Roter Main
Encyclopedia
The Red Main is a river
in southern Germany
. It is the southern, left headstream of the River Main. It rises in the hills of Franconian Switzerland
, near Haag
and flows generally northwest through the towns Creußen
, Bayreuth, Heinersreuth
and Neudrossenfeld
. It merges with the White Main
near Kulmbach
to form the Main. The Red Main is 55 kilometres (34.2 mi) long and descends a total of 283 metres (928.5 ft).
The waters of the Red Main flow through a region of clayey soils, which is why the river carries a lot of suspended solids
, especially after rainfall, and acquires a red-brown colour. Hence the name Red Main.
) in the Lindenhardt Forest at a height of . The source of the Red Main (Rotmainquelle) was impounded in stone in 1907, the water flows out of a small wooden pipe. Its source region lies in the Franconian Switzerland
-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park. Geologically it belongs to the Brown Jura.
. From there it heads almost due north and then turns west beyond Eremitage. It passes through the town of Bayreuth from east to west. In the town centre it has been confined since the 1970s in a concrete channel and partially covered.
In the vicinity of the Bayreuth folk festival square the river divides into two branches. The southern branch is called the Mühlkanal, because it used to feed several mills within the town. Its water flow is held roughly constant by a weir and it runs above ground as far as the Münzgasse. Behind the former state central bank it disappears into a tunnel and surfaces again opposite the Graser School just before reuniting with the northern branch. In the late 1990s a section of the channel in Opernstraße was exposed and swept up as part of the rebuilding at the southern end of Luitpoldplatz.
The northern arm usually carries only a small amount of water, but acts as a flood channel at times of high water and has a very wide river bed. It is partly covered by two car parks.
Beyond Bayreuth the Red Main flows northwest in wide meanders through a broad valley, past the villages of Heinersreuth
and Neudrossenfeld
. South of Kulmbach
, near Steinenhausen Castle, it is united with the White Main
, which rises in the Fichtelgebirge
mountains near Bischofsgrün
. The Red Main is 73 kilometres (45.4 mi) long (source to mouth), the White Main 52 kilometres (32.3 mi). At the confluence of the two headstreams a bridge was built in 2009 where the young Main may be crossed right at its beginning. Information boards on the bridge describe the rest of the river's course, the local walking and cycle routes and the surrounding countryside.
Bodenmühlwand geotope
In the vicinity of the Bodenmühle mill east of Bayreuth the Red Main has carved out a bluff (Prallhang) on a bend in the river caused by erosion, the so-called Bodenmühlwand, a steep slope 20 metres (65.6 ft) in height.
This has exposed rock strata from the Middle Keuper period
. Around 225 million years ago the area was a coastal region with frequent changes caused in the influence of land and sea. As a result, today, layers of claystone
and Benker sandstone (Estheria) lie on top of each other. In the latter, geologists found fossils of ostracods (Palaesteria minuta), after which the layers are named (in German), the remains of coelacanth
as well as the scales, teeth and fin spines of prehistoric sharks.
The highest and thickest rock layer belongs to reed sandstones (Stuttgart-Formation) of the Carnian
stage.
, grayling
, barbel
, bullhead
, lamprey
, carp
, tench
, carp bream
, roach, perch
, pike
, pike-perch, eel
und burbot
.
, begins near the source. This main footpath is marked by a a red M on a white background throughout its length. Its 60 kilometre long route is as follows: Sourche of the Red Main-Creußen-Eimersmühle-Schlehenberg-Eremitage-Bayreuth-Martinsreuth-Altenplos-Grüngraben-Jöslein-Langenstadt-Affalterhof Katschenreuth-Steinenhausen Castle near Kulmbach (confluence with the White Main).
The Main-Mies Trail (Main-Mies-Weg), established by the Upper Palatinate Forest Club (Oberpfälzer-Wald-Verein) also begins near the source. Here the trail is marked by at red diagonal cross on a white background. The 93 km long route is as follows: Source of the Red Main-Creußen-Seidwitz-Frankenberg-Neustadt am Kulm-Erbendorf-Falkenberg-Tirschenreuth-Griesbach.
