Glatt () is the name of a lesser

affluent Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an ...

to the

High Rhine High Rhine (, ; kilometres 0 to 167 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Lake Constance () and the city of Basel, flowing in a general east-to-west direction and forming mostly the Germany–Switzerland border. It is the first of fo ...

in the Unterland of the

canton of Zurich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is long and flows out from the Greifensee through the

Glatt Valley The Glatt Valley (German: ''Glattal'' or ''Glatttal'') is a region and a river valley in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Geography The Glatt (Rhine), Glatt is a tributary to the Rhine in the Zürcher Unterland area of the canton of Zuric ...

, discharging into the Rhine by

Glattfelden Glattfelden is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Bülach (district), Bülach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (German: ''Glattal''). ...

. Whereas the upper reaches are only gently inclined, the stream gets steeper beneath, forming banks of

bed load The term bed load or bedload describes particles in a flowing fluid (usually water) that are transported along the stream bed. Bed load is complementary to suspended load and wash load. Bed load moves by rolling, sliding, and/or Saltation (geolo ...

Name and History

The earliest mention of the Glatt ''(fluvii, qui dicitur glat)'' dates to 1034. The hydronym reflects the (feminine) OHG adjective ''glat'', meaning either "bright, clear" or "plane, smooth".Gabrielle Schmid/Andres Kristol, ''Niederglatt ZH (Dielsdorf)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dialectologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld/Stuttgart/Wien 2005, and Éditions Payot, Lausanne 2005, , p. 646. Since the 15th century, the Glatt had been subject to the sovereignty of the city of Zurich, the council of which assigned the custody over the river to two reeves ''(Glatt

vögte An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

)'' in the 16th century. Several

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

s have the name 'Glatt' in it, such as

Glattbrugg Opfikon (; in the local Swiss German dialect: )Andres Kristol/Gabrielle Schmid, ''Opfikon ZH (Bülach)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni sviz ...

, Glattfelden,

Glattpark Glattpark is a large construction project in Switzerland that took shape in Opfikon, close to the border to Zürich. As part of the construction project a new neighbourhood was built by 2020; it is designed to provide room for 7,000 residents and ...

Glattalbahn The Glattalbahn, originally known as the Stadtbahn Glattal, was a project that was ultimately successful in introducing a modern rapid-transit system to the Glattal area of Switzerland, to the north of the city of Zürich. Stadtbahn Glattal ...

Glattzentrum The Glattzentrum, more formally known as the Einkaufszentrum Glatt or Glatt shopping centre, is a shopping mall located in the Glatt Valley close to the Swiss city of Zurich. Politically, the mall is situated in the municipality of Wallisel ...

Niederglatt Niederglatt is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Niederglatt is first mentioned in 1149 as ''Niderunglatto''. Between 1153 and 1155 it was mentioned as ''Nidrunglate''. Until 1840 it ...

and

Oberglatt Oberglatt is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (). Zurich Airport Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, pr ...

. After a first attempt to regulate the stream in 1593 and a rudimentary project in the early 19th century, the largest reshapings took place during the time from 1878 to 1895. In 1936, another straightening was carried out as a preliminary work to the construction of the

Zurich Airport Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest o ...

as well as to

land improvement Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways, such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpo ...

and future overbuilding. Due to the last regulation works in 1975 between

and the Glatt's confluence to the Rhine, the

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s built in the late 19th century at the lower course of the stream disappeared. The Glatt was formerly abounding with fish. Owing to the accelerated growth of Zurich's agglomeration during the 20th century and the insufficiency of the purification plants built in the 1960s, it has been strongly polluted; from 1994 to 2002, the

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

system was restructured by driving a tunnel between the Glatt Valley and the

Limmat Valley The Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal'') is a river valley and a region in the Canton (Switzerland), cantons of Canton of Zürich, Zürich and Canton of Aargau, Aargau in Switzerland. Geography The Limmat () is a long river located in ...

Name and History

See also

External links

References

Further reading