The Röslau or Rösla ( cs, Reslava) is a right-hand tributary of the river

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque build ...

in northeast

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 ...

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 ...

. It is formed from several small tributaries that come together on the eastern slope of the Schneeberg west of the Vordorf Mill (''Vordorfermühle'') at Trostau in the Russel forest division.

Spring tapping

A spring, impounded by granite rocks, was tapped by the town of

Wunsiedel (; Northern Bavarian: ''Wåuṉsieḏl'' or ''Wousigl'') is the seat of the Upper Franconian district of in northeast Bavaria, Germany. The town is the birthplace of poet Jean Paul. It also became known for its annual Festival and the Rudol ...

in 1930 at a height of . The source is the start point of the 44 km long Röslau Path, which was created in 1980 by

Fichtelgebirge Club The Fichtelgebirge Club (german: Fichtelgebirgsverein or ''FGV'') is a large walking club and local heritage society in Bavaria and recognised conservation group with 20,000 members in 55 local groups. As the name says, its main sphere of activit ...

. The Seenweg path from Weißenstädter See to the Fichtelsee runs past the spring.

Course

After leaving the steep slopes and high forest on the Schneeberg the Röslau runs past the Vordorf Mill, turns initially southeast to

Leupoldsdorf Leupoldsdorf is a village in the municipality of Tröstau in the district of Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Leupoldsdorf is located in the Fichtelgebirge in the province of Upper Franconia in northeast Bavaria. The ...

and

Tröstau Tröstau is a municipality in the district of Wunsiedel in Bavaria in 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 t ...

, grazes

and swings gradually in an easterly and northeasterly direction. Along the way it picks up numerous brooks from the region of the Platte, Hohe Matze and

Kösseine The Kösseine is a massif in the High Fichtel mountains in Germany, lying in northeast Bavaria south of Wunsiedel. The highest elevation of this granite massif is the summit of the Große Kösseine, . The border between the Bavarian provinces of Up ...

. Near Thölau the great railway bridge on the Marktredwitz to Hof line stretches across the Röslau valley. Next it reaches Lorenzreuth and Seußen, where it is reinforced by the Kössein. It flows through the narrow valley of the Gsteinigt to Arzberg and snakes through pastureland to the

Schirnding Schirnding is a municipality in the district of Wunsiedel in Bavaria in Germany. Schirnding station is a border station on the Nuremberg–Cheb railway. Musicologist Reinhard Schulz Reinhard Schulz (7 March 1950 – 24 July 2009) was a Germa ...

. East of the village it forms Germany's boundary with the Czech Republic until it discharges into the Eger near Fischern.

Economic usage

Since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

the river was used to drive the many

hammer mill A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre- industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The feat ...

s (''Hammerwerke'') and

corn mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

s (''Mahlmühlen'') along its length. The town of Wunsiedel also used the watercourse from the 16th century 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 mean ...

Origin of the name

The river was first mentioned quite late on, in 1403, under the name of ''Rosslin'' and then under various spellings.

Colloquially Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...

it is called the ''Riasla'' and, on official maps, the ''Röslau''. Recent research suggests the name combines words meaning "in lively motion, stirring" and "flowing" or "streaming".

References

External links