The Breitenbach 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 ...

, Landkreis Reutlingen, is a southern and

orographic Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology,'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader disc ...

left tributary of the

Echaz The Echaz is a 23 km long river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, a tributary of the Neckar. It has its source on the Swabian Jura, near Lichtenstein (Reutlingen), Lichtenstein, south of Reutlingen. After flowing through Pfullingen, Reutlingen ...

. It is about long. It is a southern and left tributary of the

, which is located in

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; ) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous Reutlingen (district), district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it had an estimated population of 116,456. Reutlingen has a Reutlingen University, univ ...

Geography

Sources

The ''Breitenbach'' has its source at Albtrauf, the northwestern steep drop of the

Swabian Alb The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

. Its main source, named ''Breitenbachquelle'', is located about northeast of Gönningen and south of

Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (, or 'county road') is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße'' ...

6729 and 736.5 m south of

Barm Barm, also called ale yeast, is the foam or scum formed on the top of a fermenting liquid, such as beer, wine, or feedstock for spirits or industrial ethanol distillation. It is used to leaven bread, or set up fermentation in a new batch of liqu ...

on the northern flank of the ''Pfullinger Berg'', a northern spur of the

736.5, in a clearing to just over elevation. The spring, situated under a severe slope, is enclosed in a niche of about with

natural stone This is a geographical list of natural stone used for decorative purposes in construction and monumental sculpture produced in various countries. The dimension-stone industry classifies stone based on appearance and hardness as either "granit ...

and is designated 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 ...

. The water rises here at the higher layer boundary of the lower Weißjura-

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

to the well-layered limestone formation below the spring, lime sinter cushions grow from the spring water through lime precipitation. A little further south and thus above the main spring there is another spring at a little above elevation.

Course

At the beginning, the Breitenbach, which mainly flows northwards, flows through the Selchen valley and remains in the forest until it crosses the

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'' ) are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are road ...

383 above

after about half of its course. Then the brook, now lined by trees and bushes, runs through agricultural land at a westerly distance from the centre of Reutlingen. After that it crosses under the Bundesstraße 28 and the railway line Plochingen-Tübingen in Reutlingen.

Estuary

The Breitenbach

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

, on its last meters flowing to the northwest, in the southern part of the Reutlingen district Betzingen at the cemetery ''In der Au'' into the

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar ...

inflow

coming from the east-southeast.

Tributaries and still waters

The tributaries of the Breitebach and the still waters at and near the stream belong - ordered from the source to the estuary (waters of higher order correspondingly indented under their receiving water; lengths and areas of waters according to the geodata viewer; elevation in

meters The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

(m) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, mostly interpolated according to the contour lines there): * Ehrensbach, from right to below elevation shortly before the road from

Pfullingen Pfullingen (; ) is a town in the Reutlingen (district), district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 3 km southeast of Reutlingen at the foot of the Swabian Jura, Swabian ''Alb''. With its almost 20,000 inhabitants it ...

to Gönningen, ; originates at below 560 m on the northern slope of the Gielsberg * Tributary, from the left in ''Wolfsloch'' to above , 1.7 km; originates at about 580 m at the northern foot of the ''Stöffelberg'' with ruin of Stöffel's castle ruin * Breitwiesenbach, from right to below elevation, 1.2 km; originates at over 500 m on the ''Pfingstweide'' in the forest west of the Pfullinger Georgenhof * RiverIcon-SmallLake

feeds a lake in a valley clearing, . * Stadtwiesenbach, from left to above 410 m, 1.2 km; originates at over 500 m at the landfill at Käpfle * (Tributary from the ''Eichwald''), from left to below elevation at the exit into a southern corridor bay, 1,1 km; originates at about 460 m in the "Eichwald * Schinderbachgraben, from the right a few steps further, 1.5 km; originates at about 510 m in the forest a little north of the "Pfingstweide" and passes the "Teufelsklinge". * RiverIcon-SmallLake

feeds a pond in the middle of the bay, 2,2 ha * Eichwäldlesgraben, from the left to about 385 m shortly before the L 383, 1.7 km Drains the landfill at the Hofgut Alteburg * Schinderreingraben, from the right just after the road, 1.0 km; originates at about 430 m in the woods ''Hohlichtenrain'' * Schlattwiesenbach, from the right at about 380 m elevation at the northern tip of the motor sports area, 2.2 km; originates at below 545 m in the ''Rötwald'' ** RiverIcon-SmallLake

feeds up by 39 m of some ponds in the middle of the southern edge of the sports area around the stadium Kreuzeich, the largest 0.8 ha and 0.3 ha * Scheuerlesbach, from the left to 363 m, 3.5 km; originates at below 525 m west of the Alteburg court estate at the edge of the forest ** (Shorter source branch), from left to below 430 m elevation still before the exit of the forest, 0.9 km; originates at about 470 m in the forest at the ''Cross holm oak'' ** (Tributary), from the right to about 380 m in Listhof Nature Reserve, 0.7 km * RiverIcon-SmallLake

Pond in the cemetery next to the estuary, 0.1 ha

References