The Zinsel du Nord (, also ''Moderbach''), also called the North Zinsel or Northern Zinsel in English, is a left tributary of the river Moder, which is long from the source of the Moderbach stream. The Zinsel du Nord and its tributaries drain northwest in the North

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

, especially in the ''

Pays de Bitche The Pays de Bitche (, literally ''Land of Bitche'', or ) is a natural region in the Moselle (departement), Moselle Departments of France, department of the Grand Est region of France. It corresponds to the present French part of the former princ ...

'' in the east of the department of

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

. Its catchment area is .

Course

The Northern Zinsel begins at a height of about 225 metres above sea level at the confluence of the ''

Breidenbach Breidenbach is a municipality in the west of Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Fra ...

'' and ''Moderbach'', in the village of

Mouterhouse Mouterhouse (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Muterhüse'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche and to the Northern Vosges Regional Nat ...

. Whilst the Breidenbach rises at the Breitenstein aka

Pierre des douze Apôtres Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

near

Goetzenbruck Goetzenbruck or Gœtzenbruck (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Getzebrikk'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche and to the Northern Vosges ...

, the source of the Moderbach is at the Wasserfelsen (fr. ''Cascade des Ondines''), on the eastern edge of

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. Its largest tributary is the Falkensteinerbach, which joins it at Uttenhofen from the left. The Northern Zinsel then flows through a very wide valley, surrounded by the endless Mouterhouse State Forest, in a south-easterly direction towards the Schmalenthal Pond aka

Baerenthal Baerenthal (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Bäredal'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche and to the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Par ...

Pond and the popular holiday resort of the same name. At its exit from the Northern

into the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...

is the Lower Alsatian village of

Zinswiller Zinswiller () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Zinswiller is 40 km from Strasbourg, the department capital, and 384 km from Paris. Population See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin departme ...

. Near

Gumbrechtshoffen Gumbrechtshoffen () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, approximately 18 kilometres (eleven miles) northwest of Haguenau. On 1 September 1945 the villages of Gumbrechtshoffen-Oberbronn ''(Obergumbrech ...

it leaves the

Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park The Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional des Vosges du Nord'') is a protected area of woodland, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the Grand Est region in northeastern France. The area was officially d ...

and, from

Uttenhoffen Uttenhoffen is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. History Finds from the Neolithic Age and the Hallstatt culture period are as attested as the settlement in Roman times. After introduction of the Reforma ...

, follows the N 62 road and the

Niederbronn-les-Bains Niederbronn-les-Bains (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is positioned between Bitche and Wissembourg, close to the current frontier with Germany. Niederbronn-les-Bains is part of the Norther ...

–

Haguenau Haguenau (; or ; ; historical ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg ...

railway line, crossing the Hagenau Forest from

Mertzwiller Mertzwiller () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Population Notable people * Sam Marx, father of the Marx Brothers * Joseph-Paul Strebler, missionary and bishop in Togo See also * Communes of t ...

. Near

Schweighouse-sur-Moder Schweighouse-sur-Moder (, ; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The name of the commune was officially changed from ''Schweighausen'' to ''Schweighouse-sur-Moder'' in September 1949.Haguenau Haguenau (; or ; ; historical ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg ...

it empties into the Moder in the middle of an industrial estate.

History

In 1196 the river was called the ''Cinzele''. Other references are thought by Albrecht Greule to relate to the Southern Zinsel or the ''gunsinus rivus'', a stream that has not been clearly identified, and which appear in old boundary descriptions recorded by Maursmünster Abbey.Albrecht Greule: ''Vor- und frühgermanische Flußnamen am Oberrhein'', Heidelberg, 1973, p. 49, p. 95. {{ISBN, 3-533-02294-3, zugl. Diss. der Universität Freiburg/Br. 1971 In the 19th century, there was a lot of iron industry along the Northern Zinsel, that were owned by the

De Dietrich The history of the de Dietrich family has been linked to that of France and of Europe for over three centuries. To this day, the company that bears the family name continues to play a major role in the economic life of Alsace. De Dietrich is a h ...

industrial dynasty. This led to heavy deforestation which has since been recovered.

References

External links

Streams of the North Vosges
(French) Rivers of France Rivers of Grand Est Rivers of Moselle (department) Rivers of Bas-Rhin