The Gießenbach is a river of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

is . The Gießenbach flows in the East of the

Perg District Bezirk Perg is a district of the state of Upper Austria in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are in ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

. It is a tributary of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

; its mouth is located between Grein and

Sankt Nikola an der Donau Sankt Nikola an der Donau (also St. Nikola an der Donau) is a municipality in the district of Perg in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Sankt Nikola lies in the Mühlviertel The Mühlviertel () is an Austrian region belonging to ...

Course

The Gießenbach, referred to in the upper reaches as Vogelsammühlbach, rises in the district Ebenedt of

Sankt Georgen am Walde Sankt Georgen am Walde (also St. Georgen am Walde) is a municipality in the district of Perg in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Sankt Georgen lies in the Mühlviertel The Mühlviertel () is an Austrian region belonging to the s ...

at about

metres above the Adriatic Metres above the Adriatic (, , Serbo-Croatian: ''Metara iznad Jadrana'') is the vertical datum used in Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia to measure elevation, referring to the ave ...

. The brook flows from north to south through several communities, forms or crosses in its course repeatedly the boundary between different municipalities and finally flows at the border between Grein and Sankt Nikola near the isle Wörth into the Danube at about metres above the Adriatic. The Gießenbach touches or crosses the following communities: St. Georgen am Walde,

Pabneukirchen Pabneukirchen is a municipality in the district of Perg in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Repub ...

, Dimbach,

Waldhausen im Strudengau Waldhausen im Strudengau (Central Bavarian: ''Woidhausn im Strudngau'') is a municipality in the district of Perg (district), Perg in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Waldhausen lies in the Mühlviertel. It was originally a part of B ...

, Bad Kreuzen, Grein und St. Nikola an der Donau. Left tributaries of the Gießenbach and Vogelsammühlbach, resp., are the Haselböckbach, the Gassnerbach and the Blümelbach with te Leimlehnerbach, right tributaries are the Sagmüllerbach with the Riedersdorfmühlbach. The Gießenbach flows through natural

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

s and several gorges, with the being the best known of them. A special noteworthiness of the Gießenbach is the endangered

freshwater pearl mussel The freshwater pearl mussel (''Margaritifera margaritifera'') is an endangered species of freshwater mussel, an Aquatic animal, aquatic bivalve mollusc in the family Margaritiferidae. Although the name "freshwater pearl mussel" is often used fo ...

Economy

480px, seven-arched railway viaduct over the Gießenbach at the entrance of the Stillensteinklamm near Grein Eighteen mills were once in operation at the Gießenbach and its tributaries; for example the Gießenbachmühle, the Aumühle, the Klausmühle, the Grasmühle, the Sagmühle, the Hagenmühle, the Riedersdorfmühle, the Vogelsammühle. In the first half of the 19th century the stream was used for

timber rafting Timber rafting is a method of transporting felled tree trunks by tying them together to make rafts, which are then drifted or pulled downriver, or across a lake or other body of water. It is arguably, after log driving, the second cheapest mea ...

. Today, there are several small power plants. Since the second half of the 19th century, a hiking trail leads through the Stillensteinklamm, which has been destroyed several times by flood disasters. Since 2010, it has been part of the Donausteig. The entrance to the Stillensteinklamm at the mouth of the Gießenbach lies on the Danube Cycle Path. Since 1909, the Gießenbachtal at the exit of the Stillensteinklamm at the mouth of the Gießenbach into the Danube is crossed by the Donauuferbahn by means of a very high seven-arched

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Upper Austria Rivers of Austria