Starzel is a river of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is a right tributary of the

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Sc ...

west of

Rottenburg am Neckar Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...

Geography

Course

Starzel is being built directly at

Albtrauf The term Albtrauf (Alp escarpment) refers to the northwest facing escarpment of the Swabian Alps, situated in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is the most distinctive stepped slope within the alpine region of the South German Scarplands, leadin ...

at the European watershed, about three kilometres south of Hausen im Killertal. (a district of

Burladingen Burladingen is a town in the Zollernalbkreis district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History In 1849, Burladingen and the villages of and came under the dominion of the Kingdom of Prussia. They were assigned in 1850 to , one of the of Provi ...

), a few dozen meters north of the hamlet Neuweiler, which belongs to

Albstadt Albstadt () is the largest city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Swabian Jura mountains, about halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. Geography Albstadt is spread across a variety ...

. For historical reasons, the valley created by the Starzel, about 14 kilometres long on the northern edge of the Swabian Alb from its source to

Hechingen Hechingen ( Swabian: ''Hächenga'') is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border. Geography The town lies at the foot of t ...

is called ''Killer Valley''. It is named after the village

Killer A killer is someone or something that kills, such as a murderer or a serial killer. Killer may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Killer (''Home and Away''), a character from ''Home and Away'' * Killer Kane ...

, whose parish was responsible for the whole valley. The name ''Killer'' is historically composed of ''church'' and ''hamlet''. Near Hechingen the Starzel is fed on the left side by the

Reichenbach Reichenbach may refer to: Places Austria * Reichenbach (Litschau), a part of Litschau * Reichenbach (Rappottenstein), a part of Rappottenstein Germany * Reichenbach (Oberlausitz), in Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis district, Saxony * Rei ...

. It now flows more to the west and is then at Stauffenburger Hof again strengthened from the left side by its longest tributary, the Zimmerbach. After the passage of

Rangendingen Rangendingen is a municipality of the Zollernalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History The Abbey of Saint Gall gained possession of Rangendingen around 800 AD. In the 16th century, the town became a possession of the Principalit ...

it turns to the north and finally flows into Bieringen at a height of 354 m above sea level, from the right into the

Tributaries

*Neubrunnen (''right''), 1,9 km *Scharlenbach (''left''), 3,5 km and 6,5 km² *Goosbach (''left''), 0,7 km *Lindenbach (''right''), 1,9 km *Buhenbach (''right''), 1,9 km *Hirschbach (''right''), 1,1 km *Sulzgraben (''right''), 0,8 km *Mühlbachle (''right''), 1,8 km *Bernerbächle (''left''), 2,3 km *Lotterbächle (''left''), 1,4 km *Weilerbächle (''right''), 1,0 km *Buchbächle (''right''), 1,2 km *Wettbächle (''right''), 1,1 km *Heiligenbach (''right''), 3,7 km and 5,7 km² *Münchbach (''right''), 2,4 *

(''left''), 9,5 km and 19,4 km² *Feilbach (''left''), 1,6 km *Bräunestall (''left''), 1,3 km *Sulzbach (''left''), 2,0 km *Ettenbach (''right''), 4,5 km and 5,5 km² *Winterhaldenbach (''right''), 3,0 km and 1,9 km² *Tufelbach (''left''), 2,0 km * Zimmerbach (''left''), 12,1 km and 25,4 km² *Ramsbach (''right''), 2,2 km *Mönchgraben (''right''), 1,9 km *Talbach (''left''), 6,1 km and 9,7 km² *Sendelgraben (''left''), 3,4 km and 1,4 km² *Bruckbach (''left''), 3,6 km and 6.1 km² *Omengraben (''left''), 4,2 km and 3,5 km² *Ganggraben (''right''), 2,4 km and 5,1 km² *Tobelsgraben (''left''), 2,5 km and 9,8 km² *Haldengraben (''right''), 0,6 km

Settlements

On its approximately 41 kilometre long way to the north-west the Starzel crosses or passes through the following towns and villages: * Hausen im Killertal (Burladingen) * Starzeln (Burladingen) *

(Burladingen) *

Jungingen Jungingen is a municipality in the Zollernalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located nearby the castle Burg Hohenzollern, about 5 km east of Hechingen. In former times, the city was located in ''Hohenzollern-Hechingen'', a princip ...

* Schlatt (Hechingen) *

Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Au ...

(Hechingen) *

Hirrlingen Hirrlingen is a municipality in the district of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Hirrlingen is located about 15 kilometers southwest from Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central B ...

* Bietenhausen (Rangendingen) * Bieringen ( Rottenburg) In the village of Bieringen (district of Rottenburg) the Starzel river flows into the Neckar.

Geology and geomorphology

near Hechingen-Stein with border outcrop between Jura and

Keuper The Keuper is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Keuper consists of dolomite, shales or claystones and evaporites that were deposited during the Middle and Late ...

] From the

White Jurassic The White Jurassic or White Jura (german: Weißer Jura or ''Weißjura'') in earth history refers to the upper of the three lithostratigraphic units of the South German Jurassic, the latter being understood not as a geographical, but a geological ...

to the Muschelkalk the Starzel passes through all layers of the Jurassic and about two thirds of the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

. Its valley was formed by retrograde

Erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...

, in that the stream from the northwest cut deeper and deeper into the strata of the Swabian Alb and its foreland. The valley of the Starzel river intervenes eleven kilometres into the plateau of the

Swabian Alb The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...

and is bordered in the west by the 957 high

Raichberg Raichberg is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with an elevation of above sea level. It is located in Zollernalbkreis close to the northwestern edge of the Schwäbische 'Alb'. Situated on the summit is Nägelehaus, a guesthouse, as wel ...

and in the east by the up to 840 meter high hayfield. It begins with the source area of the Starzel and its tributaries at the watershed between the river system of the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

and that of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...

. A special feature are the so-called ''waterfall layers'', a hard sandstone, which is bedded over leafy shale clays. Between Jungingen and Schlatt the Starzel has formed an eight meter high

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

, the ''Junginger Gieß''. For long stretches it moves in a near-natural stream bed. Between Jungingen and Hechingen it has deepened like a canyon.

Starzel flood 2008

In the evening of 2 June 2008, a thunderstorm caused heavy rainfall and flooding, as a result of which three women drowned, two in

and one in

. The "''Killer valley''" made international headlines like this. Around 3.4 million euros have been paid out to those affected to repair the material damage (1.5 million from donations, 1.8 million from the state of Baden-Württemberg). Thus, the entire notified need has been covered. As a result of the disaster, the ''Zweckverband Hochwasserschutz Starzeltal'' was founded in 2013.www.hechingen.de
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References

{{reflist Rivers of Baden-Württemberg Rivers of Germany