The Aatal (Aa Valley) is a narrow, steep valley of about depth surrounded by forests. It is situated between the towns of
Wetzikon
Wetzikon is a small town in the Zürcher Oberland, Zurich Highlands (Zürcher Oberland) area of Switzerland, in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich.
Geography
The Municipal ...
and
Uster
Uster (; , ) is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich.
The importance of the town of Uster has grown considerably with the construction of the S-Bahn network of the Zürich Transport Network. With over 36,0 ...
in the
canton of Zürich
The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.
Through the valley flows the river
Aabach, which starts at the effluence of the southern end of the
Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee (or ''Lake Pfäffikon'') is a lake in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland, near the town of Pfäffikon, Zurich, Pfäffikon. It is 2.5 km long and 1.3 km wide at the middle. The lake was created in the last ice age when a mor ...
and then enters Wetzikon where the river makes a U-turn in the middle of the town towards a southwestern direction before it enters the valley. After the valley of about the Abbach enters Uster, where it also used to be called ''Usterner Aa'', runs through Uster in a western direction before it enters the
Greifensee about in the middle of the lake's eastern shore, near Niederuster.
The hamlet of
Aathal in the middle of the valley belongs to the municipality of
Seegräben
Seegräben is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. Besides the village of Seegräben itself, the m ...
.
The Aa Valley is a significant traffic artery. It connects the metropolitan area of Zurich with the municipalities of the
Zürich Oberland (Zurich Highlands). In addition to the heavy traffic on the national expressway between Uster and Wetzikon the three
S-Bahn railway lines S5, S14, and S15 traverse the valley, each at a half-hourly clock-face schedule so that in average every 5 minutes a train passes through the valley. The S14 stops in Aathal half-hourly.
Besides the buildings of different former spinning mills, which are connected by an industrial teaching path, one finds also the
Aathal Dinosaur Museum
The Aathal Dinosaur Museum (Swiss German native name: Sauriermuseum Aathal) is a Paleontology, paleontological museum in the locality ''Aathal (Valley), Aathal'' of the Municipalities in the canton of Zürich, municipality of Seegräben in the cant ...
in Aathal.
During the 18/19th century the water power was intensely used by the cotton industry. Since 2008, there are attempts to re-use the small hydroelectric power plants for power production. Ten power plants operate again nowadays.
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Kraftwerk Unteraathal soll Wasserstrom liefern
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References
{{Coord, 47.3401, N, 8.7572, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Valleys of Europe
Seegräben