The Schwalm (

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

) or Swalm ( Dutch), is a small river in Germany and the Netherlands, tributary to the river Meuse. Its source is near Wegberg, in the district Heinsberg, south-west of Mönchengladbach, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). The Schwalm flows through Wegberg and Brüggen before flowing into the Meuse across the border with the Netherlands, in

Swalmen Swalmen (; li, Zjwame ) is a town in the south-eastern Netherlands. The town is situated between the German border and the river Meuse (''Maas'' in Dutch). Until 1 January 2007, Swalmen was a separate municipality, covering the villages Swalmen, ...

. Its total length is 45 km.

Sources

The original source region has since become an area of carr with poor water quality. The water of the Schwalm comes mainly from ''

Rheinbraun RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. The company is Europe's most climate threatening Company, the world's number two in offs ...

's'' waste water pits. This brown coal open cast mine is required to feed the waste water into the surface water. Otherwise it would fill the mine, which is up to 230 metres deep.This is achieved by means of shafts (''Schlitzschächten'') through which the water flows back into the groundwater. If it were not for these shafts, the rivers

Niers The Niers (, ) is a river in Germany and The Netherlands, a right tributary of the river Maas (Meuse). Its wellspring is near Erkelenz, south of Mönchengladbach, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Course and length The Niers flows through Mö ...

and Schwalm would long since have dried up. This would also destroy the mixed alder and ash wet woodland typical of the region.

Course

The source of the Schwalm is in a wetland area south of the German village of Wegberg- Tüschenbroich at an elevation of about . From there the river flows mainly through the

Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park The Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park (german: Naturpark Maas-Schwalm-Nette; nl, Grenspark Maas-Swalm-Nette) or NMSM is a cross-border nature park in Germany and the Netherlands, which was founded in 2002. It is a regionally important recreation ...

, its riverbed running between the rivers

Rur The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...

Nette Nette can refer to: Rivers * Nette (Innerste), a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, tributary to the Innerste * Nette (Hase), a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, tributary to the Hase * Nette (Middle Rhine), a river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, tr ...

and

. Of its total length from this source to its

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

on the Meuse, near the village of

at about , 13 kilometres of the river run through Dutch territory. Parts of the river which, for example, run past the villages of Wegberg,

Niederkrüchten Niederkrüchten is a municipality in the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km east of Roermond and 15 km west of Mönchengladbach. Elmpt The formerly separate settlement of Elmp ...

, Schwalmtal, Brüggen-Born, Brüggen and

, form natural meanders. The catchment area of the Schwalm is 268.7 square kilometres, of which around 27 square kilometres lie in the Netherlands.

Tributaries

* Beeckbach * Mühlenbach * Knippertzbach *

Kranenbach The Kranenbach is an orographically right-hand tributary of the Schwalm (Meuse), Schwalm in the Niederrhein (region), Lower Rhine county of Kreis Viersen, Viersen. Its source is in the vicinity of Vennbachhof near Ungerath (in the municipality of ...

* Elmpter Bach

Flora and fauna

The carr and heath/

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

areas along the Schwalm provide a diverse habitat for fauna and flora. Frogs, dragonflies,

damselflies Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along ...

, bluethroat, kingfisher and golden oriole are to be found as are

water crowfoot ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed in Europe, ...

, bog myrtle and other rare plants.

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

, barbel and

chub Chub is a common fish name. It pertains to any one of a number of ray-finned fish in several families and genera. In the UK, the term ''chub'' usually refers to the species ''Squalius cephalus''. In addition, see sea chub. In family Cyprinidae ...

are at home in the river; along the

river bank Riverbank or river bank may refer to: *Bank (geography), the bank of a river Places *Riverbank, California *Riverbank, former name of Bryte, California Enterprises and organizations *Riverbank Academy, a special school in Coventry, England * Ri ...

s are also various members of the eter water rat family.

References

External links

Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park

Schwalm-Nette Nature Reserve
Rivers of the Netherlands Rivers of Limburg (Netherlands) Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia Beesel Roermond Rivers of Germany International rivers of Europe {{Netherlands-river-stub