Oude Rijn (Gelderland)

Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine"; not to be confused with 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 ...

) is the name of a long former bend in

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 ...

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. In summer the bend became too shallow to be navigable, and so between 1701 and 1709 it was cut off from the main

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

near the town of Lobith and replaced by 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 ...

. After the bend was dammed-up at

Tolkamer Tolkamer is a village near Lobith in the municipality of Zevenaar in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. The village is on the border with Germany. The village was first mentioned in 1773 as Tol, and means "toll room". Otto I, Count of ...

, the Oude Rijn received little water from the Rhine proper. Instead, most of its inflow now comes from the small river

Wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

. Near the Oude Rijn are several more, smaller, Old Rhine branches. Together they are known as the ''Rijnstrangen'' ("Rhine Bends"), a wildlife reserve area that is part of the Gelderse Poort. The Oude Rijn, which 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 the Dutch town of Lobith and the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

town of Elten, was still used to relieve the overflow of the Rhine in times of flooding until the middle of the twentieth century. Opposite the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 ...

, the Pannerdens Kanaal connects to the Oude Rijn, after which the river continues towards the sea 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 ...

(Lower Rhine). Rivers of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Rivers of Gelderland Rivers of the Netherlands {{Netherlands-river-stub