The White Main Spring (german: Weißmainquelle) is the source of the

White Main The White Main (german: Weißer Main or ''Weißmain'', not to be confused with the Weismain), is the larger and shorter of the two headstreams of the river Main. It rises in the Fichtelgebirge and merges near Steinenhausen, southwest of Kulmbach, ...

river, the right-hand and northern headstream of the River Main, a major tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It is located at a height of 887 metres above sea level on the eastern slopes of the Ochsenkopf mountain and is viewed as the source of the Main, even though the Red Main is several kilometres longer. Usually the White Main Spring is stronger (i.e. has a higher volumetric flow) than the

Red Main Spring The Red Main Spring (german: Rotmainquelle) is the source of the Red Main river, the left-hand and southern headstream of the River Main in Germany. It is located in the Lindenhardt Forest, ten kilometres south of Bayreuth near Hörlasreuth at ...

. Margrave Frederick of Brandenburg had it traced in 1717 and impounded in granite blocks bearing the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

coat of arms. The spring bears the name ''Fürstenbrunnen'' ("Prince's Well"), but is not to be confused with the Upper and Lower Fürstenbrunnen on the Ochsenkopf. By contrast, in 1785 Goethe considered the ''Seehausbrunnen'' () southeast of the Schneeberg as the source of the Main and wrote: ''"the source of the Main, which rises right by the house here and makes the brook look like a tin wash"''. The White Main Spring gets its name from the light-coloured, granitic subsoil which gives the river its white appearance. Over the Ochsenkopf runs the European Watershed between the source of the Main, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Rhine, and the nearby Fichtelnaab Spring, which drains via the

Fichtelnaab The Fichtelnaab is a river in Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany. It rises in the Fichtelgebirge and flows into the Waldnaab near Windischeschenbach. Course The source of the ''Fichtelnaab'' is located on the southeaste ...

and Danube into the Black Sea. The White Main Spring is a station on the Spring Way maintained by the

Fichtelgebirge Club The Fichtelgebirge Club (german: Fichtelgebirgsverein or ''FGV'') is a large walking club and local heritage society in Bavaria and recognised conservation group with 20,000 members in 55 local groups. As the name says, its main sphere of activit ...

Geotope

The spring is designated by the Bavarian Department of the Environment as Geotope 472Q003. Geotop: Weissmainquelle
(retrieved 26 August 2013; pdf; 192 kB)

Literature

* Dietmar Herrmann: ''Der Ochsenkopf im Fichtelgebirge''; Band 17/2009 der Schriftenreihe des Fichtelgebirgsvereins ''Das Fichtelgebirge'' (comprehensive description of the spring)

References

{{Coord, 50.029792, N, 11.82395, E, type:waterbody_region:DE-BY, display=header, format=dms Springs of Germany SWhite Main Spring