The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of

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 ...

, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, after 35 km reaching the river

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 descen ...

. The confluence is located north of the small town of

Brugg , neighboring_municipalities = Gebenstorf, Habsburg, Hausen, Holderbank, Lupfig, Riniken, Rüfenach, Schinznach, Untersiggenthal, Villigen, Villnachern, Veltheim, Windisch , twintowns = Rottweil (Germany) , website ...

and shortly after the mouth of the Reuss. The main towns along the

Limmat Valley The Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal'') is a river valley and a region in the cantons of Zürich and Aargau in Switzerland. Geography The Limmat () is a long river located in the cantons of Zürich (ZH) and Aargau (AG). It is the co ...

downstream of Zurich are

Dietikon Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area. Geography The i ...

Wettingen Wettingen is a residential community in the district of Baden in the Swiss canton of Aargau. With a population about 20,000, Wettingen is the second-largest municipality in the canton. Geography Wettingen is located on the right bank of the Li ...

, and

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

. Its main tributaries are the

Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Swiss river that rises near the village of Linthal in the mountains of the canton of Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee section of Lake Zurich. It is about in length. The water power of the Lin ...

, via Lake Zurich, the

Sihl The Sihl is a Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the city of Zürich. It has a length of , including the Sihlsee reservoir, through which the river f ...

, in Zurich, and the

Reppisch The Reppisch is a river in Switzerland. It rises in the Türlersee and joins the Limmat as its tributary, near the town of Dietikon. The Reppisch flows in the Säuliamt (Affoltern district), canton of Zürich, an area featuring still partially ...

, in

. The

hydronym A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As ...

is first attested in the 8th century, as ''Lindimacus''. It is of

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient 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, most of Switze ...

origin, from ''*lindo-'' "lake" (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''llyn'') and ''*magos'' "plain" (Welsh ''maes''), and was thus presumably in origin the name of the plain formed by the

Power generation

Like many Swiss rivers, the Limmat is intensively used for production of

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

: along its course of , its fall is used by no less than ten hydroelectric

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s. These include:

Navigation

Historically, the Limmat was an important navigation route. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, voyages from Zurich to Koblenz are recorded. In 1447, the Emperor Frederick III granted the privilege of free navigation on the Limmat and on the

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

to Zurich. Because of the current, navigation was typically downstream only, with the barges being sold on arrival. Today, the Limmat is navigable for much of its length by small craft only, with many of the hydroelectric power plants incorporating

boat lift A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock. It may be vertically moving, like the Anderton boat lift in England, rotational, like ...

s. The traditional boat type used on the river is the weidling, a flat-bottomed vessel that is usually long. The uppermost stretch of the river through the centre of Zurich is navigable by rather larger vessels, albeit limited by low bridges. On this stretch of the river the

Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft The ''Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft'' or Lake Zürich Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zürich. The company operates services connecting lake-side towns ...

(Lake Zurich Navigation Company) operates its Limmat boat service, from the Landesmuseum to

, using low-profile motor boats.

Towns near the river

*In the canton of Zurich: *# Zurich *#

Oberengstringen Oberengstringen is a municipality in the district of Dietikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). History Oberengstringen is first mentioned in 870 as ''Enstelingon''. In 1306 it was me ...

Unterengstringen Unterengstringen is a municipality in the district of Dietikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). Geography Unterengstringen has an area of . Of this area, 36.5% is used for agricultu ...

Schlieren Schlieren ( ; , ) are optical inhomogeneities in transparent media that are not necessarily visible to the human eye. Schlieren physics developed out of the need to produce high-quality lenses devoid of such inhomogeneities. These inhomogeneiti ...

Geroldswil Geroldswil is a municipality in the district of Dietikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley. History Geroldswil is first mentioned in 1255 as ''Geroltzwiler''. Geography Geroldswil has an area of . Of this a ...

Oetwil an der Limmat Oetwil an der Limmat is a municipality in the district of Dietikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). History Oetwil an der Limmat is first mentioned around 850 as ''Otenwilare''. Geog ...

*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 capit ...

Spreitenbach Spreitenbach ( High Alemannic: ''Spräitebach'') is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). It lies southeast of the district center, directly on the ...

Würenlos Würenlos is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It lies north of the river Limmat, next to the canton of Zürich, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). Geography Würenlos has an are ...

*# Neuenhof *#

Ennetbaden Ennetbaden is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). History Ennetbaden is first mentioned about 1261-64 as ''Alio Badin''. Geography Ennetbaden ...

*# Nussbaumen AG *#

Untersiggenthal Untersiggenthal is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). Geography Untersiggenthal has an area, , of . Of this area, 33.2% is used for agricultural p ...

Turgi Turgi is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). In 2002, Turgi received the Wakker Prize for the preservation of its architectural heritage. History I ...

Cultural Heritage

Located on the swamp land between Limmat and

Zürichsee __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 ...

around Sechseläutenplatz on small islands and peninsulas in Zürich,

Prehistoric pile dwellings around Zürichsee Prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich comprises 11 – or 10% of all European pile dwelling sites – of a total of 56 prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps in Switzerland, that are located around Lake Zurich in the cantons ...

were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the

and Jona.

Zürich–Enge Alpenquai Zürich–Enge Alpenquai is one of the 111 serial sites of the World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which 56 are located in Switzerland. Geography Located on the then-swampland betw ...

is located on ''

'' lakeshore in Enge, a locality of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Zürich. It was neighbored by the settlements at

Kleiner Hafner Kleiner Hafner is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography Kleiner Hafner was located on the then swamp land between the ri ...

and

Grosser Hafner Grossner Hafner is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography Grosser Hafner was located on the then swamp area between the L ...

on a then peninsula respectively island in the effluence of the Limmat, within an area of about in the city of Zürich. As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', the settlement is also listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as a ''Class object''.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Rivers of Switzerland Geography of Zürich Rivers of the canton of Zürich