),
Surselva,
Graubünden,
Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 =
Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location =
Paradies Glacier
The Paradies Glacier (german: Paradiesgletscher) is a 2.27 km long glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablat ...
,
Graubünden,
Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source2_elevation =
, source_confluence =
Reichenau
, source_confluence_location =
Tamins
Tamins ( rm, Tumein) is a village and a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
History
Tamins is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Tuminne''. In 1225 it was mentioned as ''Tvminnis'' and in 1399 as ''Tumins''.
Geogra ...
,
Graubünden,
Switzerland
, source_confluence_coordinates=
, source_confluence_elevation =
, mouth =
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
, mouth_location =
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system =
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left =
, tributaries_right =
, custom_label =
, custom_data =
, extra =
The Rhine ; french: Rhin
[ ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label= Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label= Sutsilvan and ]Surmiran
Surmiran (Surmiran, Vallader, Sutsilvan, Rumantsch Grischun: ''surmiran''; Puter: ''surmiraun'') is a dialect of the Romansh language
Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rum ...
, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun
Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Putèr: ; Sutsilvan: , , ; Jauer: ) is a Gallo-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the ...
, Vallader
Vallader (Vallader, Sursilvan, Puter, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''vallader'' ; Sutsilvan: ') is a variety of the Romansh language spoken in the Lower Engadine valley (''Engiadina Bassa'') of southeast Switzerland, between Martina ...
and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian and Low Alemannic German; ksh, label= Ripuarian and Low Franconian
Low Franconian, Low Frankish, NetherlandicSarah Grey Thomason, Terrence Kaufman: ''Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics'', University of California Press, 1991, p. 321. (Calling it "Low Frankish (or Netherlandish)".)Scott Shay ...
, Rhing; la, Rhenus ; hu, Rajna . is one of the major European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label=Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Surmiran, (Can ...
in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border, after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through 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 ...
. Finally in Germany the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
where it eventually empties into the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
. It drains an area of 9,973 sq km and its name derives from the Celtic ''Rēnos''. There are also two German states named after the river, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
and 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 ...
.
It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe (after the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
), at about , with an average discharge of about .
The Rhine and the Danube comprised much of the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
's northern inland boundary, and the Rhine has been a vital navigable waterway bringing trade and goods deep inland since those days.
The various castles and defenses built along it attest to its prominence as a waterway in the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
.
Among the largest and most important cities on the Rhine are Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
, Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
, Strasbourg, Nijmegen, and Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
.
Name
The variants of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the 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 ...
name ', which was adapted in Roman-era geography (1st century BC) as Greek ('), Latin '.
The spelling with ''Rh-'' in English ''Rhine'' as well as in German ' and French ' is due to the influence of Greek orthography, while the vocalization ''-i-'' is due to the Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...
adoption of the Gaulish name as *'' Rīnaz'', via Old Frankish giving Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
', Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
', early Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarc ...
(c. 1200) ' (then also spelled ' or ').
The modern German diphthong ' (also used in Romansh) ' is a Central German development of the early modern period, with the Alemannic name ' keeping the older vocalism. In Alemannic, the deletion of the ending ''-n'' in pausa is a recent development; the form ' is largely preserved in Lucernese dialects. ' in Ripuarian is diphthongized, as is ' in Palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. . While Spanish has adopted the Germanic vocalism ', Italian, Occitan, and Portuguese have retained the Latin '.
The Gaulish name ''Rēnos'' (Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celti ...
or pre-Celtic
The pre-Celtic period in the prehistory of Central Europe and Western Europe occurred before the expansion of the Celts or their culture in Iron Age Europe and Anatolia (9th to 6th centuries BC), but after the emergence of the Proto-Celtic lang ...
''*Reinos'') belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root ' "to move, flow, run", also found in other names such as the Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
in Italy.
The grammatical gender of the Celtic name (as well as of its Greek and Latin adaptation) is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian.
The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine; and its Old Icelandic adoption was inflected as feminine.
Geography
The length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in "Rhine-kilometers" (''Rheinkilometer''), a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance (0 km) to Hook of Holland
Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...
(1036.20 km).
The river is significantly shortened from its natural course due to a number of canalization projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The "total length of the Rhine", to the inclusion of Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine
The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth at ...
is more difficult to measure objectively; it was cited as by the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat in 2010.
Its course is conventionally divided as follows:
Headwaters and sources
Sources
The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein and Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein next to Reichenau in Tamins
Tamins ( rm, Tumein) is a village and a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
History
Tamins is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Tuminne''. In 1225 it was mentioned as ''Tvminnis'' and in 1399 as ''Tumins''.
Geogra ...
. Above this point is the extensive catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss canton of Graubünden
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label=Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Surmiran, (Can ...
, ranging from Saint-Gotthard Massif
The Gotthard Massif or Saint-Gotthard Massif (german: Gotthardmassiv or ; it, Massiccio del San Gottardo; rm, Massiv dal Gottard) is a mountain range in the Alps in Switzerland, located at the border of four cantons: Valais, Ticino, Uri and G ...
in the west via one valley lying in Ticino and Italy in the south to the Flüela Pass in the east. The Rhine is one of the four major rivers taking their source in the Gotthard region, along with the Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
, Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
and Reuss.
Traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Anterior Rhine and the Rhine as a whole. The Posterior Rhine rises in the Rheinwald
The Rheinwald (from Latin ''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a valley in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the G ...
below the Rheinwaldhorn
The Rheinwaldhorn ( it, Adula) is the highest point in the Swiss canton of Ticino at 3,402 metres above sea level. It lies on the border between the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino, in the Adula massif, part of the St. Gotthard massif of the ...
.
Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine
The source of the river is generally considered north of '' Lai da Tuma/Tomasee'' on ''Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein'', although its southern tributary ''Rein da Medel
The Rein da Medel ( it, Reno di Medel; german: Medelser Rhein) is the longest headwater of the Rhine. It is located in the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Graubünden and flows through the valleys Val Cadlimo and Val Medel. ''Rein da Medel'' is th ...
'' is actually longer before its confluence with the Anterior Rhine near Disentis
Disentis (German) or Mustér (, Romansh), with its official name Disentis/Mustér is a village and a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
The skiing and summer tourism resort high up in the Rhine valley is the ...
.
:The Anterior Rhine ( rm, Rein Anteriur, german: Vorderrhein) springs from ''Lai da Tuma/Tomasee'', near the Oberalp Pass
Oberalp Pass ( rm, Alpsu or ''Cuolm d'Ursera''; german: Oberalppass) (2044 meters above sea level) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the cantons of Graubünden and Uri between Disentis/Mustér and Andermatt.
Winter closure
...
and passes the impressive ''Ruinaulta
Ruinaulta is a canyon created by the Anterior Rhine by Ilanz/Glion and Reichenau in the debris of the Flims Rockslide just upstream of its confluence with the Posterior Rhine at Reichenau in the Grisons, eastern Switzerland. It is sometimes k ...
'' formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide.
:The Posterior Rhine ( rm, Rein Posteriur, german: Hinterrhein) starts from the Paradies Glacier
The Paradies Glacier (german: Paradiesgletscher) is a 2.27 km long glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablat ...
, near the ''Rheinwaldhorn''. One of its tributaries, the ''Reno di Lei'', drains the '' Valle di Lei'' on politically Italian territory. After three main valleys separated by the two gorges, ''Roflaschlucht
The Rofla Gorge ( rm, Puntcrap, german: Roflaschlucht) is an ancient and narrow section of the river Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur between Sufers and Andeer in the canton of Graubünden. This narrow gorge was another obstacle on the approach to t ...
'' and ''Viamala
Viamala or Via Mala ( Romansh: literally, "bad path") is a narrow gorge along the river Hinterrhein between Zillis-Reischen and Thusis in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, as well as the ancient and notorious pathway which traverse ...
'', it reaches Reichenau in Tamins
Tamins ( rm, Tumein) is a village and a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
History
Tamins is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Tuminne''. In 1225 it was mentioned as ''Tvminnis'' and in 1399 as ''Tumins''.
Geogra ...
.
The Anterior Rhine arises from numerous source streams in the upper Surselva and flows in an easterly direction. One source is '' Lai da Tuma'' () with the ''Rein da Tuma
The Rein da Tuma is a river in Switzerland, in the Canton of Graubünden. It rises east of the Rossbodenstock with two or three mountain streams, that flow across the Tuma Alp into the Lake Toma (German: ''Tomasee'', Romansh: ''Lai da Tuma'') ...
'', which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it.
Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the ''Rein da Medel'', the ''Rein da Maighels
The Rein da Maighels (german: Maighelserrhein) is one of the main tributaries of the Rhine (see Sources of the Rhine) and is a tributary to the Rein da Curnera. The firm ''Kraftwerke Vorderrhein AG'' has built a hydropower dam creating a reserv ...
'', and the ''Rein da Curnera
The Rein da Curnera (in german: Curnerarhein) is a right tributary of the Anterior Rhine and one of the main tributaries of the Rhine (see Sources of the Rhine). It is fed from multiple sources and glaciers at the southern end of the valley. The ...
''. The Cadlimo Valley in the canton of Ticino is drained by the ''Reno di Medel'', which crosses the geomorphologic Alpine main ridge from the south. All streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants.
