The Sailaufbach is a stream in

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 ...

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 flows in the low mountain range of the

Spessart Spessart () is a ''Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg (Spessart), Geiersberg at 586 metre ...

. It is a right-hand and northwestern tributary of the

Laufach Laufach is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. As of 2023, the population of Laufach was 5,308. Geography Location The community lies in northwest Ba ...

in the district of

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (, ) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities). History After ...

, flowing into the Laufach near

Hösbach Hösbach is a market community and municipality in the Aschaffenburg (district), Aschaffenburg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. As of 2023, It has a population of 13,323. Geography ...

. It is 6.5 km long and the largest tributary of the Laufach.

Name

The original name "''Sailauf''" comes from the

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

words ''sîgen'' and ''loufe'', which mean ''descending watercourse''. The stream gave its name to the village of

Sailauf Sailauf is a municipality in the Aschaffenburg (district), Aschaffenburg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 3,600. Geography Location The community lies ...

Course

The Sailaufbach originates at an elevation of at the base of the Eselshöhe ridge. Its source is located on the western slope of the

Steigkoppe Steigkoppe is a wooded hill in the Spessart range of Bavaria, Germany. The tall hill is located in the district of Aschaffenburg. More specifically, Steigkoppe is in the unincorporated area Sailaufer Forst between Laufach and Jakobsthal, part of ...

() within an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of the municipality of Sailauf in the Sailauf Forest. The stream flows southwest close to the quarry where the

arsenate mineral Arsenate minerals usually refer to the naturally occurring orthoarsenates, possessing the (AsO4)3− anion group and, more rarely, other arsenates with anions like AsO3(OH)2− (also written HAsO42−) (example: pharmacolite Ca(AsO3OH).2H2O) or ...

''sailaufite'' was discovered. It then reaches Obersailauf, where it is joined by the Oberer Steinbach and flows through the village alongside the local AB 2 road. The

Eichenberger Bach Eichenberger Bach is a small river of Bavaria, Germany. It flows into the Sailaufbach in Sailauf. See also *List of rivers of Bavaria A list of rivers of Bavaria, Germany: A * Aalbach * Abens * Ach * Afferbach * Affinger Bach * Ailsbach * A ...

, its largest tributary, joins it in Mittelsailauf. (This tributary is mistakenly identified as the upper course of the Sailaufbach on some maps.) The Sailaufbach continues through Untersailauf where the Erlenbach flows into it. Near the Weyberhöfe estates, it passes under the

Bundesstraße 26 The Bundesstraße 26 or Federal Highway 26, (abbreviation: B 26) runs between the city of Riedstadt at the B44, to the city of Hallstadt, at the Bundesautobahn 70, A70 in Germany. The highway run East to West. It crosses the River Main an ...

and flows into the Laufach river at an elevation of .

Cycle bridge

The cycle path bridge over the Sailaufbach near Weyberhöfe was replaced in 2024 with a steel bridge after the previous wooden bridge was found to be suffering from rot.

History

Mills

Historical mills include: * Mill in Obersailauf * Wenzelmühle (Burkartsmühle) * Bergmannsmühle * Fuchsmühle (Wiesenmühle) * Ölmühle

Fauna

The Sailaufbach is home to

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

External links

Fishing on the Sailaufbach