The Swist is a stream, long, in 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 ...
. It rises on the northern edge of the
Eifel
The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...
at 330 metres above sea level and empties from the right and southeast into the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
tributary, the
Erft
The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardinal ...
, between
Weilerswist
Weilerswist () is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approximately 10 kilometers north of Euskirchen, and 20 kilometers south-west of Cologne
Colog ...
and (a district of
Erftstadt
Erftstadt () is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river that flows through it, the Erft. The neighbouring towns are Brüh ...
). Occasionally the Swist is also called the ''Swistbach'', and locals often just call it ''der Bach'' ("the stream").
The Swist flows through the municipality
Swisttal, the town of
Meckenheim
Meckenheim (; ksh, Meckem) is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km south-west of Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in t ...
and
Flerzheim. There are cycle paths by the side of the stream along this stretch. The Swist gave its name to Swisttal and the town of
Weilerswist
Weilerswist () is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approximately 10 kilometers north of Euskirchen, and 20 kilometers south-west of Cologne
Colog ...
. Its source area is situated at the northern edge of the Eifel.
Geography
Course
Its source lies at in the northern part of the Eifel in the
Ahr Hills
The Ahr HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (german: Ahrgebirge or ''Ahreifel'' ) are a range of low mountains and hills up to and long in the Eifel region of Germany, which lie roughly southwest of ...
, north of the village of
Kalenborn in the
collective municipality of Altenahr in the county of
Ahrweiler
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler () is a spa town in the German Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate that serves as the capital of the Ahrweiler district. The A61 motorway connects the town with cities like Cologne and Mainz. Formed by the merging of the ...
. The Swist has an average gradient of 5 ‰ and flows initially to Vettelhoven (
Grafschaft
A ''Grafschaft'' was originally the name given to the administrative area in the Holy Roman Empire over which a count, or ''Graf'', presided as judge. It is often, therefore, translated as 'county'. The term has survived as a placename in German- ...
) in a northeasterly direction and then descends at a gradient of just 1.3 ‰ through the
Fore-Eifel. It continues along the western slopes of the hill ridge in the
börde
A ''börde'' (plural: ''börden'') is a region of highly fertile lowland in North Germany, a "fertile plain". These landscapes often cover great areas and are particularly important for arable farming on account of their rich soils.
These region ...
landscape of the Rheinbach Loess Plateau through
Meckenheim
Meckenheim (; ksh, Meckem) is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km south-west of Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in t ...
,
Flerzheim,
Morenhoven
Morenhoven is a farming village in the municipality Swisttal in the North Rhine-Westphalian Rhein-Sieg district. It is situated approximately 12 km west of Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine ...
,
Heimerzheim
Heimerzheim is the largest local part of the municipality Swisttal in the North-Rhine/Westphalian (North Rhine Westphalia) Rhein-Sieg district. It is situated approximately 20 km west of Bonn. In 2015 the local part had 6,199 inhabitants. and . At the Swist empties into the Erft between Weilerswist and Bliesheim.
Catchment
Its catchment area lies between that of the Rhine near
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
and its smaller tributaries like the
Hardtbach or to the northwest and that of its parent river, the
Erft
The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardinal ...
around
Euskirchen
Euskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating back over 700 years, having been granted to ...
right in the west and peters out quickly towards the north-northwest. It is rural and, in the open country, arable fields predominate. Around the upper courses of the stream and its especially along its important left-hand tributaries there is a large contiguous forest as well as pastures and meadows. The largest part of the catchment belongs to the state of
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 ...
, the source region is in
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 ...
.
Tributaries
The most important tributary of the Swist is the ''Steinbach'', which joins from the left at river kilometre 15.7 as the ''Jungbach''. Between and
Essig it bears the name ''Orbach''. The stream has a catchment of which is about 17% that of the Swist. The tributaries of the Swist are listed below.
River history
Originally the River
Ahr
Ahr () is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim. After it crosses fro ...
flowed in what is now the riverbed of the Swist. After the uplifting of the Ahr Hills, and its route northwards was barred, the Ahr tried to find a way directly to the Rhine.
In places it is said that the Swist is the longest stream (i.e. German ''Bach'', small river) in Europe This probably goes back to when its course was marked by wide meanders in the area of the low gradient between Vettelhoven and its mouth.
Since the straightening of the Swist in the early 20th century and certainly no later than its canalisation in the 1960s it has probably lost this record.
Historic bridges
Eifelwasserleitung Rekonstruktion Simulation.jpg, Virtual simulation of the old arch bridge of the Roman aqueduct in the Swistbachaue
File:Mielswistpreusstbrckirp.jpg, Remains of a Prussian bridge over the Swist at Miel
File:Mielswistpreusstrp.jpg, Prussian milestone by the old bridgehead near Miel
The
Roman aqueduct to Cologne crossed the valley of the Swist between Meckenheim and Rheinbach on an arched bridge which was 1,400 metres long and up to 10 metres high. Archaeologists have worked out that the bridge must have once had 295 arches with an inside width of . Nothing is left of the structure apart from a low strip of rubble. In
Lützermiel the foundations of a Prussian bridge have survived. The bridge once carried the district road (''Bezirksstraße'') from Bonn to Schleiden, built in 1823, over the Swist.
See also
*
List of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia
A list of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:
A
* Aa, left tributary of the Möhne
* Aa, left tributary of the Nethe
* Aa, left tributary of the Werre
* Aabach, tributary of the Afte
* Aabach, small river in the Ems river system
* Abbabac ...
*
List of rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate
A list of rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany:
A
* Aar
* Adenauer Bach
* Ahr
* Alf
* Alfbach
*Appelbach
*Asdorf
* Aubach
B
* Birzenbach
*Blattbach
* Breitenbach
* Brexbach
* Brohlbach, tributary of the Moselle
* Brohlbach, tributary of the ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia
Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rivers of the Eifel
Rivers of Germany