The culminating point of the Anterior Rhine's drainage basin is the Piz Russein Piz may refer to:
* Piz Gloria, a mountain-top restaurant in Switzerland
* Piz Buin, a mountain
* Piz Dolf, a mountain
* Piz Segnas, a mountain
* Piz Buin (brand), a suncream brand
* Piz (river), a river in Russia
* Stosh "Piz" Piznarski
'' ...
of the Tödi massif of the Glarus Alps
The Glarus Alps (german: Glarner Alpen) are a mountain range in central Switzerland. They are bordered by the Uri Alps and the Schwyz Alps to the west, the Lepontine Alps to the south, the Appenzell Alps to the northeast. The eastern part of ...
at above sea level. It starts with the creek ''Aua da Russein'' (lit.: "Water of the Russein").
In its lower course, the Anterior Rhine flows through a gorge named ''Ruinaulta
Ruinaulta is a canyon created by the Anterior Rhine by Ilanz/Glion and Reichenau in the debris of the Flims Rockslide just upstream of its confluence with the Posterior Rhine at Reichenau in the Grisons, eastern Switzerland. It is sometimes k ...
'' (Flims Rockslide). The whole stretch of the Anterior Rhine to the Alpine Rhine confluence next to Reichenau in Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called ''Senda Sursilvana''.
The Posterior Rhine flows first east-northeast, then north. It flows through the three valleys named Rheinwald
The Rheinwald (from Latin ''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a valley in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the G ...
, Schams
thumb , The Schams north of Cagliatscha_Castle.html"_;"title="Andeer.__In_the_top_left,_the_ruins_of_Cagliatscha_Castle">Andeer.__In_the_top_left,_the_ruins_of_Cagliatscha_Castle_
The_Schams_(_rm.html" ;"title="Cagliatscha_Castle_.html" ;"tit ...
and Domleschg
Domleschg is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Almens, Paspels, Pratval, Rodels and Tomils merged to form the new municipality of Domleschg. -Heinzenberg
Heinzenberg is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-P ...
. The valleys are separated by the Rofla Gorge
The Rofla Gorge ( rm, Puntcrap, german: Roflaschlucht) is an ancient and narrow section of the river Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur between Sufers and Andeer in the canton of Graubünden. This narrow gorge was another obstacle on the approach to t ...
and Viamala
Viamala or Via Mala ( Romansh: literally, "bad path") is a narrow gorge along the river Hinterrhein between Zillis-Reischen and Thusis in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, as well as the ancient and notorious pathway which traverse ...
Gorge. Its sources are located in the Adula Alps (Rheinwaldhorn
The Rheinwaldhorn ( it, Adula) is the highest point in the Swiss canton of Ticino at 3,402 metres above sea level. It lies on the border between the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino, in the Adula massif, part of the St. Gotthard massif of the ...
, Rheinquellhorn
The Vogelberg is a 3,218 metres high mountain of the Lepontine Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Graubünden. It is the highest summit of the Lepontine Alps south of the Rheinwaldhorn. The Vogelberg is a large ...
, and Güferhorn
The Güferhorn is a mountain in the Lepontine Alps, located between the valleys of Vals, Switzerland, Vals and Hinterrhein, Switzerland, Hinterrhein in Graubünden. At 3,379 metres above sea level it is the highest summit of the Lepontine Alps l ...
).
The Avers Rhine
The Avers Rhine ( rm, Ragn da Ferrera, german: Averser Rhein) is a tributary of the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
Course
It rises in Avers at the confluence of the Bergalgabach with the slightly smaller Jufer ...
joins from the south. One of its headwaters, the ''Reno di Lei'' (stowed in the Lago di Lei
Lago di Lei is a reservoir in the Valle di Lei, powering the Hinterrhein storage power stations. The reservoir is almost entirely in Italy, but the barrage was built on territory ceded by Italy to Switzerland (municipality of Ferrera, Grisons ...
), is partially located in Italy.
Near Sils Sils or SILS may refer to:
Places
*Sils, Girona, a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Selva in Catalonia, Spain
** Lake Sils (Catalonia), an ancient lake near Sils, Catalonia, Spain
** Lake Sils, a lake in the Upper Engadine in the Grisons, Switzer ...
the Posterior Rhine is joined by the Albula, from the east, from the Albula Pass
The Albula Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass d'Alvra'' or , german: Albulapass) (el. 2312 m) is a Swiss mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden. It lies at the heart of the Albula Alps, on the watershed between the Albula, tributary of the Rhine and th ...
region. The Albula draws its water mainly from the Landwasser
The Landwasser is a river in Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. Its origin was Lake Davos before this was turned into a reservoir for a power station. Nowadays it is prolonged by the creek Flüelabach at its source and changes its name near Da ...
with the Dischmabach
The Dischmabach is a river of approximately 15 km long in the river system of Albula. It drains the Dischma valley, its catchment area lies mainly in the area of the Swiss municipality of Davos.
The source Dischmabach has two equal headwa ...
as the largest source stream, but almost as much from the Gelgia, which comes down from the Julier Pass
The Julier Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass dal Güglia'', German: ''Julierpass'', Italian ''Passo del Giulia'') (el. 2284 m) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, in the Albula Alps. It connects the Engadin valley with central Graubünden, the nearest inhab ...
.
Numerous larger and smaller tributary rivers bear the name of the ''Rhine'' or equivalent in various Romansh idioms like ''Rein'' or ''Ragn''. Examples:
* Anterior Rhine area: ''Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein'', ''Rein da Medel
The Rein da Medel ( it, Reno di Medel; german: Medelser Rhein) is the longest headwater of the Rhine. It is located in the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Graubünden and flows through the valleys Val Cadlimo and Val Medel. ''Rein da Medel'' is th ...
'', ''Rein da Tuma
The Rein da Tuma is a river in Switzerland, in the Canton of Graubünden. It rises east of the Rossbodenstock with two or three mountain streams, that flow across the Tuma Alp into the Lake Toma (German: ''Tomasee'', Romansh: ''Lai da Tuma'') ...
'', ''Rein da Curnera
The Rein da Curnera (in german: Curnerarhein) is a right tributary of the Anterior Rhine and one of the main tributaries of the Rhine (see Sources of the Rhine). It is fed from multiple sources and glaciers at the southern end of the valley. The ...
'', ''Rein da Maighels
The Rein da Maighels (german: Maighelserrhein) is one of the main tributaries of the Rhine (see Sources of the Rhine) and is a tributary to the Rein da Curnera. The firm ''Kraftwerke Vorderrhein AG'' has built a hydropower dam creating a reserv ...
'', ''Rein da Cristallina'', ''Rein da Nalps'', ''Rein da Plattas'', ''Rein da Sumvitg'', ''Rein da Vigliuts'', ''Valser Rhine
The Valser Rhine (german: Valser Rhein) is a source of the river Rhine in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The river originates from the Länta Glacier and the Grauhorn Glacier at the northern foot of the Rheinwaldhorn and initially flows thr ...
''
* Posterior Rhine basin: ''Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein'', '' Reno di Lei'', ''Madrischer Rhein'', ''Avers Rhine
The Avers Rhine ( rm, Ragn da Ferrera, german: Averser Rhein) is a tributary of the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
Course
It rises in Avers at the confluence of the Bergalgabach with the slightly smaller Jufer ...
'', ''Jufer Rhein''
* Albula-Landwasser area: In the Dischma
The Dischma is a valley on the territory of the Swiss municipality of Davos. The name is derived from the la, decimus ("Tenth"). It is documented as ''decimata'' in the 12th century.
Location
Dischma is the average of the three long, gentl ...
valley, near Davos, far east of the Rhine, there's a place called ''Am Rin'' ("Upon Rhine"). A tributary of the Dischma is called ''Riner Tälli''. Nearby, on the other side of the Sertig The Sertig Valley is located in the municipality of Davos, south of the town, in the Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
*Swiss, Wisco ...
, is the ''Rinerhorn''.
Alpine Rhine
Next to Reichenau in Tamins
Tamins ( rm, Tumein) is a village and a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
History
Tamins is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Tuminne''. In 1225 it was mentioned as ''Tvminnis'' and in 1399 as ''Tumins''.
Geogra ...
the Anterior Rhine
The Vorderrhein (German; English: ''Anterior Rhine''; Sursilvan: ; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Anteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Anteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn anteriour'') is one of the two sources of the Rhine. Its catchment are ...
and the Posterior Rhine
The Hinterrhein (German; Italian: ''Reno Posteriore''; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Posteriur''; Sursilvan: ''Rein Posteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Posteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn posteriour''; en, Posterior Rhine) is one of the ...
join and form the Alpine Rhine. The river makes a distinctive turn to the north near Chur
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers
, twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxe ...
. This section is nearly 86 km long, and descends from a height of 599 meters to 396 meters. It flows through a wide glacial Alpine valley known as the Rhine Valley (german: Rheintal). Near Sargans
Sargans is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291. Sargans was al ...
a natural dam, only a few meters high, prevents it from flowing into the open Seeztal
{{coord, 47.08, N, 9.37, E, display=title
The Seeztal (or Seez Valley) is a valley of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, extending to the east of Lake Walen for some 10 km, formed by the river Seez. The valley appears to be a left branch ...
valley and then through Lake Walen
The Walensee, also known as ''Lake Walen'' or ''Lake Walenstadt'' from Walenstadt, is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland, with about two thirds of its area in the Canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the Canton of Glarus. Other towns an ...
and 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 ...
into the 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 Alpine Rhine begins in the westernmost part of the Swiss canton of Graubünden, and later forms the border between Switzerland to the west and Liechtenstein and later Austria to the east.
As an effect of human work, it empties into Lake Constance on Austrian territory and not on the border that follows its old natural river bed.
The mouth of the Rhine into Lake Constance forms an inland delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ...
. The delta is delimited in the west by the ''Alter Rhein
The Alter Rhein (German for ''Old Rhine'') is the old river bed of the Alpine Rhine in St. Gallen and Vorarlberg in the Alpine Rhine Valley, which was cut off when the Rhine was straightened during the 20th century. These cut-off arms have bec ...
