The Sihl is a
Swiss river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
that rises near the
Druesberg mountain in the
canton of Schwyz
The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on ...
, and eventually flows into the
Limmat in the centre of the
city of Zürich
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. It has a length of , including the
Sihlsee reservoir, through which the river flows. Water is abstracted from the river at the Sihlsee, leading to decreased downstream water flows and a consequent reduction in water quality.
The river flows through, or along the border of, the cantons of
Schwyz
The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ' ...
,
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
and
Zug
, neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri
, twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina)
Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...
. The main settlements of the
Sihl Valley Sihl Valley ( German: ''Sihltal'') is a river valley and belongs to the Zimmerberg-Sihltal region located in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Commonly ''Sihltal'' is used as the name of the Lower Sihl Valley, i.e. the ...
are all in the canton of Zürich, and include the towns of
Langnau am Albis
Langnau am Albis is a village in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
History
Langnau am Albis is first mentioned between 1101 and 1150 as ''Langenow'' (in a 14th Century copy of the 12th century document). Between 113 ...
and
Adliswil
Adliswil is a town and a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
The official language of Adliswil is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alem ...
, along with a south-western segment of the city of Zürich. Above Langnau am Albis, some from the confluence with the Limmat, there are no major settlements alongside the river, and only a few small villages. Whilst the
town of Einsiedeln is situated close to the Sihlsee, it is actually in the valley of a tributary river, the
Alp.
[
]
Etymology
The first written reference to the name dates to 1018, in the form ''Sylaha''.
The name may be of Old European or Celtic origin: ''*Sîla'' ("quiet watercourse", from a root ''*sîl'' = "to trickle, wet") > Romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
''Sila'' with the addition of the Old High German element '' aha'' "flowing water".
Course of the river
The river rises to the north-eastern side of the Druesberg mountain, in the municipality of Unteriberg of the canton of Schwyz
The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on ...
, and flows north to the village of Studen. Some downstream of Studen, the river enters the artificial Sihlsee
__NOTOC__
The Sihlsee (in English sometimes called ''Lake Sihl'') is an artificial lake in the Swiss canton of Schwyz, near the town of Einsiedeln. The lake was created by damming the river Sihl and flooding a section of the upper Sihl Valley.
T ...
reservoir at its southern end. Nearby, the Minster also flows into the Sihlsee, and was, prior to construction of the reservoir, a direct tributary of the Sihl. The Eubach, Rickentalbach and Grossbach tributary streams also flow into the Sihl via the Sihlsee.[
The Sihlsee is some long, and lies close to the town of Einsiedeln. It is Switzerland's largest artificial lake, and is impounded by a high dam. Electricity is generated by diverting water down a tunnel from the Sihlsee, which has a water level elevation of , through the Etzelwerk 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 ...
at Altendorf, into Lake Zürich
__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 ...
, which has a water level elevation of . This has led to decreased water flows downstream of the dam, with negative impact on water quality and a tendency for the river to dry out in places during low flow conditions in winter.[
]
Below the dam, the Sihl enters a narrow glacial valley and continues in an easterly direction, receiving the water of its tributary the Alp, before briefly entering the canton of Zürich near the village of Hütten. The river then continues as the border between the cantons of Zug
, neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri
, twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina)
Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...
and Zürich, passing through the Sihlsprung rapids along the way. At the village of Sihlbrugg, the river enters the canton of Zürich for a second and final time. North of Sihlbrugg, the river flows through a lightly populated and heavily wooded valley, accompanied by a main road and railway line. The Sihlwald forest, a rare example of a large-scale and original forest, lies on the slopes of the Albis
The Albis is a chain of hills in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, stretching for some 19 km from Sihlbrugg in the south to Waldegg near Zürich in the north. The chain forms, among others, the border between the Affoltern and Horgen di ...
that rise up from the river to the west. At this point, Lake Zürich lies only to the east, but is separated from the river by the Zimmerberg mountain.[
Reaching the town of Langnau am Albis, on the west bank of the river, and the village of Gattikon, on the east bank, the valley becomes more populous and industrial, with industry originally attracted by the available water power. From here the valley bottom is continuously built-up through the town of Adliswil to the boundary of the ]city of Zürich
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. Once in the city, the river flows through and between the Leimbach, Wollishofen
Wollishofen is a neighbourhood in Zürich's 2nd district. It was formerly a municipality of its own, having been incorporated into Zürich in 1893. The neighbourhood has a population of 15,592 distributed on an area of 5.75 km2.
Geography ...
, Friesenberg, Alt-Wiedikon and Enge quarters before reaching the city centre. In this stretch the river is crossed by many bridges, and for one stretch the A3 motorway runs along and over the river on a viaduct.[
]
Nearer the city centre, the SZU railway line runs in tunnel along and under the river. One access to that line's Selnau station is constructed in the form of an artificial island within the river. Just downstream of here, the Schanzengraben moat, which is fed from Lake Zürich and formerly protected the western perimeter of the Altstadt, flows into the Sihl, just before the latter flows under Zürich Hauptbahnhof railway station
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Züric ...
. The station has platforms on two levels, and the river actually tunnels under the upper ones, but above the lower ones, in 5 culverts each with a length of and a clear opening of by . Shortly after passing under the station, the Sihl joins the Limmat at the apex of the Platzspitz park.
Flood risk
The river flows through the Sihlsee
__NOTOC__
The Sihlsee (in English sometimes called ''Lake Sihl'') is an artificial lake in the Swiss canton of Schwyz, near the town of Einsiedeln. The lake was created by damming the river Sihl and flooding a section of the upper Sihl Valley.
T ...
some upstream of Zürich city centre, and studies have shown that a failure of the dam could lead to an high flood wave reaching the city within 2 hours. This threat is exacerbated by the fact that the river passes through Zürich Hauptbahnhof station in a tunnel that limits the river’s flow capacity, raising concerns about the capacity of the tunnel to deal with extreme flood events. This threat has led the City of Zürich to develop, publish and test evacuation plans for the affected areas of the city.
References
External links
*
*
A description of the bike path along the lower Sihl
*http://www.sihlwald.ch
{{Authority control
Sihl,
Rivers of the canton of Schwyz
Rivers of the canton of Zürich
Rivers of Switzerland
Geography of Zürich