The Aabach (also: ''Große Aa'') is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, a left tributary of the river

Afte Afte is a river of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a tributary of the river Alme, into which it flows in Büren. See also *List of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia A list of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: A B C * Cal ...

. It rises near the village Madfeld, part of the town

Brilon Brilon (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which belongs to the Hochsauerlandkreis. Geography Brilon is on the Brilon Heights, at an altitude of about 450m, and the upper reaches of the river Möhne. The town lies between the Ar ...

, in eastern

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

near the border with

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. From there it flows north between mountains up to high through a forested landscape, partly in the natural park

Diemelsee The Diemelsee or Diemel Reservoir () is a reservoir with a surface area of 1.65 km² and about capacity of 19.9 million m³ on the River Diemel in the counties of Waldeck-Frankenberg in North Hesse, and Hochsauerlandkreis, Westpha ...

. After a few kilometers it flows into the artificial lake Aabachstausee. It flows to the north and empties only about further north after

Bad Wünnenberg Bad Wünnenberg () is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Aabach, approximately 20 km south of Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', al ...

, where it flows into the Afte. The source of the Aabach is at the divide between the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

and

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

river basins: the Aabach flows to the north and drains into the Rhine via the Afte, Alme and

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

, while the small rivers that rise on the southern side of the ridge drain into the Weser through the

Hoppecke The Hoppecke is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany, and a tributary of the Diemel. The Hoppecke joins the Diemel on the left bank near Marsberg. See also *List of rivers of Hesse This is a list of rivers of Hesse, Germany: ...

and

Diemel The Diemel () is a river in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a western and orographically left tributary of the Weser. It is the first, and therefore southernmost, of the larger Weser tributaries after its formation by the confluen ...

References

Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia Rivers of Germany {{NorthRhineWestphalia-river-stub