'' ("Old Rhine") and in the east by a modern canalized section. Most of the delta is a nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
and bird sanctuary
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...
. It includes the Austrian towns of Gaißau
Gaißau is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area af ...
, Höchst and Fußach
Fußach is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area a ...
. The natural Rhine originally branched into at least two arms and formed small islands by precipitating sediments. In the local Alemannic dialect, the singular is pronounced "Isel" and this is also the local pronunciation of ''Esel'' (" Donkey"). Many local fields have an official name containing this element.
A regulation of the Rhine was called for, with an upper canal near Diepoldsau
Diepoldsau is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
History
Diepoldsau is first mentioned in 891 as ''Thiotpoldesouua''. Schmitter is first mentioned in 1385.
It was the crossi ...
and a lower canal at Fußach, in order to counteract the constant flooding and strong sedimentation
Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...
in the western Rhine Delta. The Dornbirner Ach
The Dornbirner Ach (also called ''Dornbirner Ache'') is a stream in Vorarlberg, Austria, with its source in the mountains near the alpine village (belongs to Dornbirn). It flows through one of the largest and most gorgeous gorges in Central Europ ...
had to be diverted, too, and it now flows parallel to the canalized Rhine into the lake. Its water has a darker color than the Rhine; the latter's lighter suspended load comes from higher up the mountains. It is expected that the continuous input of sediment into the lake will silt up the lake. This has already happened to the former Lake Tuggenersee.
The cut-off Old Rhine at first formed a swamp landscape. Later an artificial ditch of about two km was dug. It was made navigable to the Swiss town of Rheineck.
Lake Constance
Lake Constance consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee ("upper lake"), the Untersee ("lower lake"), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein ("Lake Rhine"). The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
near the Alps. Specifically, its shorelines lie in the German states of Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...
, and the Swiss cantons of Thurgau
Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld.
Thurgau is par ...
and St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website = ...
. The Rhine flows into it from the south following the Swiss-Austrian border. It is located at approximately .
Obersee
The flow of cold, grey mountain water continues for some distance into the lake. The cold water flows near the surface and at first doesn't mix with the warmer, green waters of Upper Lake. But then, at the so-called ''Rheinbrech'', the Rhine water abruptly falls into the depths because of the greater density of cold water. The flow reappears on the surface at the northern (German) shore of the lake, off the island of Lindau
Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major town and island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the county (''Landkreis' ...
. The water then follows the northern shore until Hagnau am Bodensee
Hagnau am Bodensee is a commune and a village in the district of Bodensee in Baden-Württemberg in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous countr ...
. A small fraction of the flow is diverted off the island of Mainau
Mainau also referred to as Mav(e)no(w), Maienowe (in 1242), Maienow (in 1357), Maienau, Mainowe (in 1394) and Mainaw (in 1580) is an island in Lake Constance (on the Southern shore of the Überlinger See near the city of Konstanz, Baden-W ...
into Lake Überlingen. Most of the water flows via the ''Constance hopper'' into the ''Rheinrinne'' ("Rhine Gutter") and Seerhein. Depending on the water level, this flow of the Rhine water is clearly visible along the entire length of the lake.
The Rhine carries very large amounts of debris into the lake. In the mouth region, it is therefore necessary to permanently remove gravel by dredging. The large sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...
loads are partly due to the extensive land improvements
Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as:
* Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing
* Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpos ...
upstream.
Three countries border the Obersee, namely Switzerland in the south, Austria in the southeast and the German states of Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
in the northeast and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
in the north and northwest.
Seerhein
The Seerhein
The Seerhein ("Lake Rhine") is a river about four kilometres long, in the basin of Lake Constance. It is the outflow of the Upper Lake Constance and the main tributary of the Lower Lake Constance. The water level of the lower lake is about 30&n ...
is only long. It connects the Obersee with the 30 cm lower Untersee. Distance markers along the Rhine measure the distance from the bridge in the old city center of Constance.
For most of its length, the Seerhein forms the border between Germany and Switzerland. The exception is the old city center of Constance, on the Swiss side of the river.
The Seerhein emerged in the last thousands of years, when erosion caused the lake level to be lowered by about 10 meters. Previously, the two lakes formed a single lake, as the name still suggests.
Untersee
Like in the Obersee, the flow the Rhine can be traced in the Untersee. Here, too, the river water is hardly mixed with the lake water. The northern parts of the Untersee (Lake Zell and Gnadensee) remain virtually unaffected by the flow. The river traverses the southern, which, in isolation, is sometimes called ''Rhinesee'' ("Lake Rhine").
The Radolfzeller Aach
The Radolfzeller Aach (also known as Hegauer Aach) is a right or north tributary of the Rhine in the south of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is approximately 32 km long.
Course
The source of the river is the ''Aachtopf'' in Aach, the la ...
adds large amounts of water from the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
system to the Untersee.
Reichenau Island was formed at the same time as the Seerhein, when the water level fell to its current level.
Lake Untersee is part of the border between Switzerland and Germany, with Germany on the north bank and Switzerland on the south, except both sides are Swiss in Stein am Rhein
Stein am Rhein (abbreviated as Stein a. R.) is a historic town and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.
The town's medieval centre retains the ancient street plan. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserve ...
, where the High Rhine
The High Rhine (german: Hochrhein) is the name used for the part of the Rhine that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel. The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine ...
flows out of the lake.
High Rhine
The Rhine emerges from Lake Constance, flows generally westward, as the ''Hochrhein'', passes the Rhine Falls
, photo = File:SBB RABe 514 DTZ Rheinfall.jpg
, photo_width = 280
, photo_caption = Rhine Falls with Rheinfall Bridge and Laufen Castle
, location = On the border between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich next to Schaffhausen, i ...
, and is joined by its major tributary, the 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 Aare more than doubles the Rhine's water discharge, to an average of nearly , and provides more than a fifth of the discharge at the Dutch border. The Aare also contains the waters from the summit of Finsteraarhorn
The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and thi ...
, the highest point of the Rhine basin. The Rhine roughly forms the German-Swiss border from Lake Constance with the exceptions of the canton of Schaffhausen and parts of the cantons of Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
and Basel-Stadt, until it turns north at the so-called Rhine knee
The Rhine knee or Rhine's knee (german: Rheinknie) is the name of several distinctive bends in the course of the river Rhine.
Basel
In Basel, the Rhine changes its westerly direction of flow in an angle of 90 degrees to a northerly direction, alo ...
at Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, leaving Switzerland.
The High Rhine begins in Stein am Rhein
Stein am Rhein (abbreviated as Stein a. R.) is a historic town and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.
The town's medieval centre retains the ancient street plan. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserve ...
at the western end of the Untersee. Unlike the Alpine Rhine and Upper Rhine, it flows to the west. It descends from 395 m to 252 m.
Some stretches of the High Rhine between Stein am Rhein and Eglisau form the border between Switzerland on the south bank and Germany in the north. On other stretches, both sides are Swiss; in fact most of the canton of Schaffhausen
The canton of Schaffhausen, also canton of Schaffouse (german: Kanton Schaffhausen; rm, Chantun Schaffusa; french: Canton de Schaffhouse; it, Canton Sciaffusa) is the northernmost canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the ca ...
is on the north bank. Between Eglisau and Basel, the High Rhine consistently forms the border.
The Rhine Falls
, photo = File:SBB RABe 514 DTZ Rheinfall.jpg
, photo_width = 280
, photo_caption = Rhine Falls with Rheinfall Bridge and Laufen Castle
, location = On the border between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich next to Schaffhausen, i ...
are situated below Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...
. With an average water flow of 373 m³/s (mean summer discharge 700 m³/s) it is the largest waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...
in Europe in terms of potential energy.
The High Rhine is characterized by numerous dams. On the few remaining natural sections, there are still several rapids.
Near Koblenz 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 ...
, the 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 ...
joins the Rhine. With an average discharge of 557 m³/s, the Aare is more voluminous than the Rhine, which has an average discharge of 439 m³/s. Nevertheless, the Alpine Rhine is considered the main branch, because it is longer.
Upper Rhine
In the center of Basel, the first major city in the course of the stream, is located the "Rhine knee
The Rhine knee or Rhine's knee (german: Rheinknie) is the name of several distinctive bends in the course of the river Rhine.
Basel
In Basel, the Rhine changes its westerly direction of flow in an angle of 90 degrees to a northerly direction, alo ...
"; this is a major bend, where the overall direction of the Rhine changes from west to north. Here the High Rhine ends. Legally, the Central Bridge is the boundary between High and Upper Rhine. The river now flows north as Upper Rhine through the Upper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...
, which is about 300 km long and up to 40 km wide. The most important tributaries in this area are the Ill ILL may refer to:
* '' I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom
* Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland
* Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility
* Interlibra ...
below of Strasbourg, the Neckar in Mannheim and the Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
across from Mainz. In Mainz, the Rhine leaves the Upper Rhine Valley and flows through the Mainz Basin.
The southern half of the Upper Rhine forms the border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
between France (Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
) and Germany (Baden-Württemberg). The northern part forms the border between the German states of 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 ...
in the west on the one hand, and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
and Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
on the other hand, in the east and north. A curiosity of this border line is that the parts of the city of Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
on the right bank of the Rhine were given to Hesse by the occupying forces in 1945.
The Upper Rhine was a significant cultural landscape in Central Europe already in antiquity and during the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. Today, the Upper Rhine area hosts many important manufacturing and service industries, particularly in the centers Basel, Strasbourg and Mannheim-Ludwigshafen. Strasbourg is the seat of the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
, and so one of the three European capitals is located on the Upper Rhine.