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in southern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is the southern, left headstream of the River Main. It rises in the hills of Franconian Switzerland
Franconian Switzerland
The Little Switzerland is an upland in Upper Franconia, northern Bavaria and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the Pegnitz River in the east and the south, the Regnitz River in the west and the Main River in the north, its relief reaches 600 metres in height.The Franconian Switzerland is...
, near Haag
Haag, Upper Franconia
Haag is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany....
and flows generally northwest through the towns Creußen
Creußen
Creußen is a town in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Red Main river, 13 km southeast of Bayreuth.Creußen is famous for its jugs....
, Bayreuth, Heinersreuth
Heinersreuth
Heinersreuth is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany....
and Neudrossenfeld
Neudrossenfeld
Neudrossenfeld is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:thumb|left|Church, castle and millthumb|left|Old bridge over Roter Main riverNeudrossenfeld is arranged in the following boroughs:...
. It merges with the White Main
White Main
The White Main |Weismain]]), is the larger and shorter of the two headstreams of the River Main. It rises in the Fichtelgebirge and merges near Steinenhausen, southwest of Kulmbach, with the left-hand, southern headstream, the Red Main, to form the Main. The length of the White Main is variously...
near Kulmbach
Kulmbach
Kulmbach is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town is famous for Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier museum in the world, and for its famous sausages, or Bratwürste.-Location:...
to form the Main. The Red Main is 55 kilometres (34.2 mi) long and descends a total of 283 metres (928.5 ft).
The waters of the Red Main flow through a region of clayey soils, which is why the river carries a lot of suspended solids
Suspended solids
Suspended solids refers to small solid particles which remain in suspension in water as a colloid or due to the motion of the water. It is used as one indicator of water quality....
, especially after rainfall, and acquires a red-brown colour. Hence the name Red Main.
Source
The Red Main rises 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Bayreuth near Hörlasreuth (CreußenCreußen
Creußen is a town in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Red Main river, 13 km southeast of Bayreuth.Creußen is famous for its jugs....
) in the Lindenhardt Forest at a height of . The source of the Red Main (Rotmainquelle) was impounded in stone in 1907, the water flows out of a small wooden pipe. Its source region lies in the Franconian Switzerland
Franconian Switzerland
The Little Switzerland is an upland in Upper Franconia, northern Bavaria and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the Pegnitz River in the east and the south, the Regnitz River in the west and the Main River in the north, its relief reaches 600 metres in height.The Franconian Switzerland is...
-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park. Geologically it belongs to the Brown Jura.
Course
The Red Main flows initially in a southeasterly direction, before it swings northeast and passes through CreußenCreußen
Creußen is a town in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Red Main river, 13 km southeast of Bayreuth.Creußen is famous for its jugs....
. From there it heads almost due north and then turns west beyond Eremitage. It passes through the town of Bayreuth from east to west. In the town centre it has been confined since the 1970s in a concrete channel and partially covered.
In the vicinity of the Bayreuth folk festival square the river divides into two branches. The southern branch is called the Mühlkanal, because it used to feed several mills within the town. Its water flow is held roughly constant by a weir and it runs above ground as far as the Münzgasse. Behind the former state central bank it disappears into a tunnel and surfaces again opposite the Graser School just before reuniting with the northern branch. In the late 1990s a section of the channel in Opernstraße was exposed and swept up as part of the rebuilding at the southern end of Luitpoldplatz.
The northern arm usually carries only a small amount of water, but acts as a flood channel at times of high water and has a very wide river bed. It is partly covered by two car parks.
Beyond Bayreuth the Red Main flows northwest in wide meanders through a broad valley, past the villages of Heinersreuth
Heinersreuth
Heinersreuth is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany....
and Neudrossenfeld
Neudrossenfeld
Neudrossenfeld is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:thumb|left|Church, castle and millthumb|left|Old bridge over Roter Main riverNeudrossenfeld is arranged in the following boroughs:...
