The Upper Rhine (german: Oberrhein ; french: Rhin Supérieur) is the section of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
between
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
in
Switzerland and
Bingen in
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 ...
, surrounded by the
Upper Rhine Plain. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometres 170 to 529 (the scale beginning in
Konstanz
Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
and ending in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
).
The ''Upper Rhine'' is one of four sections of the river (the others being the
High Rhine
The High Rhine (german: Hochrhein) is the name used for the part of the Rhine that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel. The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine ...
,
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...
and
Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
) between
Lake Constance and the North Sea. The countries and states along the Upper Rhine are Switzerland,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
(
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
) and the German states of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
,
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) 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 ...
and
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
. The largest cities along the river are Basel,
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...
,
Strasbourg,
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
,
Mannheim,
Ludwigshafen and
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
.
The Upper Rhine was
straightened between 1817 and 1876 by
Johann Gottfried Tulla and made
navigable
A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against di ...
between 1928 and 1977. The
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
allows France to use the Upper Rhine for
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
in the
Grand Canal d'Alsace.
On the left bank are the French region of Alsace and the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate; on the right bank are the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. The first few kilometres are in the Swiss city of Basel.
Geology
Around 35 million years ago, a
rift valley
A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear d ...
of about long and wide came into being between the present cities of Basel and
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. This was due to tensile stresses in the
Earth's crust and
mantle, which resulted in lowering the earth's surface. The moat has been partially filled up again by
sedimentation
Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...
. On the edges we find mountain ridges, the so-called "rift flanks". On the eastern side, they are the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
and
Odenwald mountains, in the west the
Vosges and
Palatinate Forest. During the
Tertiary, the High Rhine continued west from Basel and flowed via the
Doubs and the
Saône
The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île.
The name ...
, into the
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
. The rift diverted the Rhine into the newly formed
Upper Rhine Valley
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the so ...
.
The
Rhine knee at Basel marks the transition from the High Rhine to the Upper Rhine with a change of direction from West to North and a change of landscape from the relatively small-chamber high-Rhine
cuesta
A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer laye ...
landscape to the wide rift zone of the Upper Rhine Rift Valley. The two largest tributaries come from the right: the
Neckar in
Mannheim, the
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
across from
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
. In the northwest corner of the Upper Rhine Valley, at Rhine-kilometre 529.1, near Bingen, where the
Nahe flows into the Rhine, the Rhine flows into a gorge in the
Rhenish Massif and thereby changes into the
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...
.
Straightening
In 1685, Louis XIV started a project to move the Upper Rhine, change its course and drain the
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
, in order to gain land. By 1840, the river had been moved up to to the east, taking territory away from Baden. Around 1790, large parts of the Rhine Valley were deforested, creating arable land, fields and pasture to feed the population. The Upper Rhine was
straightened between 1817 and 1876 by
Johann Gottfried Tulla and changed from a relatively sluggish
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
ing river with major and many smaller branches into a fast flowing stream flanked by embankments. The length of the Upper Rhine was reduced by . Some cut-off river arms and ox-bows remain; they are typically called the ''Old Rhine'' (german: Altrhein) or .
Canalising and dams
The Rhine between Basel and
Iffezheim
Iffezheim is a town in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It lies close to the Rhine river, where the Lock Iffezheim is also situated. Iffezheim is also known for the horse races, which takes place three times a year.
Poli ...
is almost entirely canalised. On a stretch of , there are 10
dams
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
, provided with
hydropower station
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
s and
lock
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
s. Between Basel and
Breisach, the old river bed carries hardly any water; almost all water is diverted through the
Grand Canal d'Alsace on the French side, to ensure safe shipping and hydropower generation around the clock. Only when there is a large supply of water, then the old river bed will receive more water than the canal. France gained the right to do this in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles; the right applies to the segment between Basel and
Neuburgweier/Lauterbourg, where the Rhine forms the border between France and Germany.
The straightening (1817–76) and channeling (1928–77) reduced the
water table by up to and thus had a negative effect on
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...
and
fauna.
Gravel is also missing from the river, due to the dams. This has caused erosion below the dam at Iffezheim. To counter this, per year of a mixture of sand and gravel with an average grain diameter of (corresponding to the local sediment transport capacity) has been dumped into the river, since 1978, using two motorized barges.
