The Dill is a long river, flowing through central

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 ...

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 the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

to 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 i ...

, joining it on the right bank at the town of Wetzlar.

Course

The Dill flows exclusively through the

Lahn-Dill-Kreis Lahn-Dill is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis. History The southern district b ...

district in

. The river originates at about 567 m above sea-level north of

Haiger Haiger is a country town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The nearest city is Siegen, about 25 km north of Haiger. Geography Location Haiger lies about 5 km west of Dillenburg, and 20 km southeast of Siegen on the eas ...

-Offdilln on the eastern slope of the ''Haincher Höhe'' (heights that reach 606 m), where the mountain ranges

Rothaargebirge The Rothaar Mountains (german: Rothaargebirge, , also ''Rotlagergebirge''), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany. It is believed that its name must once have been ...

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 ...

meet. During its course, roughly from north to south, the Dill passes the towns of

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German- Dutch holiday road ...

, Herborn,

Aßlar Aßlar (or Asslar, ) is a town near Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Aßlar lies on a foothill of the Westerwald range as well as on the river Dill, which empties into the Lahn in neighbouring Wetzlar, abo ...

, and finally empties into the Lahn at Wetzlar. Many places on the banks of the river draw their names from it. On the river's upper reaches these are Offdilln, Dillbrecht, Fellerdilln, Dillenburg, and further downstream Dillheim. Dillenburg was the seat of the former Dillkreis district and residence town of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau ( Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherland ...

Tributaries

Going downstream, the Dill's largest tributaries are: Roßbach, Haigerbach, Aubach, Donsbach,

Dietzhölze Dietzhölze is a river of Hesse, Germany. It flows into the Dill in Dillenburg. See also *List of rivers of Hesse A list of rivers of Hesse, Germany: A * Aar, tributary of the Dill * Aar, tributary of the Lahn * Aar, tributary of the Twiste ...

, Nanzenbach, Schelde,

Aar AAR or Aar may refer to: Geography * Aar, a river in Switzerland, tributary of the Rhine *Aar (Lahn), a tributary of Lahn river in Germany, descending from the Taunus mountains * Aar (Dill), a tributary of Dill river in Germany, also in the bas ...

, Ambach, Rehbach, Lemp, and Blasbach.

References

External links

River statistics – Aßlar

{{Authority control Rivers of Hesse Lahn-Dill-Kreis Rivers of the Westerwald Rivers of Germany