The Kinzig is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...
, 87 kilometres long, in southern
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 Da ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
. It is a right tributary of 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
* ...
. Its source is in the
Spessart
Spessart is a '' Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level.
Et ...
hills at Sterbfritz, near
Schlüchtern
Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000.
Location
Schlüchtern is located in the ''Bergw ...
. The Kinzig flows into the Main in
Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the rive ...
. The
Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Main-Kinzig-Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Wetteraukreis, Vogelsbergkreis, Fulda, Bad Kissingen, Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg, Offenbach and the district-free cities of Offenbach and Frankfu ...
(district) was named after the river. The towns along the Kinzig are Schlüchtern,
Steinau an der Straße
Steinau an der Straße is a town of around 10,000 inhabitants in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, southwest of Fulda. The name ''Steinau'' refers to stones in the river; ''an der Straße,'' meaning ...
,
Bad Soden-Salmünster
Bad Soden-Salmünster () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, between Fulda and Hanau. It has a population of around 13,000.
Geography Location
The municipality is located on both sides o ...
,
Gelnhausen
Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one of ...
, and Hanau. The Kinzig is first recorded in 815 A.D. as ''Chinzicha''.
This river played a part in the
Battle of Hanau
The Battle of Hanau was fought from 30 to 31 October 1813 between Karl Philipp von Wrede's Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Following Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig ea ...
in October 1813, as Napoleon retreated back to the Rhine, after his defeat at the
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...
.
There are several German rivers called Kinzig. Another Kinzig flows into the
Rhine
The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
in
Kehl-Auenheim
Geography
Sources

The source of the Kinzig (''Kinzigquelle'') is located at a height of about , in the vicinity of an ''
Aussiedlerhof
An ''Aussiedlerhof'' (plural: ''Aussiedlerhöfe''), also called an ''Aussiedlung'' (plural: ''Aussiedlungen'') is an agricultural concern in Germany, typically a farm, located outside a village and which has moved away from that village, usuall ...
'', a recently established farmstead outside a village, south of
Sterbfritz
Sinntal is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of around 8,800.
Geography
Location
Sinntal is located around 30 km south of Fulda in the Main-Kinzig district of Hesse.
The municipal territory ...
in the municipality of
Sinntal
Sinntal is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of around 8,800.
Geography
Location
Sinntal is located around 30 km south of Fulda in the Main-Kinzig district of Hesse.
The municipal territor ...
. It is a small spring, enclosed in
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, that has an outflow pipe. The headstream that rises here flows for a few metres towards the northwest where it unites with a longer headstream.
Course

From its source, the Kinzig runs northwest and forms the boundary between the
Hessian Rhön Nature Park
The Hessian Rhön Nature Park (german: Naturpark Hessische Rhön) lies east of Fulda in East Hesse on the border with Thuringia and Bavaria and has and area of 720,7 km². Together with the Bavarian Rhön Nature Park it is part of the cross- ...
and the
Hessian Spessart Nature Park
Spessart Nature Park (german: Naturpark Spessart) is a nature park in Germany, managed by ''Naturpark Spessart e. V.'' The park spans the states of Hesse and Bavaria, and covers an area of 2,440 km² within the German hill range known as the ...
as far as
Schlüchtern
Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000.
Location
Schlüchtern is located in the ''Bergw ...
. West of Schlüchtern the Kinzig flows in a southwesterly direction and separates the
Vogelsberg
The is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda river valley.
Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg is Central Europe's largest ...
hills to the north from the
Spessart
Spessart is a '' Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level.
Et ...
to the south. Between
Steinau and
Ahl is the
Kinzig Dam. In its lower reaches the Kinzig is used by canoeists.
Shortly before
Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the rive ...
the Kinzig flows through the so-called
Bulau. This woodland area was formerly used by the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...
as an exercise area and is therefore still very natural. During high water, water flows rapidly through many ditches in the
water meadow
A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water-m ...
s so that, in spring, extensive
bear garlic
''Allium ursinum'', known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amary ...
meadows appear. After about 82 kilometres, the river empties into 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
* ...
in Hanau at a height of about . Here, there are balcony-like views of the castle of
Philippsruhe or the Main river port. The observation platform comprises two interleaved terraces linked by a steel wall.
Places on the Kinzig
(in downstream order)
*
Sterbfritz
Sinntal is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of around 8,800.
Geography
Location
Sinntal is located around 30 km south of Fulda in the Main-Kinzig district of Hesse.
The municipal territory ...
(source)
*
Sannerz
*
Vollmerz
*
Herolz
*
Schlüchtern
Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000.
Location
Schlüchtern is located in the ''Bergw ...
*
Niederzell
*
Steinau an der Straße
Steinau an der Straße is a town of around 10,000 inhabitants in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, southwest of Fulda. The name ''Steinau'' refers to stones in the river; ''an der Straße,'' meaning ...
*
Ahl
*
Salmünster
*
Neudorf
*
Wächtersbach
The town of Wächtersbach is part of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. In 1982, the town hosted the 22nd ''Hessentag'' state festival.
Location
Wächtersbach lies between the Spessart and the Vogelsberg Mountains in the middle Kinzig val ...
*
Wirtheim
*
Haitz
Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one ...
*
Gelnhausen
Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one of ...
*
Lieblos
*
Rothenbergen
*
Langenselbold
Langenselbold () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, 10 km east of Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, ...
*
Erlensee
Erlensee is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, 5 km northeast of Hanau. It was formed in 1970 by the merger, in 1970, of the towns of Langendiebach and Rückingen. The name deduces from ...
*
Niederrodenbach
*
Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the rive ...
(mouth on 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
* ...
)
Tributaries
The Kinzig catchment covers an area of 1,058 square kilometres.
[Retentionskataster Flussgebiet Kinzig](_blank)
/ref>
;The most important tributaries (>10 km) are (in downstream order):
* the Steinebach, Ulmbach, Salz
Salz is a German word meaning ''salt'' and may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
* Salzburg, a city in Austria
* Salzburg (state), Austria
* Salz, Rhineland-Palatinate, municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
* Salz, Bavaria, town in the district ...
, Bracht, Orb, Bieber, Birkigsbach, Gründau, Lache and Fallbach.
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from:start till:31.5 text:Bracht (31.5 km)
from:start till:30.2 text:Gründau (30.2 km)
from:start till:29.7 text:Salz (29.7 km)
from:start till:24.2 text:Fallbach (24.2 km)
from:start till:23.2 text:Steinebach (23.2 km)
from:start till:16.8 text:Bieber (16.8 km)
from:start till:13.3 text:Ulmbach (13.3 km)
from:start till:12.8 text:Birkingsbach (12.8 km)
from:start till:12.4 text:Lache (12.4 km)
from:start till:11.0 text:Orb (11.0 km)
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References
External links
Kinzig catchment area
(pdf 1.62 MB)
*
*
FR, 7 August 2009, Alexander Polaschek
{{Authority control
Rivers of Hesse
Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Vogelsberg
Rivers of the Spessart
Rivers of the Vogelsberg
Rivers of Germany