The White Main (german: Weißer Main or ''Weißmain'', not to be confused with the

Weismain Weismain is a town in the district of Lichtenfels, in northern Bavaria, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

), is the larger and shorter of the two

headstream The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

s of the river

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 ...

. It rises in the

Fichtelgebirge The Fichtel MountainsRandlesome, C. et al. (2011). ''Business Cultures in Europe'', 2nd ed., Routledge, Abingdon and New York, p. 52. . (german: Fichtelgebirge, cs, Smrčiny), form a small horseshoe-shaped mountain range in northeastern Bavaria ...

and merges near Steinenhausen, southwest of

Kulmbach Kulmbach () is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town is famous for Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier museum in the world, and for its sausages, or ''Bratwürste''. Geography Location Ku ...

, with the left-hand, southern headstream, the

Red Main The Red Main (german: Roter Main or ''Rotmain'') is a river in southern Germany. It is the southern, left headstream of the river Main. It rises in the hills of Franconian Switzerland, near Haag and flows generally northwest through the towns Cr ...

, to form the Main. The length of the White Main is 51.7 km. The source of the White Main lies on light

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

rock, which lends it its white colouration.

Sources

The source of the White Main is a wellspring located at 887 m above NN on the eastern slope of the Ochsenkopf. Margrave Frederick fixed it and had it enclosed in granite blocks in 1717. He also had the Hohenzollern coat-of-arms carved into the granite.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

visited the spring in 1785, but reckoned the Seehausbrunnen southeast of the Schneeberg as the source of the Main, for he wrote: "''...the source of the Main, which rises close to the house here and where the stream here amounts to a no more than a tin washtub, ...''". Although the

is a few kilometres longer, the source of the larger White Main is seen as that of the Main.

Course

Initially the ''White Main'' flows steeply downhill towards the northeast. After about it feeds a small lake near Karches in the municipality of

Bischofsgrün Bischofsgrün is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany. Bischofsgrün is situated within the Fichtelgebirge mountain range between the range's two largest mountains; Schneeberg (1051 m) and the Ochsenkopf (1024 m). T ...

. Shortly thereafter it changes direction abruptly to the northwest and cuts its way through a narrow valley. Just before Fröbershammer it leaves the granite of the central massif. Near Fröbershammer it meets the ''Kroppenbach'' which enters from the right. Near Rangen it turns towards the southwest and flows through a very, narrow, wild, scenic gorge. At the far end it reaches a mill, the ''Glasermühle'', where it is joined from the left by the ''Brombergsbach'' and, shortly thereafter, by the ''Lützelmain'', also known as the ''Lützelmainbach''. After that it also picks up the little ''Steinbach''. Near

Bad Berneck Bad Berneck () is a spa town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the White Main river, in the Fichtelgebirge mountains, 13 km northeast of Bayreuth. Its official title is ''Bad Berneck im Fichtelgebirge''. ...

-Schmelz the ''Schmelzbach'' and the ''Zoppatenbach'' enter it from the left. The ''White Main'' now turns northwest, passes through the village of Frankenhammer before reaching Bad Berneck. Here it is joined from the right by the '' Ölschnitz'' and the ''Rimlasgrundbach''. It then passes north of Blumenau, where it merges with the ''Obere Wiesenbächlein'' and, immediately afterwards, the ''Untere Wiesenbächlein'', from the left-hand side. Near Kremitz it meets the left-hand tributary of the ''

Kronach Kronach ( East Franconian: ''Gronich'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, located in the Frankenwald area. It is the capital of the district Kronach. Kronach is the birthplace of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Maximilian von Welsch, as well ...

'' coming from the southeast. It passes through Lanzendorf und

Himmelkron Himmelkron is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, an ...

, where it is met from the right by the ''Streitmühlbach'', near Neuenmarkt-Schlömen and then the ''Laubenbach''. Next it alters course towards the west, until it reaches

Trebgast Trebgast is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and th ...

, where it picks up the

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

of the same name coming from the south. It then swings northwest and flows past Feuln, collecting the waters of the ''Feulnerbach''; then the ''Veitsgraben'' near

Ködnitz Ködnitz is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and th ...

and the ''Mühlgraben''. It travels through Fölschnitz and Kauerndorf, where it is joined by the

Schorgast Schorgast is a river of Bavaria, Germany. It flows into the White Main east of Kulmbach. See also *List of rivers of Bavaria A list of rivers of Bavaria, Germany: A * Aalbach *Abens * Ach * Afferbach * Affinger Bach * Ailsbach *Aisch * Aiter ...

. It now runs in a southwesterly direction past Aichig, where it is fed by the ''Teufelsgraben'', and enters

. There it is met by the ''Purbach'' and the Dobrach from the right and the ''Kinzelsbach'' from the left. At the western edge of Kulmbach, near Steinhausen Castle, the ''White Main'' finally merges with the

to form the River Main. Main Vereinigung Roter und Weißer Main bei Kulmbach-001

Fauna

The ''White Main'' is home to the

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

, grayling,

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

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

carp bream The common bream, freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream, carp bream or sweaty bream (''Abramis brama''), is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is now considered to be the only species in the genus ''Abramis''. ...

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). Th ...

and

tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also ...

.Anglermap Gewässersteckbrief: White Main
/ref>

Geography

Tributaries

* Paschenbach (''right'') * Kroppenbach (''right'') * Brommbergsbach (''left'') * Lützelmain (''left'') * Steinbach (''left'') * Schmelzbach (''left'') * Zoppatenbach (''left'') * Ölschnitz (''right'') * Rimlasgrundbach (''right'') * Oberes Wiesenbächlein (''left'') * Unteres Wiesenbächlein (''left'') *

(''left'') * Streitmühlbach (''right'') * Laubenbach (''right'') *

(''left'') * Feulner Bach (''right'') * Veitsgraben (''left'') * Mühlgraben (''left'') *

(''right'') * Teufelsgraben (''right'') * Purbach (''right'') * Dobrach (''right'') * Kinzelsbach (''left'')

Towns on its banks

Sources

Bogner, Franz X. (2006). ''Der Obermain. Ein Luftbildporträt von Bayreuth bis Bamberg.'' Ellwanger-Verlag, Bayreuth, 2006.

References

External links

''Main River''
Website on the River Main by the Tourist Board of Franconia.

{{Authority control White Main White Main Bayreuth (district) Kulmbach (district) Rivers of Germany