Moosalb (Schwarzbach)
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The Moosalb (also Moosalbe) is a
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
in
West Palatinate Western Palatinate or West Palatinate (, ) is a sub-region in the west of the Palatinate (region), Palatinate, a German cultural and historic region in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It includes the western part of the Palatine Forest, the cent ...
in the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
. The upper Moosalb valley is also called the ''Hammertal'' ("
hammer mill A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre-industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The featur ...
valley") on account of the many witnesses, in the form of ruined buildings and structures, to the iron smelting and working industries of the 18th and 19th centuries.


Course and tributaries

The Moosalb rises in the heart of the
Palatine Forest The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The forest is a designated nature park () covering 1,771&n ...
west of the Palatine Watershed at a height of about 450 metres. East of its source lies the village of
Johanniskreuz Johanniskreuz is a tiny hamlet (place), hamlet in the middle of the Palatine Forest in Germany and belongs to the municipality of Trippstadt in the Kaiserslautern (district), district of Kaiserslautern in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Geog ...
which belongs to
Trippstadt Trippstadt is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ...
. Initially the Moosalb flows roughly westwards before heading south. After just under 26 km it empties into the Schwarzbach, also known here as the ''Burgalbe'', at Waldfischbach-Burgalben. The biggest tributary of the Moosalb is the 15.8 km long Aschbach, which – like the Moosalb comes from the Palatine Forest. It joins from the right at Karlstal station and delivers more than half as much water again as the Moosalb. At
Steinalben Steinalben () is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western 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 th ...
it is joined from the right by the Queidersbach, whose source lies on the Sickingen Heights.


Sights

''Karlstal'' – upstream of the confluence of the Moosabl with the Aschbach is the valley of Karlstal, a largely natural and rocky narrow valley, about 4 kilometres long. ''Amseldell'' – on the left-hand side of the Karlstal lies a formerly occupied rock cave and far above the Amseldell, a ruined site from the 19th century that formerly had a labyrinth, a firing range and a hut. ''Klug’sche Mühle'' – The mill of ''Klug’sche Mühle'' on the Moosalb, near the lower end of the Karlstal, was converted to a restaurant after being restored. Before it transferred to the ownership of the Klug family in 1842, whose descendants still run it today, it was called the ''Wilensteiner Mühle''. ''Unterhammer'' – The site of Unterhammer was a former iron
hammer mill A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre-industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The featur ...
and now a monument to early industrial history in the Palatinate. ''Wilenstein Castle'' – On the right and above the Karlstal valley lie the ruins of at a height of 400 metres. it was built in the mid-12th century. The present day Wilenstein Castle Youth Hostel (''Jugendheim Burg Wilenstein'') is home to a rural educational home (''Schullandheim''), school and youth groups. ''Trippstadt Church'' – The
baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
church in Trippstadt was built in 1744/45 on the foundations of its Gothic predecessor. ''Trippstadt House'' – Trippstadt House (''Trippstadter Schloss''), designed in the baroque style from
bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...
from the region, was built from 1764 to 1767 to plans and under the direction of
Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, Sigmund Jacob Haeckher. The associated park (''Schlosspark'') was originally laid out along strict geometric lines in the
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
style and was considerably larger than it is today. ''Brunnenstollen'' – The Trippstadt {{ill, Brunnenstollen, de ("spring tunnel") was completed in 1767. The structure, built by driving the tunnel simultaneously from both ends, as in
classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...
, provided the municipality with
drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...
until 1965. The Brunnenstollen is a unique structure monument within Europe. ''Iron Smelting Museum'' – The Trippstadt Iron Smelting Museum (''Eisenhüttenmuseum Trippstadt'') documents the boom time of the iron smelting industry, which the village experienced around the middle of the 19th century. File:Karlstal 015 edited.jpg, The Karlstal valley File:Wilenstein.JPG, Wilenstein Castle File:EvangKircheTrippstadt-1 retouched.jpg, The baroque church of Trippstadt File:Trippstadt Gartenseite.jpg, Trippstadt Palace


See also

*
List of rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate A list of rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany: A * Aar * Adenauer Bach * Ahr * Alf * Alfbach * Appelbach * Asdorf * Aubach B * Birzenbach * Blattbach * Breitenbach * Brexbach * Brohlbach, tributary of the Moselle * Brohlbach, tributary of t ...


External links


Karlstal

Unterhammer in the Karlstal
Rivers of Rhineland-Palatinate Rivers and lakes of the Palatinate Forest Rivers of Germany