The Iller (; ancient name Ilargus) is a river of

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 ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

. It is a right

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, long. It is formed at the confluence of the rivers Breitach, Stillach and Trettach near Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, close to the

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 ...

n border. From there it runs northwards, passing the towns of

Sonthofen Sonthofen is the southernmost Town#Germany, town of Germany, located in the Oberallgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. Neighbouring Oberstdorf is situated 14 km farther south but is classified as a market town. In 2005, Sonthofen was awarded ...

, Immenstadt, and Kempten. Between Lautrach near

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the ...

and Ulm it forms the border between the two German States Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg for about . The river flows into the Danube in the city centre of Ulm. The Iller has a catchment area of . It ranks as the seventh of Bavaria's rivers by water flow, with an average throughput of at Senden, a short distance upstream from the Danube. The power of the river is used for the production of

hydroelectricity 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 ...

via eight power stations with a total net capacity of 51 MW (1998). A bicycle route follows the Iller, which is also a popular location for rafting and trekking.

Sources

* Bogner, Franz X. (2009). ''Allgäu und Iller aus der Luft.'' Theiss-Verlag 2009. . * Kettemann, Otto and Winkler, Ursula (ed.): ''Die Iller'', 2000, (2nd, expanded edition) * Nowotny, Peter (1999). ''Die Iller und ihr Tal'', 1999, Verlag Eberl,

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Baden-Württemberg Rivers of Bavaria Rivers of Germany

See also

Sources

References