Wutach River
Encyclopedia
The Wutach is a river in Baden-Württemberg
, Germany
. It is formed in the southern part of the Black Forest
by the confluence of two smaller rivers, the Haslach
and the Gutach
, near the town of Lenzkirch
.
The larger of the two is the Gutach, which flows out of lake Titisee
; the largest of the streams feeding the lake is the Seebach, which rises near the peak of the Feldberg
, the highest point in the Black Forest, and this is usually taken as the ultimate source of the Wutach. On this basis, the total length of the river is 90.2Km.
From the confluence where the river acquires the name Wutach, it flows ESE through a series of three gorges with a total length of more than 30Km and a maximum depth of 160 metres (the Wutachschlucht) which has long been a tourist attraction. Between the second and the last part of the gorge, near the village of Achdorf in the municipality of Blumberg
, it takes a sharp turn (known as the Wutachknie or Knee of the Wutach), and subsequently flows SW to join the Rhine near Tiengen in the town of Waldshut-Tiengen
.
At the Wutachknie the river is very close to the headwaters of the Danube
, until the last glacial period the upper course of the Wutach was the headstream of the Danube catchment (called Feldbergdonau).
The stretch of the Wutach is the site of two remarkable railways. The upper stretch of the first gorge is crossed and followed by the so called Höllentalbahn. The valley just below the third gorge is the site of the Wutach Valley Railway, officially known in German as the Wutachtalbahn but commonly known as the Sauschwänzlebahn (pigtail) because it proceeds in a series of tight turns, including crossing back over itself, in order to make a substantial increase in height without exceeding a 1:100 gradient.
The name Wutach means "Furious water", referring to the whitewater flow through the gorge. Wut is recognisably cognate to a modern German word for anger; ach, which forms part of the names of many rivers in the region, comes from an old Celtic word
for water, cognate with Latin
aqua.
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, 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 formed in the southern part of the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
by the confluence of two smaller rivers, the Haslach
Haßlach (river)
Haßlach is a river of Bavaria, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Bavaria...
and the Gutach
Gutach
Gutach may refer to:*towns in Baden-Württemberg, Germany:**Gutach im Breisgau, in the district of Emmendingen**Gutach , in the Ortenau district*rivers in southern Black Forest, Germany:...
, near the town of Lenzkirch
Lenzkirch
Lenzkirch is a municipality in the Black Forest. It lies in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Geography:...
.
Titisee
Titisee is a lake in the southern Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg. It is said it got its name from Roman Emperor Titus. It covers an area of 1.3 km² and has an average depth of 20 m. It owes its creation to the Feldberg glacier, the moraine ploughed up by which in the Pleistocene epoch...
; the largest of the streams feeding the lake is the Seebach, which rises near the peak of the Feldberg
Feldberg (Black Forest)
It is not to be confused with the two smaller hills in Hochtaunuskreis district some 300 km to the North, Kleiner Feldberg and Großer Feldberg in the Taunus....
, the highest point in the Black Forest, and this is usually taken as the ultimate source of the Wutach. On this basis, the total length of the river is 90.2Km.
From the confluence where the river acquires the name Wutach, it flows ESE through a series of three gorges with a total length of more than 30Km and a maximum depth of 160 metres (the Wutachschlucht) which has long been a tourist attraction. Between the second and the last part of the gorge, near the village of Achdorf in the municipality of Blumberg
Blumberg
Blumberg is a municipality situated in the Schwarzwald-Baar region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, 19 kilometres south of Donaueschingen, on the southern edge of the Schwarzwald, The Black Forest and lying directly on the border with Switzerland’s Canton of Schaffhausen.-History:The town of Blumberg...
, it takes a sharp turn (known as the Wutachknie or Knee of the Wutach), and subsequently flows SW to join the Rhine near Tiengen in the town of Waldshut-Tiengen
Waldshut-Tiengen
Waldshut-Tiengen is a city in southwestern Baden-Württemberg right at the Swiss border. It is the district seat and at the same time the biggest city in Waldshut district and a "middle centre" in the area of the "high centre" Lörrach/Weil am Rhein to whose middle area most towns and communities in...
.
At the Wutachknie the river is very close to the headwaters of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, until the last glacial period the upper course of the Wutach was the headstream of the Danube catchment (called Feldbergdonau).
The stretch of the Wutach is the site of two remarkable railways. The upper stretch of the first gorge is crossed and followed by the so called Höllentalbahn. The valley just below the third gorge is the site of the Wutach Valley Railway, officially known in German as the Wutachtalbahn but commonly known as the Sauschwänzlebahn (pigtail) because it proceeds in a series of tight turns, including crossing back over itself, in order to make a substantial increase in height without exceeding a 1:100 gradient.
The name Wutach means "Furious water", referring to the whitewater flow through the gorge. Wut is recognisably cognate to a modern German word for anger; ach, which forms part of the names of many rivers in the region, comes from an old Celtic word
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
for water, cognate with Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
aqua.