The Limmat is a river in

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 ...

. The river commences at the outfall of

Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

, in the southern part of the city of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

. The confluence is located north of the small town of

Brugg Brugg (sometimes written as Brugg AG in order to distinguish it from other ''Brugg''s) is a Switzerland, Swiss Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and a List of towns in Switzerland, town in the canton of Aargau and is the seat of the Bru ...

and shortly after the mouth of the

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) * Reuss (river) in Switzerland * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...

. The main towns along 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 ...

downstream of Zurich are

Dietikon Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area. Geography The ...

Wettingen Wettingen is a residential community in the district of Baden in the Swiss canton of Aargau. With a population about 20,000, Wettingen is the second-largest municipality in the canton. Geography Wettingen is located on the right bank of the Li ...

, and

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

. Its main tributaries are the

Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Linthal, Glarus, village of Linthal in the mountains of the cantons of Switzerland, canton of canton of Glarus, Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee (Züri ...

, Wägitaler Aa and Jona, all via Lake Zurich, the

Sihl The Sihl is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the Zürich, city of Zürich, after crossing the Zürich–Winterthur railway at . It has ...

in Zurich, and the

Reppisch The Reppisch is a river in Switzerland. It rises in the Türlersee and joins the Limmat as its tributary, near the town of Dietikon. The Reppisch flows in the Säuliamt (Affoltern district), canton of Zürich, an area featuring still partially u ...

. The

hydronym A hydronym (from , , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a subset of top ...

is first attested in the 8th century, as ''Lindimacus''. It is of

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

origin, from ''*lindo-'' "lake" ( Welsh ''llyn'') and ''*magos'' "plain" (Welsh ''maes''), and was thus presumably in origin the name of the plain formed by the

Power generation

Like many Swiss rivers, the Limmat is intensively used for production of

hydroelectric power 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 ...

: along its course of , its fall is used by no less than ten hydroelectric

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. These include:

Navigation

Historically, the Limmat was an important navigation route. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, voyages from Zurich to

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

are recorded. In 1447, the Emperor Frederick III granted the privilege of free navigation on the Limmat and on the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

to Zurich. Because of the current, navigation was typically downstream only, with the barges being sold on arrival. Today, the Limmat is navigable for much of its length by small craft only, with many of the hydroelectric power plants incorporating boat lifts. The traditional boat type used on the river is the weidling, a flat-bottomed vessel that is usually long. The uppermost stretch of the river through the centre of Zurich is navigable by rather larger vessels, albeit limited by low bridges. On this stretch of the river ZSG (Lake Zurich Navigation Company) operates its Limmat boat service, from the Landesmuseum to

, using low-profile motor boats.

Towns near the river

*In 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 ...

: *#

*# Oberengstringen *# Unterengstringen *# Schlieren *#

Geroldswil Geroldswil is a municipality in the district of Dietikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley. History Geroldswil is first mentioned in 1255 as ''Geroltzwiler''. Geography Geroldswil has an area of . Of this ...

Oetwil an der Limmat Oetwil an der Limmat is a Municipalities of the canton of Zürich, municipality in the district of Dietikon (district), Dietikon in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ...

*In the

canton of Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most northerly cantons of Switzerland, by th ...

Spreitenbach Spreitenbach (High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Spräitebach'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Baden (district, Aargau), Baden in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in ...

*# Würenlos *# Neuenhof *#

*# Ennetbaden *# Nussbaumen AG *#

Untersiggenthal Untersiggenthal is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Baden (district, Aargau), Baden in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal''). Geography U ...

*# Turgi

Cultural heritage

Located on the swamp land between Limmat and

around Sechseläutenplatz on small islands and

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

s in Zurich, prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the

and Jona. Zürich–Enge Alpenquai is located on Lake Zurich lakeshore in Enge, a locality of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Zurich. It was neighbored by the settlements at Kleiner Hafner and Grosser Hafner on a then peninsula respectively island in the effluence of the Limmat, within an area of about in the city of Zurich. As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', the settlement is also listed in the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

as a ''Class object''.

References

External links