The Vils is a river, a left tributary of the

Lech Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of Poland * Lech (Bohemian prince) Products and organizations * Lech (beer), Polish beer produced by Kompania Piwowarska, in Poznań * Lech Poznań, ...

in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

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 ...

. The Vils has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where 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, t ...

of approximately , with an average annual precipitation of nearly . It originates in the

Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps (german: Allgäuer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance. Character ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

from the supplies of the

Vilsalpsee Vilsalpsee is a lake of Tyrol, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is ...

, and is its only discharge. Its water flows first in the northern and northwestern directions, in the

Reutte district The is an administrative district () in Tyrol, Austria. It borders Bavaria (Germany) in the north, the districts Imst and Landeck in the south, and Bregenz and Bludenz (both in Vorarlberg) in the west. The district is also referred to as . The di ...

through the Vils Valley and the

Tannheim Valley The Tannheimer Tal ("Tannheim valley") is a high valley, at an elevation of about 1,100 metres, in the Tannheim Mountains, which are part of the Allgäu Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol (Bezirk Reutte, county of Reutte).It is ...

. In the latter valley it runs alongside the B 199 road through

Tannheim Tannheim (Württemberg) () is a municipality in the district of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Geography It is located in upper Swabia at the river Iller which forms the border to Bavaria. Sights *Church of St. Martin, built 17 ...

, Zoeblen and

Schattwald Schattwald is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was hi ...

. From here the Vils descends down the waterfall , only slightly east/northeast of the

Oberjoch Pass The Oberjoch Pass (1178 m) is a mountain pass in the Allgäu Alps just one kilometre west of the Austrian border. It links Bad Hindelang, Schattwald and Jungholz. Between 1938 and 1945 the pass was called "Adolf-Hitler-Pass". See also * Li ...

and only a few hundred metres east of the border to Germany. Then the river crosses the border into southern

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 ...

, turns northeast and reaches the municipality

Pfronten Pfronten ( Swabian: ''Pfronte'') is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Pfronten is one of a total of 45 towns, markets and municipalities in the district of Ostallgäu. Pfronten is located on the n ...

in the district

Ostallgäu Ostallgäu is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Oberallgäu, Unterallgäu, Augsburg, Landsberg, Weilheim-Schongau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and by the Austri ...

. Then it flows eastwards along the B 308, again crossing the border into Tyrol, flows below the

Tannheim Mountains The Tannheim MountainsVils. After crossing the B 179 underneath it flows directly into the Lech. With an average discharge of , the Vils is among the largest rivers in Bavaria.

References

Rivers of Bavaria Rivers of Tyrol (state) International rivers of Europe Rivers of Austria Rivers of Germany {{Bavaria-river-stub