The Alf is a small river in
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 ...
,
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 ...
, a left tributary of the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...
. It rises in the
Eifel
The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...
, near
Darscheid, east of
Daun
Daun () is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the ' of Daun.
Geography
Location
The town lies in the , a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geog ...
. The Alf flows south through
Mehren,
Gillenfeld and
Bausendorf
Bausendorf (also known locally as ''Bausendorf-Olkenbach'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
...
, where it turns east to flow into the Moselle at the village of
Alf.
Geography
Course
The Alf rises about northeast of
Hörscheid in the
Volcanic Eifel
The Volcanic Eifel or Vulkan Eifel () consists of three areas of volcanic activity, known as the West Eifel, High Eifel, and East Eifel volcanic fields. Volcanic Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany that is defined to a large e ...
. From its source at a height of , the Alf initially flows in a southerly direction to the village of
Darscheid, from which it flows to the east through the villages of
Gillenfeld and
Strohn. The next section of the Alf, to
Bausendorf
Bausendorf (also known locally as ''Bausendorf-Olkenbach'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
...
, is very winding; it then turns towards the east and cuts through the south of the forest of
Kondelwald, passing the villages of
Kinderbeuern and
Bengel. Around beyond Bengel it changes course abruptly and swings north. A ridge prevents it from flowing further east unto the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...
, here just away. After breaking through the
Moselle Hills
The Moselle Hills () form a ridge, up to , on the left bank of the river Moselle between Reil and Schweich in the Rhineland-Palatinate counties of Bernkastel-Wittlich and Trier-Saarburg. There are vineyards on the southern slopes of the wooded hi ...
the Alf finally reaches the Moselle at
Alf (
Cochem-Zell
Cochem-Zell (German: ''Landkreis Cochem-Zell'') is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Mayen-Koblenz, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bernkastel-Wittlich, and Vulkaneifel.
History
In 1816 the di ...
) at a height of . Along its course from source to mouth, the Alf descends through , giving it an average river bed gradient of 8.6‰.
Tributaries
References
Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rivers of the Eifel
Rivers of Germany
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