the delta. In the geologically recent past the main process distributing sediment across the delta has been the shifting of river channels to new locations on the floodplain (termed avulsion). Over the past 6000 years, approximately 80 avulsions have occurred. Direct human impact in the delta began with the mining of peat for salt and fuel from Ancient Rome, Roman times onward. This was followed by embankment of the major distributaries and damming of minor distributaries, which took place in the 11–13th century AD. Thereafter, canals were dug, bends were straightened and groynes were built to prevent the river's channels from migrating or silting up. At present, the branches Waal and Nederrijn-Lek discharge to the North Sea through the former Meuse estuary, near Rotterdam. The river IJssel branch flows to the north and enters the IJsselmeer (formerly the Zuider Zee), initially a brackish lagoon but a freshwater lake since 1932. The discharge of the Rhine is divided into three branches: the Waal (6/9 of total discharge), the Nederrijn – Lek (2/9 of total discharge) and the IJssel (1/9 of total discharge). This discharge distribution has been maintained since 1709 by river engineering works including the digging of the Pannerdens canal and the installation, in the 20th century, of a series of weirs on the Nederrijn.

Military and cultural history

Antiquity

The Rhine was not known to Herodotus and first enters the historical period in the 1st century BC in Roman-era geography. At that time, it formed the boundary between Gaul and Germania. Although it is estimated that germanic tribes have been inhabiting the area since 2000 BCE. The Upper Rhine had been part of the areal of the late Hallstatt culture since the 6th century BC, and by the 1st century BC, the areal of the La Tène culture covered almost its entire length, forming a contact zone with the Jastorf culture, i.e. the locus of early Celts, Celtic-Germanic peoples, Germanic cultural contact. In Roman geography, the Rhine formed the boundary between ''Gallia'' and ''Germania'' by definition; e.g. Maurus Servius Honoratus, ''Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil'' (8.727) ''(Rhenus) fluvius Galliae, qui Germanos a Gallia dividit'' "(The Rhine is a) river of Gaul, which divides the Germanic people from Gaul." In Roman geography, the Rhine and Hercynia Silva were considered the boundary of the civilized world; as it was a wilderness, the Romans were eager to explore it. This view is typified by ''Res Gestae Divi Augusti'', a long public inscription of Augustus, in which he boasts of his exploits; including, sending an expeditionary fleet north of the Rheinmouth, to Old Saxony and Jutland, which he claimed no Roman had ever done before. Augustus ordered his stepson Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus to establish 50 castra, military camps along the Rhine, starting the Germanic Wars in 12 BC. At this time, the plain of the Lower Rhine was the territory of the Ubii. The first urban settlement, on the grounds of what is today Downtown Cologne, along the Rhine, was ''Oppidum Ubiorum'', which was founded in 38 BC by the Ubii. Cologne became acknowledged, as a city by the Romans in AD 50, by the name of ''Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium''. Castellum NigrumPullum vogelvlucht impressie Stevie Xinas 2016

Castellum NigrumPullum vogelvlucht impressie Stevie Xinas 2016

From the death of Augustus in AD 14 until after AD 70, Rome accepted as her Limes Germanicus, Germanic frontier the water-boundary of the Rhine and upper

. Beyond these rivers she held only the fertile plain of Frankfurt, opposite the Roman border fortress of Moguntiacum (Mainz), the southernmost slopes of the Black Forest and a few scattered bridge-heads. The northern section of this frontier, where the Rhine is deep and broad, remained the Roman boundary until the empire fell. The southern part was different. The upper Rhine and upper Danube are easily crossed. The frontier which they form is inconveniently long, enclosing an acute-angled wedge of foreign territory between the modern Baden and Württemberg. The Germanic populations of these lands seem in Roman times to have been scanty, and Roman subjects from the modern Alsace-Lorraine had drifted across the river eastwards. The Romans kept eight legions in five bases along the Rhine. The number was reduced to four as more units were moved to the Danube. The actual number of legions present at any base or in all, depended on whether a state or threat of war existed. Between about AD 14 and 180, the assignment of legions was as follows: for the army of Germania Inferior, two legions at Vetera (Xanten), ''Legio I Germanica, I Germanica'' and ''Legio XX Valeria Victrix, XX Valeria'' (Pannonian troops); two legions at oppidum Ubiorum ("town of the Ubii"), which was renamed to Colonia Agrippina, descending to

, ''Legio V Alaudae, V Alaudae'', a Celtic legion recruited from Gallia Narbonensis and ''Legio XXI Rapax, XXI'', possibly a Galatian legion from the other side of the empire. For the army of Germania Superior: one legion, ''Legio II Augusta, II Augusta'', at Argentoratum (

