The Bruche () is a river in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it ha ...

, in north-eastern France. It is a left-side tributary of the

Ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

, and part of 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 ...

basin. It is 76.7 km long, and has a drainage basin of 720 km².Conseil Général du Bas-Rhin
Its source is in the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

, at the western foot of the mountain

Climont Climont, formerly called "Clivemont" in Old French, and "Winberg" in Old Alsatian, is a conical sandstone peak of the Vosges mountains. The mountain, with a cut-off shape, is known from afar by walkers and modern-day travellers. Situated today i ...

, near the village of

Bourg-Bruche Bourg-Bruche (; ''or Burg-Breusch'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of ...

. It flows through the towns

Schirmeck Schirmeck () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is the location of the Alsace-Moselle Memorial museum. The name of the town means "protected place". In Lorraine dialect it is called "Chermec". ...

Mutzig Mutzig ( or ; german: Mützig) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est, in north-eastern France. The commune of Mutzig is located at the entrance of the Bruche river valley, on the Route des Vins d'Alsace. History Evidences of ...

Molsheim Molsheim () is a commune and a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

and

Holtzheim Holtzheim (; german: Holzheim; gsw-FR, Holze) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The village is surrounded by farmland and thereby separated from the Strasbourg conurbation: however, Strasbourg ai ...

. It flows into the Ill in the city of Strasbourg, southwest of the historic centre. Its largest tributary is the river Mossig. At

Wolxheim Wolxheim (; gsw-FR, Wolixe) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department ...

, where the Bruche and Mossig meet, part of the water feeds the

Canal de la Bruche The ''Canal de la Bruche'' is a canal in eastern France that originally connected Soultz-les-Bains, near Molsheim, to the city of Strasbourg. It was built in 1682 by the famous military engineer Vauban, principally to transport sandstone from t ...

, built in 1682 to link the

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 ...

quarries at

Soultz-les-Bains Soultz-les-Bains (; historical german: Sulzbad, ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est, France. In 1682, the famous military engineer Vauban constructed the Canal de la Bruche between Soultz and Strasbourg. The canal was n ...

with Strasbourg. The canal remained in use until 1939.

References

Bruche Rivers of Grand Est Rivers of Bas-Rhin {{France-river-stub