The Upper Rhine region was changed significantly by a Rhine straightening program in the 19th century. The rate of flow was increased and the ground water level fell significantly. Dead branches were removed by construction workers and the area around the river was made more habitable for humans on flood plains
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
as the rate of flooding decreased sharply. On the French side, the Grand Canal d'Alsace
The Grand Canal of Alsace (, ) is a canal in eastern France, channeling the Upper Rhine river. It is 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) long between Kembs and Vogelgrun, and provides access to the region from the Rhine River, Basel in Switzerland, ...
was dug, which carries a significant part of the river water, and all of the traffic. In some places, there are large compensation pools, for example, the huge ''Bassin de compensation de Plobsheim
Plobsheim ( or ; gsw-als, Plobse) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
List of mayors
Twin town
* Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is ...
'' in Alsace.
The Upper Rhine has undergone significant human change since the 19th century. While it was slightly modified during the Roman occupation, it was not until the emergence of engineers such as Johann Gottfried Tulla
Johann Gottfried Tulla (20 March 1770, in Karlsruhe – 27 March 1828, in Paris) was a German engineer who accomplished the straightening of the Rhine, improving navigation and alleviating the effects of flooding. His measures gave the Upper Rhine ...
that significant modernization efforts changed the shape of the river. Earlier work under Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
surrounded efforts to ease shipping and construct dams to serve coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
transportation. Tulla is considered to have domesticated the Upper Rhine, a domestication that served goals such as reducing stagnant bogs that fostered waterborne diseases, making regions more habitable for human settlement, and reduce high frequency of floods. Not long before Tulla went to work on widening and straightening the river, heavy floods caused significant loss of life. Four diplomatic treaties were signed among German state governments and French regions dealing with the changes proposed along the Rhine, one was "the Treaty for the Rectification of the Rhine flow from Neuberg to Dettenheim"(1817), which surrounded states such as Bourbon France
The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early mod ...
and the Bavarian Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
. Loops, oxbows __NOTOC__
An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or bullock. A bow pin holds it in place.
The term "oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meander in a river, ...
, branches and islands were removed along the Upper Rhine so that there would be uniformity to the river. The engineering of the Rhine was not without protest, farmers and fishermen had grave concerns about valuable fishing areas and farmland being lost. While some areas lost ground, other areas saw swamps and bogs be drained and turned into arable land. Johann Tulla had the goal of shortening and straightening the Upper Rhine. Early engineering projects the Upper Rhine also had issues, with Tulla's project at one part of the river creating rapids, after the Rhine cut down from erosion to sheer rock. Engineering along the Rhine eased flooding and made transportation along the river less cumbersome. These state projects were part of the advanced and technical progress going on in the country alongside the industrial revolution. For the German state, making the river more predictable was to ensure development projects could easily commence.
The section of the Upper Rhine downstream from Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
is also known as the "Island Rhine". Here a number of river island
River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online.
Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isl ...
s occur, locally known as "Rheinauen".
Middle Rhine
The Rhine is the longest river in Germany. It is here that the Rhine encounters some more of its main tributaries, such as the Neckar, the Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
and, later, the Moselle, which contributes an average discharge of more than . Northeastern France drains to the Rhine via the Moselle; smaller rivers drain the Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
and Jura Mountains uplands. Most of Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
and a very small part of Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
also drain to the Rhine via the Moselle. As it approaches the Dutch border, the Rhine has an annual mean discharge of and an average width of .
Between Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ''Mäuseturm'', k ...
and 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-Ru ...
, the Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...
flows through the Rhine Gorge
The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rüdesheim in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in Germany. It was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage S ...
, a formation which was created by erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
. The rate of erosion equaled the uplift in the region, such that the river was left at about its original level while the surrounding lands raised. The gorge is quite deep and is the stretch of the river which is known for its many castles and vineyards. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2002) and known as "the Romantic Rhine", with more than 40 castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and many quaint and lovely country villages.
The Mainz Basin ends in Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ''Mäuseturm'', k ...
; the Rhine continues as "Middle Rhine" into the Rhine Gorge
The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rüdesheim in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in Germany. It was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage S ...
in the Rhenish Slate Mountains
The Rhenish Massif, Rhine Massif or Rhenish Uplands (german: Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic massif in western Germany, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France. It is drained centrally, south to n ...
. In this sections the river falls from 77.4 m above sea level to 50.4 m. On the left, is located the mountain ranges of Hunsrück and Eifel, on the right Taunus
The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m).
The Taunus range span ...
and Westerwald
The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...
. According to geologists, the characteristic narrow valley form was created by erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
by the river while the surrounding landscape was lifted (see water gap
A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...
).
Major tributaries in this section are the Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
and the Moselle. They join the Rhine near Koblenz, for the right and left respectively. Almost the entire length of the Middle Rhine runs in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The dominant economic sectors in the Middle Rhine area are viniculture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ra ...
and tourism. The Rhine Gorge
The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rüdesheim in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in Germany. It was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage S ...
between Rüdesheim am Rhein
Rüdesheim am Rhein is a German winemaking town in the Rhine Gorge, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in this region. It lies in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt, Hessen. Known as Rüdesheim, i ...
and Koblenz is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. Near Sankt Goarshausen
Sankt Goarshausen (abbreviated St. Goarshausen) is a town located in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Nassau on the eastern shore of the Rhine, in the section known as the Rhine Gorge, directly across the river from Sankt Goar, in the German state Rhin ...
, the Rhine flows around the famous rock Lorelei
The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...
. With its outstanding architectural monuments, the slopes full of vines, settlements crowded on the narrow river banks and scores of castles lined up along the top of the steep slopes, the Middle Rhine Valley can be considered the epitome of the Rhine romanticism.
Lower Rhine
In 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-Ru ...
, where the Sieg
The Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine.
The river is named after the Sicambri. It is in length.
The source is located in the Rothaargebirge mountains. From h ...
flows into the Rhine, the Rhine enters the North German Plain
The North German Plain or Northern Lowland (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland) is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Balt ...
and turns into the Lower Rhine. The Lower Rhine falls from 50 m to 12 m. The main tributaries on this stretch are the Ruhr and the Lippe
Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe.
The ...
. Like the Upper Rhine, the Lower Rhine used to meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
until engineering created a solid river bed. Because the levees are some distance from the river, at high tide the Lower Rhine has more room for widening than the Upper Rhine.
The Lower Rhine flows through North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
. Its banks are usually heavily populated and industrialized, in particular the agglomerations
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Düsseldorf and Ruhr area
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
. Here the Rhine flows through the largest conurbation in Germany, the Rhine-Ruhr
The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Ruhr) is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region covers ...
region. One of the most important cities in this region is Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
with the largest river port
An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port.
Examples
The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...
in Europe (Duisport). The region downstream of Duisburg is more agricultural. In Wesel, 30 km downstream of Duisburg, is located the western end of the second east–west shipping route, the Wesel-Datteln Canal, which runs parallel to the Lippe. Between Emmerich and Cleves
Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...
the Emmerich Rhine Bridge
The Emmerich Rhine Bridge (german: 'Rheinbrücke Emmerich') is a suspension bridge located in Emmerich am Rhein, Germany. Completed in 1965, it has a main span of , crossing the Rhine, carrying the Bundesstraße B 220, the federal highway betwe ...
, the longest suspension bridge in Germany, crosses the river. Near Krefeld
Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...
, the river crosses the Uerdingen line
The Uerdingen Line (german: Ürdinger Linie, Uerdinger Linie, nl, Uerdinger linie; named after Uerdingen by Georg Wenker) is the isogloss within West Germanic languages that separates dialects which preserve the ''-k'' sound in the first perso ...
, the line which separates the areas where Low German and High German
The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), or simply High German (); not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called ''High German'', comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and ...
are spoken.
Until the early 1980s, industry was a major source of water pollution. Although many plants and factories can be found along the Rhine up into Switzerland, it is along the Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
that the bulk of them are concentrated, as the river passes the major cities of Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
and Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
. Duisburg is the home of Europe's largest inland port and functions as a hub to the sea ports of Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
, Antwerp and Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. The Ruhr, which joins the Rhine in Duisburg, is nowadays a clean river, thanks to a combination of stricter environmental controls, a transition from heavy industry to light industry and cleanup measures, such as the reforestation
Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting.
Management
A debat ...
of Slag and brownfields
In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land pre ...
. The Ruhr currently provides the region with drinking water. It contributes to the Rhine. Other rivers in the Ruhr Area
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
, above all, the Emscher
The Emscher () is a river, a tributary of the Rhine, that flows through the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. Its overall length is with an mean outflow near the mouth into the lower Rhine of .
Description
The Emscher h ...
, still carry a considerable degree of pollution.
Delta
The Dutch name for Rhine is "Rijn". The Rhine turns west and enters the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, where, together with the rivers Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
and Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
, it forms the extensive Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta, with the largest river delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ra ...
in Europe. Crossing the border into the Netherlands at Spijk, close to Nijmegen and Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
, the Rhine is at its widest, although the river then splits into three main distributaries
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...
: the Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...
, Nederrijn
300px, Course of the Nederrijn
Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine be ...
("Nether Rhine") and IJssel
The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. ...
.
From here, the situation becomes more complicated, as the Dutch name ''Rijn'' no longer coincides with the main flow of water. Two-thirds of the water flow volume of the Rhine flows farther west, through the Waal and then, via the Merwede
The Merwede () etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the ancient Dutch ''Merwe'' or ''Merowe'', a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrichem, Dordrecht a ...
and Nieuwe Merwede
The Nieuwe Merwede (; "New Merwede") is a Dutch canal, mainly fed by the river Rhine, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general trajectories of a number of minor Biesbosch creeks to r ...
