The Obere Argen ("Upper Argen") is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in southwestern

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 southeastern

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 ...

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 betwe ...

. Northwest of

Oberstaufen Oberstaufen ( Low Alemannic: ''Schtoufe'') is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavarian Swabia, Germany, situated on the B 308 road from Lindau to Immenstadt. History It is first mentioned as ''Stoufun'' in AD 868. Historically ...

in the Bavarian-Swabian county of

Oberallgäu Oberallgäu is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Unterallgäu and Ostallgäu, the Austrian states Tyrol and Vorarlberg, the district of Lindau, and the state ...

, the ''Seelesgraben'', the ''Moosmühlbach'' and the ''Schwarzenbach'' streams converge forming the Obere Argen. From this confluence the river flows through the , a gorge which is passable on foot within the eponymous and past the Grünenbach heading for

Wangen im Allgäu Wangen im Allgäu ( Low Alemannic: ''Wãnge'') is a historic city in southeast Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies north-east of Lake Constance in the Westallgäu. It is the second-largest city (Population: 26,927 in 2020) in the Ravensburg dist ...

. Near

Gestratz Gestratz is a municipality in the district of Lindau in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Gestratz is located in the Allgäu region. Smaller hamlets like Brugg, Thalendorf, Altensberg, Horben, Kenners, Zwirkenberg, Altenburg, Rutzen, Rauen, Ried, Sc ...

the Obere Argen collects the waters of the Röthenbach coming from the left and forms the Bavarian-Württemberg state border as far as Wangen. North of the Wangen district of Neuravensburg the Obere Argen unites with the Untere Argen ("Lower Argen") to form the

Argen The Argen is a river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into Lake Constance between Kressbronn am Bodensee and Langenargen as the third largest tributary to the lake. It is long; if one includes the Obere Argen and its source river See ...

, which then discharges into Lake Constance between Kressbronn and

Langenargen Langenargen is a town in the district of Bodensee in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Sports Langenargen is an ideal venue for sports such as sailing. The town's location on the shores of the Bodensee ( Lake Constance) provides smooth waters e ...

after about 23 kilometres.

Bridges

Argentobel Bridge

The Argentobel Bridge is a long bridge structure on the Bavarian state road, the S 1318 between the villages of Grünenbach and

Maierhöfen Maierhöfen is a municipality in the district of Lindau in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Maierhöfen is located in the Westallgäu, Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers t ...

in the county of

Lindau (Bodensee) 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 ...

. It crosses the Obere Argen in 12 arches at a maximum height of .

Argen Bridge, Föhlschmitten

In the Wangen village of Neuravensburg above the road bridge (K 8002), a covered wooden bridge built in 1790 by Abbot Beda Angehrn runs over the Upper Argen.

Obere Argen Viaduct

The Obere Argen Viaduct is a long structure supporting the A 96 motorway. The ''

autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track' ...

'' viaduct comprises a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

in combination with cable-tensioning beneath the roadway - a form of construction that was a first in Germany. File:D-BY - Argentobelbrücke 204.JPG, File:D-Wangen im Allgaeu - Talbruecke Obere Argen 008.JPG,

References

Literature

* *

External links

Bilder rund um die Argen
{{Authority control Rivers of Baden-Württemberg Rivers of Bavaria Rivers of Germany