The Krems is a river in
Waldviertel
The ''Waldviertel'' (; ; Central Bavarian: ; ) is the northwestern region of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the river Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and to the north by the Czech ...
in northern
Lower Austria
Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
. Its
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
is .
There are actually two rivers: the so-called "Große Krems" (Greater Krems), denoting either the whole river system or the main tributary only, and the smaller one called "Kleine Krems" (Lesser Krems). The Krems originally flowed into 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 ...
by
Krems an der Donau
Krems an der Donau (, ) is a city in Lower Austria, Austria. With a population of 24,821, it is the 20th-largest city of Austria and fifth-largest of Lower Austria. It is approximately west of Vienna. Krems is a city with its own statute (or '' ...
, but when the Danube was built at (part of
Kirchberg am Wagram), the mouth of the river — together with that of the
Kamp — was moved to Altenwörth.
In the upper course both rivers flow through the rough granite landscape of the Waldviertel; important places are at the Große Krems, and
Kottes-Purk at the Kleine Krems. The Krems is the backbone of the wine region of
Kremstal, it passes
Senftenberg
Senftenberg ( German, ) or (Lower Sorbian, ) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, capital of the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district.
Geography
Senftenberg is located in the southwest of the historic Lower Lusatia region at t ...
and the ruins of
Lengenfeld
Lengenfeld is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony in eastern Germany. The town is situated 19 km southwest of Zwickau, and 18 km northeast of Plauen.
History
During World War II, Germany operated a Forc ...
, and after emerging from the
granite and gneiss plateau (part of the
Bohemian Massif
The Bohemian Massif ( or ''Český masiv'', or ''Böhmisches Massiv'') is a geomorphological province in Central Europe. It is a large massif stretching over most of the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, southern Poland and northern Austria.
Th ...
), it flows through the
Tulln Basin near Krems.
Beneath the castle
Burg Hartenstein, at the confluence of the headstreams, is the
Gudenus cave by the riverbank, which was inhabited in the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
.
See also
*
Krems (Upper Austria)
The Krems is an approximately tributary of the Traun in Upper Austria.
It originates at the foot of the mountain in Micheldorf, runs northwards in the Traunviertel through the Upper Austrian Prealps, and flows into the Traun in Ebelsberg, a ...
References
External links
*
Rivers of Lower Austria
Rivers of Austria
{{LowerAustria-geo-stub