The Kaiserbach (also called Sparchenbach) is a river of

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

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 ...

, in the valley

Kaisertal The Kaisertal (formerly ''Sparchental'') is a striking mountain valley between the mountain chains of the Zahmer and Wilder Kaiser in Austria's Kaisergebirge range in the Tyrol (state), Tyrol. In the ravine (''Sparchenklamm'') on the valley flo ...

in the Kaiser Mountains in the Tyrolean Unterland. 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 Inn. The Kaiserbach rises at about near the Stripsenjoch saddle and empties in Untere Sparchen, a quarter of Kufstein, into the Inn. The Kaiserbach was important for

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

until the beginning of the 20th century. Felled logs were hauled from many wooded mountainsides in the side valleys of the Kaisertal to the river. The Kaiserbach was impounded ast several

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s. On subsequently opening the lock gates a strong current flowed, enabling the assembled logs to be transported in several stages to Kufstein. The weirs were known as and the log transportation as . Today all that has survived is the , a restored collection basin on the river bed, and its associated (weir hut) that used to provide worker accommodation. The Kaiserbach forms most of the municipal boundary between Kufstein and Ebbs.

References

Rivers of Tyrol (federal state) Kufstein Rivers of Austria {{Tyrol-geo-stub