); and one, ''Legio XIII Gemina, XIII Gemina'', at Vindonissa (Windisch, Switzerland, Windisch). Vespasian had commanded II Augusta, before he became emperor. In addition, were a double legion, XIV and XVI, at Moguntiacum (Mainz). The two original military districts of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior, came to influence the surrounding tribes, who later respected the distinction in their alliances and confederations. For example, the upper Germanic peoples combined into the Alamanni, Alemanni. For a time, the Rhine ceased to be a border, when the Franks crossed the river and occupied Roman-dominated Celtic Gaul, as far as Paris. Germanic tribes Crossing of the Rhine, crossed the Rhine in the Migration period, by the 5th century establishing the kingdoms of Francia on the Lower Rhine, Kingdom of the Burgundians, Burgundy on the Upper Rhine and Alemannia on the

. This "Germanic Heroic Age" is reflected in medieval legend, such as the ''Nibelungenlied'' which tells of the hero Siegfried killing a dragon on the Drachenfels (Siebengebirge) ("dragons rock"), near Bonn at the Rhine and of the Burgundians and their court at Worms, at the Rhine and Kriemhild's golden treasure, which was thrown into the Rhine by Hagen.

Medieval and modern history

By the 6th century, the Rhine was within the borders of Francia. In the 9th, it formed part of the border between Middle Francia, Middle and Western Francia, but in the 10th century, it was fully within the

, flowing through Swabia, Franconia and Lower Lorraine. The mouths of the Rhine, in the county of Holland, fell to the Burgundian Netherlands in the 15th century; Holland remained contentious territory throughout the European wars of religion and the eventual collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, when the length of the Rhine fell to the First French Empire and its client states. The

on the left banks of the Upper Rhine was sold to Burgundy by Archduke Sigismund of Austria in 1469 and eventually fell to kingdom of France, France in the Thirty Years' War. The numerous historic List of castles in Rhineland-Palatinate, castles in Rhineland-Palatinate attest to the importance of the river as a commercial route. Since the Peace of Westphalia, the Upper Rhine formed a contentious border between France and Germany. Establishing "natural borders" on the Rhine was a long-term goal of French foreign policy, since the Middle Ages, though the language border was – and is – far more to the west. French leaders, such as Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV and Napoleon I of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, tried with varying degrees of success to annex lands west of the Rhine. The Confederation of the Rhine was established by Napoleon, as a French client state, in 1806 and lasted until 1814, during which time it served as a significant source of resources and military manpower for the First French Empire. In 1840, the Rhine crisis, prompted by French prime minister Adolphe Thiers desire to reinstate the Rhine as a natural border, led to a diplomatic crisis and a wave of nationalism in Germany. Royal Newfoundland Regiment crossing the Rhine into Germany

Royal Newfoundland Regiment crossing the Rhine into Germany

The Rhine became an important symbol in German nationalism during the formation of the German state in the 19th century (see Rhine romanticism). * The song ''Die Wacht am Rhein'', which almost became a national anthem. * ''Das Rheingold'' – inspired by the ''Nibelungenlied'', the Rhine is one of the settings for the first opera of Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. The action of the epic opens and ends underneath the Rhine, where three Rheinmaidens swim and protect a hoard of gold. * The Loreley/Lorelei is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine, that is associated with several legendary tales, poems and songs. The river spot has a reputation for being a challenge for inexperienced navigators. At the end of World War I, the

was subject to the Treaty of Versailles. This decreed that it would be occupied by the allies, until 1935 and after that, it would be a demilitarized zone, with the German army forbidden to enter. The Treaty of Versailles and this particular provision, in general, caused much resentment in Germany and is often cited as helping Adolf Hitler's rise to power. The allies left the Rhineland, in 1930 and the German army re-occupied it in 1936, which was enormously popular in Germany. Although the allies could probably have prevented the reoccupation, Britain and France were not inclined to do so, a feature of their policy of appeasement to Hitler. Crossingtherhine

In World War II, it was recognized that the Rhine would present a Western Allied invasion of Germany, formidable natural obstacle to the invasion of Germany, by the Western Allies. The Rhine bridge at Arnhem, immortalized in the book, ''A Bridge Too Far (book), A Bridge Too Far'' and the A Bridge Too Far (film), film, was a central focus of the battle for Arnhem, during the failed Operation Market Garden of September 1944. The bridges at

, over the Waal distributary of the Rhine, were also an objective of Operation Market Garden. In a separate operation, the Ludendorff Bridge, crossing the Rhine at Remagen, became famous, when U.S. forces were able to capture it intact – much to their own surprise – after the Germans failed to demolish it. This also became the subject of a film, ''The Bridge at Remagen''. ''Seven Days to the River Rhine'' was a Warsaw Pact war plan for an invasion of Western Europe during the Cold War. Until 1932 the generally accepted length of the Rhine was . In 1932 the German encyclopedia Knaurs Lexikon stated the length as , presumably a typographical error. After this number was placed into the authoritative Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, it became generally accepted and found its way into numerous textbooks and official publications. The error was discovered in 2010, and the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat confirms the length at .