Conservation
The floodplains between Mainz and Bingen are important for nature conservation. In this section, the so-called ''Island Rhine'', there are many
nature reserves
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
and
bird sanctuaries.
Integrated Rhine Programme (IRP)
The Upper Rhine plays a key role in flood control on the Middle and
Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
. As a result of the straightening of the Upper Rhine,
floods from 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, Swi ...
now reach the Middle Rhine much faster than in the past. Thus, the risk of such a peak coinciding with a flood peak of Neckar,
Moselle or Main has increased. About of floodplain have been lost. Authorities in riparian states of France,
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
and
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) 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 ...
have launched the ''Integrated Rhine Programme'', a framework for designating water retention areas. to combat downstream flooding. A French-German treaty was concluded in 1982, in which the parties agreed to restore the retention capacity on the stretch below Iffezheim to the level it had before the area was developed.
This means:
For the stretch between Iffezheim and the mouth of the Neckar, attenuation of the apex of a 200-year flood (i.e. a flood that statistically occurs once in 200 years) of the Rhine to a discharge of at the Maxau gauge station, that is, a reduction from to .
* for the stretch below the mouth of the Neckar, attenuation of the apex of a 220-year flood to a discharge of at the Worms gauge station, that is, a reduction from to .
For this purpose the following measures are planned and partially implemented:
* By France: Special operations power stations on the Rhine and construction of two polders
Erstein and
Moder
* By Baden-Württemberg: construction of about 13 polders
* By Rhineland-Palatinate: construction of polders and relocating levees
The effectiveness of the flood protection measures was verified using a computer model. The State Institute for the Environment, Nature Protection and Measurements in Baden-Württemberg carried out forecast calculations with the help of a mathematical "synoptic flood progression model". The analysis of the calculations and the evaluation of the results were made on the basis of the requirements and methods set by the international Flood Study Commission for the Rhine. The implementation of the proposed flood control measures on the Upper Rhine can prevent the occurrence of a 200-year-flood between Iffezheim and Bingen, with an overall economic loss estimated at around 6.2 billion euros.
Tri-national metropolitan region
The Upper Rhine tri-national region (French: ''Région Métropolitaine Trinationale du Rhin Supérieur'', German: ''Trinationale Metropolregion Oberrhein'') is a
Euroregion that covers the border areas of the Upper Rhine (the northern part of the Upper Rhine valley and the Palatinate are not included as they are not border areas) and parts of the High Rhine. As the name suggests, it is a tri-national region comprising parts of France, Germany and Switzerland. The regional
Upper Rhine Conference is a framework for future political and administrative cooperation in the area.
See also
*
Upper Rhine aquifer
*
Upper Alsace
References
* Dieter Balle: ''Kultur- und Naturführer Oberrhein. Zwischen Mannheim und Basel'', Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2007.
* Manfred Bosch: ''Oberrheingeschichten'', Verlag Klöpfer und Meyer, 2010, 384 pages, (an
anthology)
* Upper Rhine Agency: ''Rahmenkonzept des Landes Baden-Württemberg zur Umsetzung des Integrierten Rheinprogramms''. Part I ''Wiederherstellung des Hochwasserschutzes'', Part II ''Erhaltung und Renaturierung der Auelandschaft am Oberrhein. Materialien zum integrierten Rheinprogramm''. Lahr, September, 1996
* Ministry of Environment Baden-Württemberg: ''Das Integrierte Rheinprogramm: Hochwasserschutz und Auenrenaturierung am Oberrhein'', Stuttgart, May, 2007
* Water and Shipping Directorate South West: ''Kompendium der Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest''. Organizational and technical data, inland navigation, duties, waterways. Self-published, June 2007
Footnotes
External links
Official tourism website of the Upper Rhine ValleyEUCOR-URGENTFranco-German-Swiss Conference of the Upper RhineRegional Association of the Southern Upper RhineRegionalverRegional Association of the Central Upper RhineAssociation for Regional History in the Upper Rhine areafrom the government office in Freiburg
Water Management Administration of Rhineland-PalatinateThe floodplain north of Strasbourg
{{Authority control
Rhine, Upper
Rhine, Upper
Rivers of Baden-Württemberg
Rivers of Hesse
Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhine
Federal waterways in Germany
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Ramsar sites in Metropolitan France
Rivers of Basel-Stadt
Rivers of Grand Est
Rivers of Bas-Rhin
Rivers of Germany