The Breitach is a mountain river, the southwestern (left) source of the
Iller in the
Allgäu Alps
The Allgäu Alps () are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located on the Austria–Germany border, which covers parts of the Germany, German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the Austrian states of Tyrol (state), Tyrol an ...
, in the states of
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, 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 second-highest popu ...
(
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
) and
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
(
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 ...
).
Detail
The
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
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
The Breitachklamm is a gorge created by the river Breitach in the Allgäu region in Southern Germany. It is located at the exit of the Kleinwalsertal near Tiefenbach (Oberstdorf), Tiefenbach, a city district of Oberstdorf.
It is one of the deep ...
. Then, the
Starzlach flows from the west into the Breitach. At the so-called ("Iller origin") in
Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...
, the Breitach, the
Stillach 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