The Schwarza is a river in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. It is the left headstream of the

Leitha The Leitha (; , formerly ; ; Czech language, Czech and ) is a river in Austria and Hungary, a right tributary of the Danube. It is long ( including its source river Schwarza (Leitha), Schwarza). Its basin area is . Etymology The ''Lithaha'' Riv ...

Course

The Schwarza originates in the Tiefental valley at the confuence of Grüne Schwarza (German: Green Schwarza) and Dürre Schwarza (German: Dry Schwarza) in the

Gutenstein Alps The Gutenstein Alps () are a mountain range in the Eastern Alps in Central Europe, and the northeasternmost part of the Northern Limestone Alps, reaching heights over 1,000 m. Topography Die Gutenstein Alps are separated in the north fr ...

. The Schwarza then flows through Höllental (German: Hell Valley) gorge and the Schwarza valley. Near Haderswörth in the parish of

Lanzenkirchen Lanzenkirchen is a market town in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Geography Lanzenkirchen is situated on the river Leitha, south of the city Wiener Neustadt, at the foot of the Rosaliengebirge mounta ...

the Schwarza combines with the

Pitten Pitten is a Market Municipality in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian federal state of Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. ...

and is then called the

. It is long. Its basin area is . The Schwarza is part of the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

region known as "North Eastern Border Alps: Hohe Wand – Schneeberg – Rax" (''Nordöstliche Randalpen: Hohe Wand - Schneeberg - Rax'').

Character

The Schwarza is characterized in its upper reaches by undercuts, high cliffs, gravel banks, pools and deep gullies. The lower reaches below Hirschwang an der Rax are strictly regulated as far as Schwarzau am Steinfeld. Only between Schwarzau am Steinfeld and Bad Erlach can the Schwarza spread out into wide

meanders A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank or river cliff) and deposits sediments on an inn ...

again. From Loipersbach the Schwarza runs along a sinkage section (''Versickerungsstrecke''), where the bulk of the water seeps into the gravel surface of the . The river bed below the so-called "Dunkelstein

Weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

" in the municipality of

Ternitz Ternitz is a town and municipality (14,823 inhabitants end 2014) in the district of Neunkirchen (Austrian district), Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, situated at the confluence of the Sierning stream and the Schwarza (Leitha), R ...

usually only carries water at times of

snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many part ...

and during heavy rain. The water flows through several works channels through the town of Neunkirchen. Here it powers some

small hydro Small hydro is the generation of hydroelectric power on a smaller scale as compared to traditional large-scale hydro. Exact definitions vary by country, but small hydro power (SHP) projects are typically less than 50 megawatts (MW) and can be furt ...

plants. At the Peisching Weir most of the water from the River Schwarza (maximum ) is fed into the canal, which, in turn, feeds the Wiener Neustadt Canal. During heavy rainfall, snowmelt and storms, the Schwarza quickly swells into a raging torrent. Hochwasser führende Schwarza im Höllental.jpg, The Schwarza in spate in the Höllental Schwarza in Ternitz.jpg, The Schwarza in

Schwarza in Loipersbach.jpg, The Schwarza near Loipersbach

Economic and transportation importance

Initially, the river was economically important for the timber industry. From 1803 wood from the forests on both sides of Schwarza was floated down the Schwarza and the Kehrbach to

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

and then loaded onto barges and transported to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on the Wiener Neustadt Canal. In earlier times, it was turned into

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

in large kilns near the Wind Bridge. From the beginning to the middle of the 19th century numerous factories, especially

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

s, were established in the region. The Schwarza is also used to generate

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

. For this purpose several works channels were built along the Schwarza, through which through most of the waters of the Schwarza now flow. Of the once important paper mills, today only the company of Mayr-Melnhof Karton (MM Karton) in Hirschwang is still in operation. Numerous factory closures affected the working and social life of the region. For example, after the closure of the paper mill in Schlöglmühl, a television documentary was produced called ("Postal Address 2640 Schlöglmühl") which portrayed the decline of the former paper industry. The Höllental Road (B 27) follows the Schwarza valley throughout the upper parts of the river. Water from the catchment area of the Schwarza has been used to supply

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 ...

to Vienna, since the 1st Viennese Spring Water Supply Network (''1. Wiener Hochquellenwasserleitung'') was built in 1869–1873.

Natural region

Typical animal species for the Schwarza are the:

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

grey wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail (disambiguation), yellow wagtail but has the yello ...

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

wallcreeper The wallcreeper (''Tichodroma muraria'') is a small passerine bird found throughout the high mountains of the Palearctic from southern Europe to central China. It is the only extant member of both the genus '' Tichodroma'' and the family Tichodr ...

white-throated dipper The white-throated dipper (''Cinclus cinclus''), also known as the European dipper or just dipper, is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The species is divided into several subspecies ...

, grayling,

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 bullhead. In the vicinity of the Schwarza near (belongs to

Reichenau an der Rax Reichenau an der Rax is a market town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, situated at the foot of the Rax mountain range on the ''Schwarza (Leitha), Schwarza'' river, a headstream of the Leitha. History Reichenau castle was first mentioned ...

), it was switched from the conventional restocking of fish to supporting a natural supply of fishing stock. In particular, the stock of domestic

is supported by "cocooning" and "artificial nests". The goal of this project is to build a native fish stock, capable of sustaining itself. In particular, the use of "artificial nests" (

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

beds are directly injected into the substrate) supports the natural supply of brown trout.

References

External links

*
The Schwarza at www.wwf.at

near

Gloggnitz Gloggnitz is a mountain town in the Neunkirchen (Austrian district), Neunkirchen district of Lower Austria, Austria. Gloggnitz is situated in the south-western part of the Viennese Basin, Vienna Basin in Lower Austria. It is surrounded by the hi ...

{{in lang, de Rivers of Lower Austria Rivers of Austria