The Rench is a right-hand tributary of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, sour ...
in the
Ortenau
The Ortenau, originally called Mortenau, is a historic region in the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the right bank of the river Rhine, stretching from the Upper Rhine Plain to the foothill zone of the Black For ...
(
Central Baden,
Germany). It rises on the southern edge of the
Northern Black Forest
The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region.
Geography
The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north b ...
at
Kniebis near
Bad Griesbach im Schwarzwald
Bad Peterstal-Griesbach ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Bad Petersdal-Griesbach) is a municipality in the district of Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
Matthias Erzberger was murdered here on August 26, 1921, for signing the 1918 Armistice ...
. The source farthest from the mouth is that of the ''Schöngrundbächle'' which rises at a height of around in the parish of
Zuflucht near the old youth hostel. After flowing through its steep mountainside ''
klinge
Klinge ('' Lower Sorbian: Klinka'') is a village in the Lower Lusatia region, east of the city of Cottbus in Brandenburg. It is part of the municipality of Wiesengrund.
Transport
The Bahnhof Klinge is served once an hour in each direction by ...
'' it is joined by other streams to form, first, the Old (''Alter''), then the Wild Rench (''Wilder Rench''), which first becomes the Rench below Bad Griesbach. The Rench runs in a prominent southerly arc through the
Central Black Forest
The Central Black Forest (german: Mittlerer Schwarzwald), also called the Middle Black Forest, is a natural or cultural division of the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It generally refers to a region of deeply incised valleys from t ...
and crosses the hilly region of Ortenau with its orchards and vineyards before breaking out into the Rhine Plain. After just under 57 km it discharges, together with the
Mühlbach, into the Rhine at 314.7 km between
Helmlingen (
Rheinau) and
Lichtenau.
The upper Rench valley around
Bad Peterstal-Griesbach
Bad Peterstal-Griesbach ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Bad Petersdal-Griesbach) is a municipality in the district of Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
Matthias Erzberger was murdered here on August 26, 1921, for signing the 1918 Armistice ...
initially cuts into the forested
bunter sandstone
The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsandste ...
plateaux before entering a more open, very rugged valley with steep relief, whose centre is the little town of
Oppenau. There it is joined from the right by the
Lierbach, well known for the
All Saints Waterfalls
The All Saints Waterfalls (german: Allerheiligen-Wasserfälle) are located in the Black Forest on the territory of the town of Oppenau in the German state of Baden-Württemberg at an elevation of about . The Lierbach stream, also called the Gr ...
.
In
Lautenbach the valley broadens suddenly into the
Foothill Zone with the town of
Oberkirch at the foot of the vineyards and the little town of
Renchen, whose environs are dominated by orchards.
The
B 28 federal road, long an important transverse route across the Black Forest, runs through the Rench valley linking the
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...
area with the upper
Neckar
The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwen ...
region. It climbs steeply above Bad Griesbach in hairpin bends to the
Alexanderschanze (968 m). The
Rench Valley Railway starts at
Appenweier and runs as far as
Bad Griesbach. It has also contributed to the development of the thermal baths in the Rench valley, which had already been established in the 16th century in Bad Griesbach, but which soon extended to Bad Antogast near Oppenau (especially for the nobility), Bad Peterstal and Bad Freiersbach (today part of Bad Peterstal-Griesbach).
The "Rench Flood Canal" was built between 1936 and 1953 at the
Acher Rench Correction
The Acher is a 53.6-kilometre-long river and right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the county of Ortenau, in the south German state of Baden-Württemberg. It flows in an northwesterly direction from the Black Forest to the Rhine, between the tw ...
to divert flood waters. It branches off the Rench at
Erlach, picks up the
Acher
The Acher is a 53.6-kilometre-long river and right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the county of Ortenau, in the south German state of Baden-Württemberg. It flows in an northwesterly direction from the Black Forest to the Rhine, between the two ...
Canal at Rheinau and merges with the actual Rench at
Memprechtshofen.
Gallery
File:Rench river in Oppenau.JPG, The Rench in Oppenau
File:Rench Helmlingen 2.jpg, The Rench near Helmlingen at low water
File:Rench Helmlingen.jpg, The Rench in riparian woods near Helmlingen
File:Renchmündung.jpg, Confluence of the Rench and the Rhine
References
External links
* "LUBW-BRSWEB":
* , especially the map sections and layers
** the
Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg (LUBW)
*** "LUBW-FG10": Rivers, 1:10,000 scale
*** "LUBW-SG10": Lakes and reservoirs, 1:10,000 scale
*** "LUBW-GEZG": Catchments
Map of the Rench from source to mouthat
OpenStreetMap
{{Authority control
Rivers of Baden-Württemberg
Rivers of the Black Forest
Rivers of Germany