The Breg is a river, 46 kilometres long, in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

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 ...

, and the primary headstream of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Description

The '' Breg '' is the longest and biggest headstream of the river

. It flows through the southeast part of the Middle Black Forest and the lowlands of the Baar region. The Breg rises at a height of , six kilometres northwest of Furtwangen. Its source, which is near St. Martin's Chapel and is also called the

source of the Danube The Danube is conventionally taken to be formed by the confluence of the two streams Brigach and Breg just east of Donaueschingen. The source of the Donaubach, which flows into the Danube, in the park of Donaueschingen Palace is often refer ...

or ''Donauquelle'', is protected as a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...

. It is located about 100 metres south-east of the Rhine / Danube watershed (the great European Watershed). Beyond that, but only about 900 metres away is the source of the Elz, which flows in the same longitudinal

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

but initially in the opposite direction, to the north, and later flows into the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

In its upper section, known as the ''Katzensteig'', the Breg valley is clearly a result of glaciation, with a strikingly low gradient and landscape characterized by large

Black Forest house The Black Forest houseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 154. . () is a byre-dwelling that is found mainly in the central and southern parts of the Black Forest in southweste ...

s. Between the towns of Furtwangen and Vöhrenbach, the Breg flows eastwards through a broader and somewhat more densely populated valley, then in a generally southeasterly direction through a solitary forest valley, accompanied by a road and the route of the former Breg Valley Railway, which is now a bicycle track. Shortly before Hammereisenbach-Bregenbach, the Breg is joined by the Linach just below the Linach Dam and, in the village, by the Hammerbach, a short tributary, but the most important thanks to its two large headstreams. Near Bräunlingen, the Breg meets the Röthenbach stream at the Kirnbergsee. Here the Breg leaves the Black Forest and continues via

Hüfingen Hüfingen ( Low Alemannic: ''Hifinge'') is a town in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Breg, 4 km south of the source of the Danube. History Hüfingen has the historical distin ...

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the States of Germany, federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar ''Districts of Germany, Kreis''. It ...

, through wide, open countryside on the plateau of the Baar. After 46.2 kilometres, the Breg merges with the

Brigach The Brigach is the shorter of two streams that jointly form the river Danube in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Brigach has its source at above sea level within St. Georgen in the Black Forest. The Brigach crosses the city Villingen-Schwenning ...

to form the Danube - ''"Brigach und Breg bringen die Donau zuweg"'' ("Brigach and Breg bring the Danube forth") as the well known rhyme goes. Since the Breg is not only the longest, but also the most voluminous river of the Danube with a

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of 291.5 km², its source is considered hydrographically as the source of the Danube (''Donauquelle'').

Tributaries

:This list only shows the more important tributaries. For the full list see :de: Liste der Zuflüsse der Breg * Schützenbach (left) * Hintere Breg (right) * Rohrbach (left) * Langenbach (left) * Linach (right) * Hammerbach (right) with the upper reaches of the Eisenbach and Urach * Forbach (left) * Kohldobelbächle (left) * Reichenbächle (right) * Weiherbach (left) * Landgraben (right) * Röthenbach (right)

References

Length based on the ''Gewässernetz ( AWGN)'' layer of the online map server of the LUBW. Catchment totalled from the ''Aggregierte Gebiete 05 (AWGN)'' layer of the online map server of the LUBW.

External links

*
Catchment of the Breg
on the map services of the LUBW {{Danube Rivers of Baden-Württemberg Danube Rivers of the Black Forest Rivers of Germany