The Lech (; , ''Licca'') is a river in

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 ...

and

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 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 ...

in length with a

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, ...

of . Its average discharge at the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

is . Its source is located in the Austrian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

, where the river rises from lake

Formarinsee Formarinsee is a lake in the Austrian Alps. It lies in the Bundesland of Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although ...

in 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. ...

at an altitude of . It flows in a north-north-easterly direction and crosses the German border, forming the Lechfall, a waterfall; afterwards the river enters a narrow gorge (the Lechschlucht). Leaving the Alps, it enters the plains of the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard ) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the Alps. The main rivers flo ...

Füssen Füssen () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated one kilometre from the Austrian border. The town is known for violin manufacturing and as the closest transportation hub for the Neuschwanstein and Sc ...

at an elevation of in the German state 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 ...

, where it used to be the location of the boundary with

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

. The river runs through the city of Füssen and through the

Forggensee The Forggensee, also called the Roßhaupten Reservoir, is a reservoir located north of Füssen in the county of Ostallgäu in Bavaria, Germany and one of many lakes in the region around Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. With a surface ...

, a man-made lake which is drained in winter. Here, it forms rapids and a waterfall. The river flows further northwards through a region called the Lechrain, and passes the cities of Schongau, Landsberg,

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

(where it receives the Wertach) and

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

before entering the

just below

Donauwörth Donauwörth (; ) is a town and the capital of the Donau-Ries district in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is said to have been founded by two fishermen where the rivers Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz meet. The city is part of the scenic route called "R ...

at an elevation of . It is not navigable, owing to its torrential character and the gravel beds which choke its channel. There are extensive views of the Lech valley from

Neuschwanstein Castle Neuschwanstein Castle (, ; ) is a 19th-century Historicism (art), historicist palace on a rugged hill of the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Germany, near the border with Austria. It is located in the Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia regio ...

, near Füssen.

Etymology

Inscriptions from 8/7 B. C. prove that the river name is first mentioned in the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

tribe name ''Licates''. The river itself is called ''Likios'' or ''Likias'' in the 2nd century. Around the year 570 the name ''Licca'' is found in records. In the 8th century, names such as ''Lecha'' and ''Lech'' appeared. The term ''Licus'' is still used in 1059. The name stands in analogy to the Welsh word ''llech'' ("stone slab") and the Breton word ''lec'h'' ("gravestone"). In this context, the meaning of the word "Lech" is explained as "the stony".

History

On more than one occasion, historic events have been decided on the banks of this river. * In 278 Roman emperor

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

vanquished a larger invasion force of

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

and

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

, which had been raiding the Roman province of

Rhaetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west wit ...

. * At Lechfeld, a stony plain between the Lech and the Wertach near Augsburg,

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...

defeated the

Magyars Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common culture, language and history. They also have a notable presence in former parts of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...

in August 955. * In the

Battle of Rain The Battle of Rain took place on 15 April 1632 near Rain in Bavaria during the Thirty Years' War. It was fought by a Swedish army under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and a Catholic League force led by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. The b ...

in April 1632,

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

defeated and mortally wounded Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly.

Hydroelectric power plants

Currently, there are 33

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 plants on the Lech. The power plants are listed beginning at the headwaters:"Fichtner: Die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von großen Laufwasserkraftwerken im liberalisierten Strommarkt – Endbericht (Langfassung). Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit, 2003 , 10 , Lechstaustufe 8a – Kinsau , , 9.2 , , 1992 , , Lechstaustufe 8a Kinsau

, - , 11 , Lechstaustufe 9 – Apfeldorf , , 7.2 , , 1944 , , Lechstaustufe 9 GO-1

, - , 12 , Lechstaustufe 10 – Epfach , , 8.3 , , 1948 , , , - , 13 , Lechstaustufe 11 – Lechblick , , 8.1 , , 1943 , , , - , 14 , Lechstaustufe 12 – Lechmühlen , , 7.9 , , 1943 , , , - , 15 , Lechstaustufe 13 – Dornstetten , , 8.2 , , 1943 , , Lechstaustufe unterhalb von Seestall

, - , 16 , Lechstaustufe 14 – Pitzling , , 7.9 , , 1944 , , , - , 17 , Lechstaustufe 15 – Landsberg , , 8.0 , , 1944 , , , - , 18 , Lechstaustufe 18 – Kaufering , , 16.7 , , 1975 , , , - , 19 , Lechstaustufe 19 – Schwabstadl , , 12.0 , , 1981 , , , - , 20 , Lechstaustufe 20 – Scheuring , , 12.2 , , 1980 , , , - , 21 , Lechstaustufe 21 – Prittriching , , 12.1 , , 1983 , , , - , 22 , Lechstaustufe 22 – Unterbergen , , 12.4 , , 1982 , ,

, - , 23 , Lechstaustufe 23 – Mandichosee , , 12.0 , , 1978 , , , - , 24 , Hochablass , , 3.1 , , 2013 , , , - , 25 , Eisenbahnerwehr , , 3.2 , , 2006 , ,

, - , 26 , Wolfzahnauwehr , , 2.0 , , 2010 , ,

, - , 27 , Kraftwerk Gersthofen , , 9.9 , , 1901 , , , - , 28 , Kraftwerk Langweid , , 7.0 , , 1908 , , Lechmuseum Bayern 12

, - , 29 , Kraftwerk Meitingen , , 11.6 , , 1922 , , Kraftwerk Meitingen02

, - , 30 , Staustufe Ellgau , , 10.0 , , 1952 , , , - , 31 , Staustufe Oberpeiching , , 12.3 , , 1954 , , , - , 32 , Staustufe Rain , , 11.2 , , 1955 , , , - , 33 , Staustufe Feldheim , , 8.5 , , 1960 , , , -

Gallery

File:Lech Augsburg.jpg, The Lech in

File:Lech-between-landsberg-kaufering.JPG, The Lech, in the background the city of Landsberg File:Tussen Weissenbach en Forchach, de Lech foto7 2014-07-25 13.33.jpg, The Lech between Weissenbach and Forchach File:Tussen Elmen en Stanzach, der Lech foto6 2014-07-25 14.34.jpg, The Lech between Elmen and Stanzach File:Blick auf Lech und Apfeldorf.jpg, The Lech between Apfeldorf and

Epfach Epfach is a village and former municipality () located on the left bank of Lech, in the municipality of Denklingen in the Upper Bavarian District of Landsberg, Bavaria, Germany. History Around 14 BCE there was, near the present village, on th ...

File:Lech River.jpg, The Lech River b
Andrei Gavrilița

References

* Eberhard Pfeuffer: ''Der Lech.'' Wissner-Verlag, Augsburg 2010, . * R. Zettl: ''Lechauf-lechab.'' Wißner-Verlag 2002, . * Dr. Peter Nowotny: ''Erlebnis Lech.'' Verlag – J. Eberl KG, Immenstadt 2001. * Dr. Bernhard Raster: ''Nutzung und anthropogene Veränderung des Lechs in historischer Zeit.'' Diss. Würzburg 1979. * Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv (Hrsg.): ''Altbayerische Flusslandschaften an Donau, Lech, Isar und Inn.'' = Ausstellungskatalog, Anton H. Konrad, Verlag Weißenhorn 1998. * Werner Gamerith: ''Lechtal.'' Tyrolia Verlag, Innsbruck-Wien 2002. * Peter Nasemann: ''Lebensraum Füssener Lech.'' Holdenrieds Druck- und Verlags GmbH, o. J. * Norbert Müller: ''Augsburger Ökologische Schriften, Heft 2: Der Lech.'' Stadt Augsburg 1991, ;Specific

External links