Lists of features

Cities on the Rhine

Large cities that are situated on the Rhine: Switzerland: *

France: *

Germany: *Karlsruhe *Mannheim *Ludwigshafen *Wiesbaden *Mainz *Koblenz *Bonn *

*Leverkusen *Neuss *

*Krefeld (Uerdingen) *

Netherlands: *Arnhem (Nederrijn) *

(Waal) *Utrecht (city), Utrecht (Kromme Rijn) *

(Nieuwe Maas) Smaller cities that are situated on the Rhine: Switzerland: *

*Kreuzlingen *

Liechtenstein: *Vaduz Germany: *Konstanz *Breisach *Speyer *Worms, Germany, Worms *Bingen am Rhein *Rüdesheim am Rhein *Neuwied *Andernach *Bad Honnef *Königswinter *Niederkassel *Wesseling *Dormagen *Zons *Monheim am Rhein *Wesel *Xanten *Emmerich am Rhein Netherlands: *Zutphen (IJssel) *Deventer (IJssel) *Zwolle (IJssel) *Kampen, Overijssel, Kampen (IJssel) *Leiden (Oude Rijn) * Dordrecht (Merwede) * Wageningen (Nederrijn) * Woerden (Oude Rijn) * Wijk bij Duurstede ( Neder Rijn / Kromme Rijn / Lek ) * Alphen aan den Rijn ( Oude Rijn )

Countries and borders

During its course from the Alps to the North Sea, the Rhine passes through four countries and constitutes six different country borders. On the various parts: * the Anterior Rhine lies entirely within Switzerland, while at least one tributary to Posterior Rhine, ''Reno di Lei'' originates in Italy, but is not considered a part of the Rhine proper. * the Alpine Rhine flows within Switzerland till

, from which it becomes the border between Switzerland (to the west) and Liechtenstein (to the east) until Oberriet, and the river never flows within Liechtenstein. It then becomes the border between Switzerland (to the west) and Austria (to the east) until

where the modern and straight course enters Switzerland, while the original course ''Alter Rhein'' makes a bend to the east and continues as the Swiss-Austrian border until the confluence at Widnau. From here the river continues as the border until Lustenau, where the modern and straight course enters Austria (the only part of the river that flows within Austria), while the original course makes a bend to the west and continues as the border, until both courses enter

. * the first half of ''Seerhein'', between the upper and lower body of Lake Constance, flows within Germany (and the city of Konstanz), while the second is the German (to the north) – Swiss (to the south) frontier. * the first parts of the High Rhine, from Lake Constance to Altholz, the river alternates flowing within Switzerland and being the German-Swiss frontier (three times each). From Altholz the river is the German-Swiss border until

, where it enters Switzerland for the last time. * the Upper Rhine is the border between France (to the west) and Switzerland (to the east) for a short distance, from Basel to Hunningue. Here it becomes the Franco (to the west) – German (to the east) frontier until Au am Rhein. Hence, the main course of the Rhine never flows within France, although some river canals do. From Au am Rhein the river flows within Germany. * the Middle Rhine flows entirely within Germany. * the Lower Rhine flows within Germany until Emmerich am Rhein, where it becomes the border between The Netherlands (to the north) and Germany (to the south). At Millingen aan de Rijn the river enters the Netherlands. * all parts of the Delta Rhein flows within the Netherlands until they enter the

, IJsselmeer (IJssel) or Haringvliet (Waal (river), Waal) at the Dutch coast.

Bridges

Former distributaries

''Order: panning north to south through the Western Netherlands'': * Vecht (Utrecht) (minor channel in Ancient Rome, Roman times, flowing into former Zuider Zee lagoon) * Kromme Rijn – Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland) (main channel in Roman times, dammed in the 12th century) * Hollandse IJssel (formed after Roman times, dammed in the 13th century AD) * Linge (big channel in Roman times, dammed in the 14th century AD) * De Biesbosch-area (initiated by AD 1421–1424 storm surges and river floods, by-passed since the digging of Nieuwe Merwede canal in AD 1904)

Canals

''Order: upstream to downstream'': * Rhine–Main–Danube Canal – southeastern Germany * Grand Canal d'Alsace – eastern France * Rhine-Herne Canal – northwest Germany, connection to the Dortmund-Ems Canal and the Mittellandkanal * Maas-Waal Canal – eastcentral

* Amsterdam-Rhine Canal – central

* Scheldt-Rhine Canal – southwest

* Canal of Drusus

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Rhine
with maps and details of navigation through the French section; places, ports and moorings, by the author of ''Inland Waterways of France'', Imray
Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals
(French waterways website section)
Old maps of the Rhine
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