The Aar () is a river of

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 ...

and

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

, in western

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 ...

, left tributary of the

Lahn The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). ...

. It rises in the

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

mountains, near

Taunusstein Taunusstein () is the biggest town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany. It has 30,068 inhabitants (2020). Geography Location Taunusstein lies roughly 10 km northwest of Wiesbaden and abou ...

. It flows generally north through the towns Taunusstein,

Bad Schwalbach Bad Schwalbach (; called Langenschwalbach until 1927) is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Geographic location Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465&n ...

, Aarbergen and Hahnstätten. It flows into the Lahn in Diez.

Name

The name Aar is a common name of rivers and brooks in German-speaking Central Europe, as exemplified by the similarly named tributary to the same Lahn river

Aar (Dill) The Aar is a river of Hesse, Germany. It flows for into the Dill from the left bank near Herborn. Tributaries The tributaries of the Aar are as follows: *Brühlsbach (right) - 3.3 km *Stadterbach (left) - 6.6 km *Wilsbach (right) - 6.3 km ...

. The pre-German word Aar means "quick-flowing water", in a metaphorical sense "small river in a space between mountains." It is commonly conserved in southern German-speaking areas in settlement names ending with -ach.

Course

The Aar has its source in the Hessian

south of limes, from the ruins of Roman Castle Zugmantel and the Bundesstraße 417 in the Orlen part of

. It flows first to the South, and then in a wide valley running in a southwesterly direction through Neuhof, Wehen, Hahn and Bleidenstadt (all in Taunusstein). After Bleidenstadt the valley narrows, and the Aar reaches its southernmost point and turns to the northwest. In

its only nameworthy left tributary, the Nesselbach, flows into it, and it reaches the town's Adolfseck area. Shortly thereafter it crosses the Limes. Below the Burg Hohenstein it passes by the town of the same name and above Michelbach it becomes the border river with

Rheinland-Pfalz Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

for a few kilometers. In Aarbergen the river then flows by Michelbach and Kettenbach and takes in its most significant tributary, the Aubach (historical name: Strinzbach), which has its source quite close to the Aar, just north of the Limes. Thereafter the valley leads to Hausen über Aar and to the last Hessian town, Rückershausen. After crossing the bundesland border, the Aar runs through about of Rheinland-Pfalz, touching on the towns Schiesheim, Zollhaus and Hahnstätten, Oberneisen, Niederneisen and Flacht. With the townships of Holzheim and Freiendiez it reaches Diez and enters the Lahn.

References

Rivers of Hesse Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate Rivers of the Taunus Rivers of Germany {{RhinelandPalatinate-river-stub

Name

Course

See also

References