(De Biesbosch
De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch ('forest of sedges' or 'rushwoods') consists of a large ...
), merging with the Meuse, through the Hollands Diep and Haringvliet
The Haringvliet is a large inlet of the North Sea, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is an important estuary of the Rhine-Meuse delta.
Near Numansdorp, the Hollands Diep splits into the Haringvliet and the Volkerak ...
estuaries
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...
, into the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
. The Beneden Merwede
The Beneden Merwede () is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. It starts as the continuation of the Boven Merwede after the branching-off of the Nieuwe Merwede ship canal. It flows from Hardinxveld-Giessendam to D ...
branches off, near Hardinxveld-Giessendam
Hardinxveld-Giessendam () is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is located about 10 km east of Dordrecht, on the river Beneden-Merwede. The municipality had a population of in and covers an ar ...
and continues as the Noord
Noord () is a town and region in Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). This town is known for its low rise and high rise hotels, restaurants, beaches, malls, the California Lighthouse, and other places of attraction.
Places of interes ...
, to join the Lek, near the village of Kinderdijk
Kinderdijk () is a village in the municipality of Molenlanden, in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located about east of Rotterdam.
Kinderdijk is situated in the Alblasserwaard polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord riv ...
, to form the Nieuwe Maas
The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterd ...
; then flows past Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
and continues via Het Scheur
Het Scheur (; Dutch for "The Rip") is a branch of the Rhine-Meuse delta in South Holland, Netherlands, that flows west from the confluence of the Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas branches past the towns of Rozenburg and Maassluis. It continues as th ...
and the Nieuwe Waterweg
The Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur (a branch of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg con ...
, to the North Sea. The Oude Maas
The Oude Maas (; en, Old Meuse) is a distributary of the river Rhine, and a former distributary of the river Maas, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noo ...
branches off, near Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
, farther down rejoining the Nieuwe Maas
The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterd ...
to form Het Scheur
Het Scheur (; Dutch for "The Rip") is a branch of the Rhine-Meuse delta in South Holland, Netherlands, that flows west from the confluence of the Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas branches past the towns of Rozenburg and Maassluis. It continues as th ...
.
The other third of the water flows through the Pannerdens Kanaal The Pannerdens Kanaal (Pannerden Canal) is a canal in the Netherlands that was dredged between 1701 and 1709 to cut off a large, shallow bend of the river Rhine and so improve river traffic and water regulation.
The canal, now indistinguishable fro ...
and redistributes in the IJssel and Nederrijn. The IJssel branch carries one ninth of the water flow of the ''Rhine'' north into the IJsselmeer (a former bay), while the Nederrijn carries approximately two-ninths of the flow west along a route parallel to the Waal. However, at Wijk bij Duurstede
Wijk bij Duurstede () is a municipality and a city in the central Netherlands.
Population centres
* Cothen
* Langbroek
*Wijk bij Duurstede
Topography
''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Wijk bij Duurstede, 2013.''
City
The city ...
, the Nederrijn changes its name and becomes the Lek. It flows farther west, to rejoin the Noord
Noord () is a town and region in Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). This town is known for its low rise and high rise hotels, restaurants, beaches, malls, the California Lighthouse, and other places of attraction.
Places of interes ...
into the Nieuwe Maas
The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterd ...
and to the North Sea.
The name ''Rijn'', from here on, is used only for smaller streams farther to the north, which together formed the main river Rhine in Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
times. Though they retained the name, these streams no longer carry water from the Rhine, but are used for draining the surrounding land and polders. From Wijk bij Duurstede, the old north branch of the Rhine is called Kromme Rijn
The Kromme Rijn () ("Crooked Rhine", for its many bends) is a river in the central Netherlands.
In Roman times, this northernmost branch of the Rhine delta was the main distributary of this major European river. Along its banks the Romans bui ...
("Bent Rhine") past Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
, first Leidse Rijn
The Leidse Rijn (Dutch for "Leiden's Rhine") is a canal in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands.
It was dug since the Middle Ages when the meandering old Rhine course silted up.
The Leidse Rijn has a length of 13 km. Towns along the Leidse Rijn ...
("Rhine of Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
") and then, Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine"). The latter flows west into a sluice at Katwijk
Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands.
The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...
, where its waters can be discharged into the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
. This branch once formed the line along which the Limes Germanicus
The (Latin for ''Germanic frontier'') is the name given in modern times to a line of frontier () fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubd ...
were built. During periods of lower sea levels within the various ice ages, the Rhine took a left turn, creating the Channel River
The Channel River was a prehistoric river flowing between England and France during periods of low sea level during the ice ages. Its tributaries included the river Rhine in modern-day Netherlands, the River Thames in modern-day England and other r ...
, the course of which now lies below the English Channel.
The Rhine-Meuse Delta, the most important natural region
A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate.
From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...
of the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
begins near Millingen aan de Rijn
Millingen aan de Rijn () is a former municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Ne ...
, close to the Dutch-German border with the division of the Rhine into Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...
and Nederrijn
300px, Course of the Nederrijn
Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine be ...
. The region between the Dutch-German border and Rotterdam, where the Waal, Lek, and Meuse run more or less parallel, is colloquially known as the "Great Rivers". Since the Rhine contributes most of the water, the shorter term ''Rhine Delta'' is commonly used. However, this name is also used for the river delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ra ...
where the Rhine flows into Lake Constance, so it is clearer to call the larger one ''Rhine-Meuse delta'', or even '' Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta'', as the Scheldt ends in the same delta.
The shape of the Rhine delta is determined by two bifurcation
Bifurcation or bifurcated may refer to:
Science and technology
* Bifurcation theory, the study of sudden changes in dynamical systems
** Bifurcation, of an incompressible flow, modeled by squeeze mapping the fluid flow
* River bifurcation, the ...
s: first, at Millingen aan de Rijn
Millingen aan de Rijn () is a former municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Ne ...
, the Rhine splits into Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...
and Pannerdens Kanaal The Pannerdens Kanaal (Pannerden Canal) is a canal in the Netherlands that was dredged between 1701 and 1709 to cut off a large, shallow bend of the river Rhine and so improve river traffic and water regulation.
The canal, now indistinguishable fro ...
, which changes its name to Nederrijn
300px, Course of the Nederrijn
Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine be ...
at Angeren
Angeren is a village in the municipality of Lingewaard, Gelderland province, Netherlands. It has a population of 2,851 (1 January 2009), and is located in the very eastern tip of the Betuwe, 2 km to the south of Huissen, between the cities ...
, and second near Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
, the IJssel
The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. ...
branches off from the Nederrijn. This creates three main flows, two of which change names rather often. The largest and southern main branch begins as Waal and continues as Boven Merwede
The Boven Merwede () is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. The Afgedamde Maas river joins the Waal at Woudrichem to form the Boven Merwede, which at Hardinxveld-Giessendam splits into the Beneden Merwede rive ...
("Upper Merwede"), Beneden Merwede
The Beneden Merwede () is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. It starts as the continuation of the Boven Merwede after the branching-off of the Nieuwe Merwede ship canal. It flows from Hardinxveld-Giessendam to D ...
("Lower Merwede"), Noord
Noord () is a town and region in Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). This town is known for its low rise and high rise hotels, restaurants, beaches, malls, the California Lighthouse, and other places of attraction.
Places of interes ...
("the North"), Nieuwe Maas
The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterd ...
("New Meuse"), Het Scheur
Het Scheur (; Dutch for "The Rip") is a branch of the Rhine-Meuse delta in South Holland, Netherlands, that flows west from the confluence of the Oude Maas and Nieuwe Maas branches past the towns of Rozenburg and Maassluis. It continues as th ...
("the Rip") and Nieuwe Waterweg
The Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur (a branch of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg con ...
("New Waterway"). The middle flow begins as Nederrijn
300px, Course of the Nederrijn
Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine be ...
, then changes into Lek, then joins the Noord, thereby forming Nieuwe Maas. The northern flow keeps the name IJssel until it flows into Lake IJsselmeer. Three more flows carry significant amounts of water: the Nieuwe Merwede
The Nieuwe Merwede (; "New Merwede") is a Dutch canal, mainly fed by the river Rhine, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general trajectories of a number of minor Biesbosch creeks to r ...
("New Merwede"), which branches off from the southern branch where it changes from Boven to Beneden Merwede; the Oude Maas
The Oude Maas (; en, Old Meuse) is a distributary of the river Rhine, and a former distributary of the river Maas, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noo ...
("Old Meuse"), which branches off from the southern branch where it changes from Beneden Merwede into Noord, and Dordtse Kil
The Dordtse Kil ( pre-1947 spelling: Dordtsche Kil) is a short river in South Holland in the Netherlands. The river is tidal and forms the connection between the Oude Maas river and the Hollands Diep. The river is for most part artificial in origi ...
, which branches off from Oude Maas.
Before the St. Elizabeth's flood (1421), the Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
flowed just south of today's line Merwede-Oude Maas to the North Sea and formed an archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...
-like estuary with Waal and Lek. This system of numerous bays, estuary-like extended rivers, many islands and constant changes of the coastline, is hard to imagine today. From 1421 to 1904, the Meuse and Waal merged further upstream at Gorinchem
Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in .
The municipality of Gorinchem al ...
to form Merwede
The Merwede () etymology uncertain, possibly derived from the ancient Dutch ''Merwe'' or ''Merowe'', a word meaning "wide water") is the name of several connected stretches of river in the Netherlands, between the cities of Woudrichem, Dordrecht a ...
