The Breitach is a mountain river, the southwestern (left) source of the

Iller The Iller (; ancient name Ilargus) is a river of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube, long. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Breitach, Stillach and Trettach near Oberstdorf in the Allg ...

in the

Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps (german: Allgäuer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance. Character ...

, in the states of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

(

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

(

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 ...

Detail

The

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 ...

originates in , a part of Mittelberg, in the

Kleinwalsertal Kleinwalsertal is a valley in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg and part of the Bregenz district. It includes the municipality of Mittelberg and consists of three villages along the River Breitach. Due to the geographic location in the All ...

as the union of three smaller source streams. It flows in the northwestern direction through the valley that in earlier times was called ("Breitach Valley") after the river. At the , the Austrian-German border, the Breitach reaches German territory and curves through the narrow Breitachklamm. Then, the Starzlach flows from the west into the Breitach. At the so-called ("Iller origin") in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

, the Breitach, the

Stillach Stillach is a river of Bavaria, Germany. At its confluence with the Breitach and the Trettach in Oberstdorf, the Iller is formed. See also *List of rivers of Bavaria A list of rivers of Bavaria, Germany: A * Aalbach * Abens * Ach *Afferbach ...

and the Trettach flow together forming the Iller. Of geological interest are the so-called ''Breitach rocks''; a mineral of brown color and of small fracture, it is only found in the Breitach.

References

Sources

Breitach-Flussbeschreibung für Kanusportler

Rivers of Bavaria Rivers of Vorarlberg Rivers of Austria Rivers of Germany International rivers of Europe {{Bavaria-river-stub