. South of Kulmbach
Kulmbach
Kulmbach is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town is famous for Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier museum in the world, and for its famous sausages, or Bratwürste.-Location:...
, near Steinenhausen Castle, it is united with the White Main
White Main
The White Main |Weismain]]), is the larger and shorter of the two headstreams of the River Main. It rises in the Fichtelgebirge and merges near Steinenhausen, southwest of Kulmbach, with the left-hand, southern headstream, the Red Main, to form the Main. The length of the White Main is variously...
, which rises in the Fichtelgebirge
Fichtelgebirge
The Fichtelgebirge is a mountain range in northeastern Bavaria, Germany. It extends from the valley of the Red Main River to the Czech border, a few foothills spilling over into the Czech Republic. It continues in a northeastern direction as the Ore Mountains, and in a southeastern direction as...
mountains near Bischofsgrün
Bischofsgrün
Bischofsgrün is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany.Bischofsgrün is situated within the Fichtelgebirge mountain range between the range's two largest mountains; Schneeberg and the Ochsenkopf...
. The Red Main is 73 kilometres (45.4 mi) long (source to mouth), the White Main 52 kilometres (32.3 mi). At the confluence of the two headstreams a bridge was built in 2009 where the young Main may be crossed right at its beginning. Information boards on the bridge describe the rest of the river's course, the local walking and cycle routes and the surrounding countryside.
Bodenmühlwand geotopeGeotopeGeotope is the geological component of the abiotic matrix present in an ecotope. Example geotopes might be: an exposed outcrop of rocks, an erratic boulder, a grotto or ravine, a cave, an old stone wall marking a property boundary, and so forth....
In the vicinity of the Bodenmühle mill east of Bayreuth the Red Main has carved out a bluff (Prallhang) on a bend in the river caused by erosion, the so-called Bodenmühlwand, a steep slope 20 metres (65.6 ft) in height.This has exposed rock strata from the Middle Keuper period
Keuper
The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolostone, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Late Triassic epochs...
. Around 225 million years ago the area was a coastal region with frequent changes caused in the influence of land and sea. As a result, today, layers of claystone
Claystone
Claystone is a geological term used to describe a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed primarily of clay-sized particles ....
and Benker sandstone (Estheria) lie on top of each other. In the latter, geologists found fossils of ostracods (Palaesteria minuta), after which the layers are named (in German), the remains of coelacanth
Coelacanth
Coelacanths are members of an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of Sarcopterygii known to date....
as well as the scales, teeth and fin spines of prehistoric sharks.
The highest and thickest rock layer belongs to reed sandstones (Stuttgart-Formation) of the Carnian
Carnian
The Carnian is the lowermost stage of the Upper Triassic series . It lasted from about 228.7 till 216.5 million years ago . The Carnian is preceded by the Ladinian and is followed by the Norian...
stage.
Fauna
The Red Main is a habitat for brown troutBrown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
, grayling
Grayling (species)
The grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, the grayling is widespread throughout northern Europe, from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia...
, barbel
Barbus
Barbus is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of Barbus is the Common Barbel, first described as Cyprinus barbus and now named Barbus barbus...
, bullhead
European bullhead
The bullhead is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the Cottidae family, a type of sculpin...
, lamprey
Lamprey
Lampreys are a family of jawless fish, whose adults are characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. Translated from an admixture of Latin and Greek, lamprey means stone lickers...
, carp
Common carp
The Common carp is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction, but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered an invasive...
, tench
Tench
The tench or doctor fish is a freshwater and brackish water fish of the cyprinid family found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal...
, carp bream
Carp bream
The common bream, freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream or carp bream, Abramis brama, is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae....
, roach, perch
Percidae
The Percidae are a family of perciform fish found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The family contains about 200 species in ten genera...
, pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
, pike-perch, eel
European eel
The European eel, Anguilla anguilla, is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They can reach in exceptional cases a length of 1½ m, but are normally much smaller, about 60–80 cm, and rarely more than 1 m....
und burbot
Burbot
The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...
.
Tributaries
- Simmelbach (right)
- Eschingbach (right)
- Hühnerbach (right)
- Kupfergraben (Kaingraben) (left)
- Tiefenbach (left)
- Schwarzbach (right)
- Metzelersbach (right)
- Gosenbach (left), (7.95 km)
- Schliefgraben (right)
- Schwarzweiherbach (left)
- Weihersgraben (left)
- Brunnengraben (right)
- Schamelsgraben (right)
- Mühlwässerlein (left)
- Schnerfenbach (right)
- Thiergatenweihergraben (left)
- ÖlschnitzÖlschnitz (Red Main)The Ölschnitz is right-bank, southeastern headstream of the Red Main in the German province of Upper Franconia in southern Germany. It is just under seven kilometres long.- Course :...
(right), (with the Laimbach 14.72 km) - Gereutbach (right)
- Bühlersbach (left)
- Warme SteinachWarme SteinachWarme Steinach is a river of Bavaria, Germany....
(right), (24.61 km) - Mistel (left), (11.42 km)
- Grünbaumgraben (right)
- Preuschwitzerin (left)
- Cottenbach (right)
- Tannenbach (left)
- DühlbachDühlbachDühlbach is a river of Bavaria, Germany....
(left), (7.01 km) - Seebach (right)
- Köhlersgraben (left)
- Rottelbach (left), (6.93 km)
- Pechgraben (right)
- Erlgraben (right)
- Reuthbach (Rotbach) (left), (5.94 km)
- Schellenbach (right)
- Friesenbach (left), (8.85 km)
- Aubach (right)
- Erlenbach (right)
- Hirtengraben (left)
- Krummer Lachengraben (right)
- Proßer Bach (right)
Trails
The Red Main Trail (Rotmainweg), which was laid out by Fichtelgebirge ClubFichtelgebirge Club
The Fichtelgebirge Club 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 activity is in the Fichtelgebirge mountains in north Bavaria...
, begins near the source. This main footpath is marked by a a red M on a white background throughout its length. Its 60 kilometre long route is as follows: Sourche of the Red Main-Creußen-Eimersmühle-Schlehenberg-Eremitage-Bayreuth-Martinsreuth-Altenplos-Grüngraben-Jöslein-Langenstadt-Affalterhof Katschenreuth-Steinenhausen Castle near Kulmbach (confluence with the White Main).
The Main-Mies Trail (Main-Mies-Weg), established by the Upper Palatinate Forest Club (Oberpfälzer-Wald-Verein) also begins near the source. Here the trail is marked by at red diagonal cross on a white background. The 93 km long route is as follows: Source of the Red Main-Creußen-Seidwitz-Frankenberg-Neustadt am Kulm-Erbendorf-Falkenberg-Tirschenreuth-Griesbach.
Sources
- M. Johann Willen: Das Teutsche Paradeiß in dem vortrefflichen Fichtelberg. In: Archiv für Geschichte von Oberfranken. Band 15, Heft 3, p.167
- Johann Christoph Pachelbel: Ausführliche Beschreibung des Fichtel-Berges im Nordgau liegend. Leipzig 1716, p.18
- Faltblatt des Fichtelgebirgsvereins: Der Rotmainweg (detailed route description)
- Gustav Schmidt: Der Obermain von den Quellen bis Bamberg. In: Heimatbeilage zum Oberfränkischen Schulanzeiger. Nr. 325/2005
- Franz X. Bogner: Der Obermain. Ein Luftbildporträt von Bayreuth bis Bamberg. Ellwanger-Verlag, Bayreuth 2006, ISBN 3-925361-57-X
External links
- Main River Website on the River Main by the Tourist Board of Franconia.