. For flood protection reasons, the Meuse was separated from the Waal through a lock and diverted into a new outlet called "Bergse Maas
The Bergse Maas (; pre-1947 spelling: Bergsche Maas) is a canal that was constructed in 1904 to be a branch of the river Maas (French: Meuse) in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The Maas splits near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas and the ...
", then Amer
Amer may refer to:
Places
* Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant
* Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain
* Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state
** Am ...
and then flows into the former bay Hollands Diep.
The northwestern part of the estuary (around Hook of Holland
Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...
), is still called ''Maasmond'' ("Meuse Mouth"), ignoring the fact that it now carries only water from the Rhine. This might explain the confusing naming of the various branches.
The hydrography of the current delta is characterized by the delta's main arms, disconnected arms (Hollandse IJssel
The Hollandse (or Hollandsche) IJssel (; "Holland IJssel", as opposed to the 'regular' or Gelderland IJssel) is a branch of the Rhine delta that flows westward from Nieuwegein on river Lek through IJsselstein, Gouda and Capelle aan den IJsse ...
, Linge
The Linge is a river in the Betuwe that is 99.8 km long, which makes it one of the longest rivers that flow entirely within the Netherlands.
It starts near the village Doornenburg near the German border. A legend tells us that if there w ...
, Vecht, etc.) and smaller rivers and streams. Many rivers have been closed ("dammed") and now serve as drainage channels for the numerous polders
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed
# Flood plains ...
. The construction of Delta Works
The Delta Works ( nl, Deltawerken) is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works con ...
changed the Delta in the second half of the 20th century fundamentally. Currently Rhine water runs into the sea, or into former marine bays now separated from the sea, in five places, namely at the mouths of the Nieuwe Merwede, Nieuwe Waterway (Nieuwe Maas), Dordtse Kil, Spui
A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thr ...
and IJssel.
The Rhine-Meuse Delta is a tidal delta, shaped not only by the sedimentation
Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...
of the rivers, but also by tidal currents. This meant that high tide formed a serious risk because strong tidal currents could tear huge areas of land into the sea. Before the construction of the Delta Works, tidal influence was palpable up to Nijmegen, and even today, after the regulatory action of the Delta Works, the tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
acts far inland. At the Waal, for example, the most landward tidal influence can be detected between Brakel and Zaltbommel
Zaltbommel (), also known, historically and colloquially, as Bommel, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands.
History
The city of Zaltbommel
The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel received ...
.
Geologic history
Alpine orogeny
The Rhine flows from the Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
to the North Sea Basin. The geography and geology of its present-day watershed has been developing since the Alpine orogeny began.
In southern Europe, the stage was set in the Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
Period of the Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
Era, with the opening of the Tethys Ocean
The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...
, between the Eurasian and African tectonic plates
Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...
, between about 240 MBP and 220 MBP (million years before present). The present Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
descends from this somewhat larger Tethys sea. At about 180 MBP, in the Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
Period, the two plates reversed direction and began to compress the Tethys floor, causing it to be subducted under Eurasia and pushing up the edge of the latter plate in the Alpine Orogeny of the Oligocene and Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
Periods. Several microplates were caught in the squeeze and rotated or were pushed laterally, generating the individual features of Mediterranean geography: Iberia pushed up the Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
; Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, the Alps, and Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, moving west, the mountains of Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and the islands. The compression and orogeny continue today, as shown by the ongoing raising of the mountains a small amount each year and the active volcanoes.
In northern Europe, the North Sea Basin had formed during the Triassic and Jurassic periods and continued to be a sediment receiving basin since. In between the zone of Alpine orogeny and North Sea Basin subsidence, highlands resulting from an earlier orogeny ( Variscan) remained, such as the Ardennes, Eifel and Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
.
From the Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
onward, the ongoing Alpine orogeny caused a north–south rift system to develop in this zone. The main elements of this rift are the Upper Rhine Graben
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the so ...
, in southwest Germany and eastern France and the Lower Rhine Embayment, in northwest Germany and the southeastern Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. By the time of the Miocene, a river system had developed in the Upper Rhine Graben
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the so ...
, that continued northward and is considered the first Rhine river. At that time, it did not yet carry discharge from the Alps; instead, the watersheds of the Rhone and Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
drained the northern flanks of the Alps.
Stream capture
The watershed of the Rhine reaches into the Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
today, but it did not start out that way.[Berendsen and Stouthamer (2001)] In the Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
period, the watershed of the Rhine reached south, only to the Eifel and Westerwald
The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...
hills, about north of the Alps. The Rhine then had the Sieg
The Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine.
The river is named after the Sicambri. It is in length.
The source is located in the Rothaargebirge mountains. From h ...
as a tributary, but not yet the Moselle. The northern Alps were then drained by the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
.
Through stream capture, the Rhine extended its watershed southward. By the Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Vosges Mountains
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...](_blank)
, including the Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
and the Neckar. The northern Alps were then drained by the Rhone. By the early Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
period, the Rhine had captured most of its current Alpine watershed from the Rhône, including the 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 ...
. Since that time, the Rhine has added the watershed above Lake Constance (Vorderrhein
The Vorderrhein (German; English: ''Anterior Rhine''; Sursilvan: ; Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Anteriur''; Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader, and Puter: ''Rain Anteriur''; Surmiran: ''Ragn anteriour'') is one of the two sources of the Rhine. Its catchment ar ...
, Hinterrhein, Alpenrhein; captured from the Rhône), the upper reaches of the Main, beyond Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban ag ...
and the Moselle in the Vosges Mountains, captured during the Saale Ice-age from the Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
, to its watershed.
Around 2.5 million years ago (ending 11,600 years ago) the Ice Ages began. Since approximately 600,000 years ago, six major glacial periods have occurred, in which sea level dropped as much as and much of the continental margins were exposed. In the Early Pleistocene, the Rhine followed a course to the northwest, through the present North Sea. During the so-called Anglian glaciation
The Anglian Stage is the name used in the British Isles for a middle Pleistocene glaciation. It precedes the Hoxnian Stage and follows the Cromerian Stage in the British Isles. The Anglian Stage is correlated to Marine Isotope Stage 12 (MIS 12), ...
(~450,000 yr BP, marine oxygen isotope stage 12), the northern part of the present North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
was blocked by the ice and a large lake developed, that overflowed through the English Channel. This caused the Rhine's course to be diverted through the English Channel. Since then, during glacial times, the river mouth was located offshore of Brest, France
Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French m ...
and rivers, like the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
and the Seine, became tributaries to the Rhine. During interglacials, when sea level rose to approximately the present level, the Rhine built deltas in what is now the Netherlands.
The most recent glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...
period ran from ~74,000 (BP = Before Present), until the end of the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
(~11,600 BP). In northwest Europe, it saw two very cold phases, peaking around 70,000 BP and around 29,000–24,000 BP. The last phase slightly predates the global last ice age maximum ( Last Glacial Maximum). During this time, the lower Rhine flowed roughly west through the Netherlands and extended to the southwest, through the English Channel and finally, to the Atlantic Ocean. The English Channel, the Irish Channel and most of the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
were dry land, mainly because sea level was approximately lower than today.
Most of the Rhine's current course was not under the ice during the last Ice Age; although, its source must still have been a glacier. A tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...
, with Ice Age flora and fauna, stretched across middle Europe, from Asia to the Atlantic Ocean. Such was the case during the Last Glacial Maximum, ca. 22,000–14,000 yr BP, when ice-sheets covered Scandinavia, the Baltics, Scotland and the Alps, but left the space between as open tundra. Loess (wind-blown topsoil dust) arose from the south and North Sea plain settling on the slopes of the Alps, Urals and the Rhine Valley, rendering the valleys facing the prevailing winds especially fertile.
End of the last glacial period
As northwest Europe slowly began to warm up from 22,000 years ago onward, frozen subsoil and expanded alpine glaciers
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
began to thaw and fall-winter snow covers melted in spring. Much of the discharge was routed to the Rhine and its downstream extension. Rapid warming and changes of vegetation, to open forest, began about 13,000 BP. By 9000 BP, Europe was fully forested. With globally shrinking ice-cover, ocean water levels rose and the English Channel and North Sea re-inundated. Meltwater, adding to the ocean and land subsidence, drowned the former coasts of Europe transgressionally.
About 11000 years ago, the Rhine estuary was in the Strait of Dover. There remained some dry land in the southern North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
, known as Doggerland
Doggerland was an area of land, now submerged beneath the North Sea, that connected Britain to continental Europe. It was flooded by rising sea levels around 6500–6200 BCE. The flooded land is known as the Dogger Littoral. Geological sur ...
, connecting mainland Europe to Britain. About 9000 years ago, that last divide was overtopped / dissected. Man was already resident in the area when these events happened.
Since 7500 years ago the situation of tides, currents and land-forms has resembled the present. Rates of sea level rise
Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...
dropped such that natural sedimentation by the Rhine and coastal processes widely compensate for transgression by the sea. In the southern North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
, due to ongoing tectonic subsidence
Tectonic subsidence is the sinking of the Earth's crust on a large scale, relative to crustal-scale features or the geoid. The movement of crustal plates and accommodation spaces created by faulting create subsidence on a large scale in a variet ...
, the coastline and sea bed are sinking at the rate of about per century (1 meter or 39 inches in last 3000 years).
About 7000–5000 BP, a general warming encouraged migration of all former ice-locked areas, including up the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
and down the Rhine by peoples to the east. A sudden massive expansion of the Black Sea as the Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
burst into it through the Bosporus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
may have occurred about 7500 BP.
Holocene delta
At the beginning of the Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
(~11,700 years ago), the Rhine occupied its Late-Glacial valley. As a meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
ing river, it reworked its ice-age floodplain. As sea-level rise continued in the Netherlands, the formation of the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta began (~8,000 years ago). Coeval absolute sea-level rise and tectonic
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...
subsidence have strongly influenced delta evolution. Other factors of importance to the shape of the delta are the local tectonic activities of the Peel Boundary Fault
Peel or Peeling may refer to:
Places Australia
* Peel (Western Australia)
* Peel Island, Queensland
* Peel, New South Wales
* Peel River (New South Wales)
Canada
* Peel Parish, New Brunswick
* Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated communi ...
, the substrate and geomorphology, as inherited from the Last Glacial period and the coastal-marine dynamics, such as barrier and tidal inlet formations.
Since ~3000 yr BP (= years Before Present), human impact is seen in the delta. As a result of increasing land clearance (Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
agriculture), in the upland areas (central Germany), the sediment load of the Rhine has strongly increased and delta growth has sped up.[Gouw and Erkens (2007)] This has caused increased flooding and sedimentation, ending peat formation in the delta. In the geologically recent past the main process distributing sediment across the delta has been the shifting of river channels to new locations on the floodplain (termed avulsion). Over the past 6000 years, approximately 80 avulsions have occurred. Direct human impact in the delta began with the mining of peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
for salt and fuel from Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
times onward. This was followed by embankment of the major distributaries and damming of minor distributaries, which took place in the 11–13th century AD. Thereafter, canals were dug, bends were straightened and groynes
A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concre ...
were built to prevent the river's channels from migrating or silting up.
At present, the branches Waal and Nederrijn-Lek discharge to the North Sea through the former Meuse estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
, near Rotterdam. The river IJssel branch flows to the north and enters the IJsselmeer (formerly the Zuider Zee
The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...
), initially a brackish lagoon but a freshwater lake since 1932. The discharge of the Rhine is divided into three branches: the Waal (6/9 of total discharge), the Nederrijn – Lek (2/9 of total discharge) and the IJssel (1/9 of total discharge). This discharge distribution has been maintained since 1709 by river engineering works including the digging of the Pannerdens canal and the installation, in the 20th century, of a series of weirs on the Nederrijn
300px, Course of the Nederrijn
Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine be ...
.
Military and cultural history
Antiquity
The Rhine was not known to Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
and first enters the historical period in the 1st century BC in Roman-era geography. At that time, it formed the boundary between Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
and Germania. Although it is estimated that germanic tribes have been inhabiting the area since 2000 BCE.
The Upper Rhine had been part of the areal of the late Hallstatt culture since the 6th century BC, and by the 1st century BC, the areal of the La Tène culture
The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...
covered almost its entire length, forming a contact zone with the Jastorf culture
The Jastorf culture was an Iron Age material culture in what is now northern Germany and southern Scandinavia spanning the 6th to 1st centuries BC, forming part of the Pre-Roman Iron Age and associating with Germanic peoples. The culture evo ...
, i.e. the locus of early Celtic- Germanic cultural contact.
In Roman geography, the Rhine formed the boundary between ''Gallia'' and ''Germania'' by definition; e.g. Maurus Servius Honoratus
Servius was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries on the works of Virgil. These works, ''In tria V ...
, ''Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil'' (8.727) ''(Rhenus) fluvius Galliae, qui Germanos a Gallia dividit'' "(The Rhine is a) river of Gaul, which divides the Germanic people from Gaul."
In Roman geography, the Rhine and Hercynia Silva were considered the boundary of the civilized world; as it was a wilderness, the Romans were eager to explore it. This view is typified by ''Res Gestae Divi Augusti
''Res Gestae Divi Augusti'' (Eng. ''The Deeds of the Divine Augustus'') is a monumental inscription composed by the first Roman emperor, Augustus, giving a first-person record of his life and accomplishments. The ''Res Gestae'' is especially sig ...
'', a long public inscription of Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
, in which he boasts of his exploits; including, sending an expeditionary fleet north of the Rheinmouth, to Old Saxony and Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
, which he claimed no Roman had ever done before.
Augustus ordered his stepson Roman general Drusus
Drusus may refer to:
* Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Drusus) (10 BC–AD 54), Roman emperor from 41 to 54
* Drusus Caesar (AD 8–33), adoptive grandson of Roman emperor Tiberius
* Drusus Julius Caesar (14 BC–AD 23), son of Roman emperor Tiberiu ...
to establish 50 military camps along the Rhine, starting the Germanic Wars in 12 BC. At this time, the plain of the Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
was the territory of the Ubii.
The first urban settlement, on the grounds of what is today Downtown Cologne, along the Rhine, was ''Oppidum Ubiorum'', which was founded in 38 BC by the Ubii. Cologne became acknowledged, as a city by the Romans in AD 50, by the name of ''Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium''.
From the death of Augustus in AD 14 until after AD 70, Rome accepted as her Limes Germanicus, Germanic frontier the water-boundary of the Rhine and upper Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
. Beyond these rivers she held only the fertile plain of Frankfurt, opposite the Roman border fortress of Moguntiacum (Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
), the southernmost slopes of the Black Forest and a few scattered bridge-heads. The northern section of this frontier, where the Rhine is deep and broad, remained the Roman boundary until the empire fell. The southern part was different. The upper Rhine and upper Danube are easily crossed. The frontier which they form is inconveniently long, enclosing an acute-angled wedge of foreign territory between the modern Baden and Württemberg. The Germanic populations of these lands seem in Roman times to have been scanty, and Roman subjects from the modern Alsace-Lorraine had drifted across the river eastwards.
The Romans kept eight legions in five bases along the Rhine. The number was reduced to four as more units were moved to the Danube. The actual number of legions present at any base or in all, depended on whether a state or threat of war existed. Between about AD 14 and 180, the assignment of legions was as follows: for the army of Germania Inferior, two legions at Vetera (Xanten), ''Legio I Germanica, I Germanica'' and ''Legio XX Valeria Victrix, XX Valeria'' (Pannonian troops); two legions at oppidum Ubiorum ("town of the Ubii"), which was renamed to Colonia Agrippina, descending to Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, ''Legio V Alaudae, V Alaudae'', a Celtic legion recruited from Gallia Narbonensis and ''Legio XXI Rapax, XXI'', possibly a Galatian legion from the other side of the empire.
For the army of Germania Superior: one legion, ''Legio II Augusta, II Augusta'', at Argentoratum ( Strasbourg); and one, ''Legio XIII Gemina, XIII Gemina'', at Vindonissa (Windisch, Switzerland, Windisch). Vespasian had commanded II Augusta, before he became emperor. In addition, were a double legion, XIV and XVI, at Moguntiacum (Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
).
The two original military districts of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior, came to influence the surrounding tribes, who later respected the distinction in their alliances and confederations. For example, the upper Germanic peoples combined into the Alamanni, Alemanni. For a time, the Rhine ceased to be a border, when the Franks crossed the river and occupied Roman-dominated Celtic Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
, as far as Paris.
Germanic tribes Crossing of the Rhine, crossed the Rhine in the Migration period, by the 5th century establishing the kingdoms of Francia on the Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
, Kingdom of the Burgundians, Burgundy on the Upper Rhine and Alemannia on the High Rhine
The High Rhine (german: Hochrhein) is the name used for the part of the Rhine that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel. The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine ...
. This "Germanic Heroic Age" is reflected in medieval legend, such as the ''Nibelungenlied'' which tells of the hero Siegfried killing a dragon on the Drachenfels (Siebengebirge) ("dragons rock"), 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-Ru ...
at the Rhine and of the Burgundians and their court at Worms, at the Rhine and Kriemhild's golden treasure, which was thrown into the Rhine by Hagen.
Medieval and modern history
By the 6th century, the Rhine was within the borders of Francia. In the 9th, it formed part of the border between Middle Francia, Middle and Western Francia, but in the 10th century, it was fully within the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, flowing through Swabia, Franconia and Lower Lorraine. The mouths of the Rhine, in the county of Holland, fell to the Burgundian Netherlands in the 15th century; Holland remained contentious territory throughout the European wars of religion and the eventual collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, when the length of the Rhine fell to the First French Empire and its client states. The Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
on the left banks of the Upper Rhine was sold to Burgundy by Archduke Sigismund of Austria in 1469 and eventually fell to kingdom of France, France in the Thirty Years' War. The numerous historic List of castles in Rhineland-Palatinate, castles in Rhineland-Palatinate attest to the importance of the river as a commercial route.
Since the Peace of Westphalia, the Upper Rhine formed a contentious border between France and Germany. Establishing "natural borders" on the Rhine was a long-term goal of French foreign policy, since the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, though the language border was – and is – far more to the west. French leaders, such as Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV and Napoleon I of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, tried with varying degrees of success to annex lands west of the Rhine. The Confederation of the Rhine was established by Napoleon, as a French client state, in 1806 and lasted until 1814, during which time it served as a significant source of resources and military manpower for the First French Empire. In 1840, the Rhine crisis, prompted by French prime minister Adolphe Thiers desire to reinstate the Rhine as a natural border, led to a diplomatic crisis and a wave of nationalism in Germany.
The Rhine became an important symbol in German nationalism during the formation of the German state in the 19th century (see Rhine romanticism).
* The song ''Die Wacht am Rhein'', which almost became a national anthem.
* ''Das Rheingold'' – inspired by the ''Nibelungenlied'', the Rhine is one of the settings for the first opera of Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. The action of the epic opens and ends underneath the Rhine, where three Rheinmaidens swim and protect a hoard of gold.
* The Loreley/Lorelei is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine, that is associated with several legendary tales, poems and songs. The river spot has a reputation for being a challenge for inexperienced navigators.
At the end of World War I, the 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 ...
was subject to the Treaty of Versailles. This decreed that it would be occupied by the allies, until 1935 and after that, it would be a demilitarized zone, with the German army forbidden to enter. The Treaty of Versailles and this particular provision, in general, caused much resentment in Germany and is often cited as helping Adolf Hitler's rise to power. The allies left the Rhineland, in 1930 and the German army re-occupied it in 1936, which was enormously popular in Germany. Although the allies could probably have prevented the reoccupation, Britain and France were not inclined to do so, a feature of their policy of appeasement to Hitler.
In World War II, it was recognized that the Rhine would present a Western Allied invasion of Germany, formidable natural obstacle to the invasion of Germany, by the Western Allies. The Rhine bridge at Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
, immortalized in the book, ''A Bridge Too Far (book), A Bridge Too Far'' and the A Bridge Too Far (film), film, was a central focus of the battle for Arnhem, during the failed Operation Market Garden of September 1944. The bridges at Nijmegen, over the Waal distributary of the Rhine, were also an objective of Operation Market Garden. In a separate operation, the Ludendorff Bridge, crossing the Rhine at Remagen, became famous, when U.S. forces were able to capture it intact – much to their own surprise – after the Germans failed to demolish it. This also became the subject of a film, ''The Bridge at Remagen''.
''Seven Days to the River Rhine'' was a Warsaw Pact war plan for an invasion of Western Europe during the Cold War.
Until 1932 the generally accepted length of the Rhine was . In 1932 the German encyclopedia Knaurs Lexikon stated the length as , presumably a typographical error.
After this number was placed into the authoritative Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, it became generally accepted and found its way into numerous textbooks and official publications. The error was discovered in 2010, and the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat confirms the length at .
Lists of features
Cities on the Rhine
Large cities that are situated on the Rhine:
Switzerland:
*Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
France:
* Strasbourg
Germany:
*Karlsruhe
*Mannheim
*Ludwigshafen
*Wiesbaden
*Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
* Koblenz
*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-Ru ...
*Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
*Leverkusen
*Neuss
*Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
*Krefeld
Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...
(Uerdingen)
*Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
Netherlands:
*Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
(Nederrijn)
* Nijmegen (Waal)
*Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
(Kromme Rijn)
*Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
(Nieuwe Maas)
Smaller cities that are situated on the Rhine:
Switzerland:
*Chur
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers
, twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxe ...
*Kreuzlingen
*Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...
Liechtenstein:
*Vaduz
Germany:
*Konstanz
*Breisach
*Speyer
*Worms, Germany, Worms
*Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ''Mäuseturm'', k ...
*Rüdesheim am Rhein
Rüdesheim am Rhein is a German winemaking town in the Rhine Gorge, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in this region. It lies in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt, Hessen. Known as Rüdesheim, i ...
*Neuwied
*Andernach
*Bad Honnef
*Königswinter
*Niederkassel
*Wesseling
*Dormagen
*Zons
*Monheim am Rhein
*Wesel
*Xanten
*Emmerich am Rhein
Netherlands:
*Zutphen (IJssel)
*Deventer (IJssel)
*Zwolle (IJssel)
*Kampen, Overijssel, Kampen (IJssel)
*Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
(Oude Rijn)
* Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
(Merwede)
* Wageningen (Nederrijn)
* Woerden (Oude Rijn)
* Wijk bij Duurstede
Wijk bij Duurstede () is a municipality and a city in the central Netherlands.
Population centres
* Cothen
* Langbroek
*Wijk bij Duurstede
Topography
''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Wijk bij Duurstede, 2013.''
City
The city ...
( Neder Rijn / Kromme Rijn / Lek )
* Alphen aan den Rijn ( Oude Rijn )
Countries and borders
During its course from the Alps to the North Sea, the Rhine passes through four countries and constitutes six different country borders. On the various parts:
* the Anterior Rhine lies entirely within Switzerland, while at least one tributary to Posterior Rhine, ''Reno di Lei'' originates in Italy, but is not considered a part of the Rhine proper.
* the Alpine Rhine flows within Switzerland till Sargans
Sargans is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291. Sargans was al ...
, from which it becomes the border between Switzerland (to the west) and Liechtenstein (to the east) until Oberriet, and the river never flows within Liechtenstein. It then becomes the border between Switzerland (to the west) and Austria (to the east) until Diepoldsau
Diepoldsau is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
History
Diepoldsau is first mentioned in 891 as ''Thiotpoldesouua''. Schmitter is first mentioned in 1385.
It was the crossi ...
where the modern and straight course enters Switzerland, while the original course ''Alter Rhein'' makes a bend to the east and continues as the Swiss-Austrian border until the confluence at Widnau. From here the river continues as the border until Lustenau, where the modern and straight course enters Austria (the only part of the river that flows within Austria), while the original course makes a bend to the west and continues as the border, until both courses enter Lake Constance.
* the first half of ''Seerhein'', between the upper and lower body of Lake Constance, flows within Germany (and the city of Konstanz), while the second is the German (to the north) – Swiss (to the south) frontier.
* the first parts of the High Rhine, from Lake Constance to Altholz, the river alternates flowing within Switzerland and being the German-Swiss frontier (three times each). From Altholz the river is the German-Swiss border until Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, where it enters Switzerland for the last time.
* the Upper Rhine is the border between France (to the west) and Switzerland (to the east) for a short distance, from Basel to Hunningue. Here it becomes the Franco (to the west) – German (to the east) frontier until Au am Rhein. Hence, the main course of the Rhine never flows within France, although some river canals do. From Au am Rhein the river flows within Germany.
* the Middle Rhine flows entirely within Germany.
* the Lower Rhine flows within Germany until Emmerich am Rhein, where it becomes the border between The Netherlands (to the north) and Germany (to the south). At Millingen aan de Rijn
Millingen aan de Rijn () is a former municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Ne ...
the river enters the Netherlands.
* all parts of the Delta Rhein flows within the Netherlands until they enter the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
, IJsselmeer (IJssel
The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. ...
) or Haringvliet
The Haringvliet is a large inlet of the North Sea, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is an important estuary of the Rhine-Meuse delta.
Near Numansdorp, the Hollands Diep splits into the Haringvliet and the Volkerak ...
(Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...
) at the Dutch coast.
Bridges
Former distributaries
''Order: panning north to south through the Western Netherlands'':
* Vecht (Utrecht) (minor channel in Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
times, flowing into former Zuider Zee
The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...
lagoon)
* Kromme Rijn
The Kromme Rijn () ("Crooked Rhine", for its many bends) is a river in the central Netherlands.
In Roman times, this northernmost branch of the Rhine delta was the main distributary of this major European river. Along its banks the Romans bui ...
– Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland) (main channel in Roman times, dammed in the 12th century)
* Hollandse IJssel
The Hollandse (or Hollandsche) IJssel (; "Holland IJssel", as opposed to the 'regular' or Gelderland IJssel) is a branch of the Rhine delta that flows westward from Nieuwegein on river Lek through IJsselstein, Gouda and Capelle aan den IJsse ...
(formed after Roman times, dammed in the 13th century AD)
* Linge
The Linge is a river in the Betuwe that is 99.8 km long, which makes it one of the longest rivers that flow entirely within the Netherlands.
It starts near the village Doornenburg near the German border. A legend tells us that if there w ...
(big channel in Roman times, dammed in the 14th century AD)
* De Biesbosch
De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch ('forest of sedges' or 'rushwoods') consists of a large ...
-area (initiated by AD 1421–1424 storm surges and river floods, by-passed since the digging of Nieuwe Merwede
The Nieuwe Merwede (; "New Merwede") is a Dutch canal, mainly fed by the river Rhine, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general trajectories of a number of minor Biesbosch creeks to r ...
canal in AD 1904)
Canals
''Order: upstream to downstream'':
* Rhine–Main–Danube Canal – southeastern Germany
* Grand Canal d'Alsace
The Grand Canal of Alsace (, ) is a canal in eastern France, channeling the Upper Rhine river. It is 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) long between Kembs and Vogelgrun, and provides access to the region from the Rhine River, Basel in Switzerland, ...
– eastern France
* Rhine-Herne Canal – northwest Germany, connection to the Dortmund-Ems Canal and the Mittellandkanal
* Maas-Waal Canal – eastcentral Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
* Amsterdam-Rhine Canal – central Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
* Scheldt-Rhine Canal – southwest Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
* Canal of Drusus
See also
* Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine
* EV15 The Rhine Cycle Route
* Köln-Düsseldorfer
* Piz Lunghin (triple watershed: Po–Rhine–Danube)
* Witenwasserenstock (triple watershed: Rhone–Rhine–Po)
* List of old waterbodies of the Rhine
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Rhine
with maps and details of navigation through the French section; places, ports and moorings, by the author of ''Inland Waterways of France'', Imray
Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals
(French waterways website section)
Old maps of the Rhine
from the Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel
{{Authority control
Rhine,
Rhine basin,
International rivers of Europe
Rivers of Vorarlberg
Rivers of France
Rivers of Liechtenstein
Rivers of Switzerland
Border rivers
Austria–Switzerland border
France–Germany border
Germany–Switzerland border
Graubünden–St. Gallen border
Rivers of Aargau
Liechtenstein–Switzerland border
Geography of Central Europe
Geography of Western Europe
Rifts and grabens
Rivers of Baden-Württemberg
Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia
Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate
Federal waterways in Germany
Articles containing video clips
Rivers of Grand Est
Rivers of Gelderland
Rivers of Utrecht (province)
Rivers of South Holland
Rivers of Overijssel
Rivers of the Netherlands
Rivers of Bas-Rhin
Rivers of Austria
Rivers of Germany