The Wurm (; ) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

in 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 the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It rises in the Eifel mountains and flows for 57 kilometres before discharging into the Rur.

Geography

The Wurm is a left (western) tributary of the Rur (). The Rur is a tributary of the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

. The sources of the Wurm are several brooks in the forests southwest of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, which form the Wurm after the ''Diepenbenden'' reservoir. From there the Wurm nowadays flows through canals through the city of Aachen, until it resurfaces again at the ''Europaplatz'' in the east of Aachen. North of Aachen (between

Kerkrade Kerkrade (; Kerkrade dialect, Ripuarian: ; ; or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the P ...

and Herzogenrath) the river forms the border with the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

for approximately 10 km. It flows into the Rur near Heinsberg. Other towns on the river Wurm are Würselen, Übach-Palenberg and Geilenkirchen. The name ''Wurm'' is thought to originate from the German word ''warm'' (same meaning in English), as the source brooks were fed from the thermal springs in Aachen.

Gallery

File:Wurm_im_Wurmtal.jpg, Meanders of the Wurm near Kohlscheid File:Wurmtal 2007.jpg, Wilderness File:Wurmtal_Schlos_Rimburg.jpg, Rimburg Castle near Übach-Palenberg File:Wurmtal_April_2007.jpg, Watermill near Zweibrüggen File:Wurmtal_Schloss_Trips.jpg, Castle Trips, Geilenkirchen File:Wurmtal_bei_Süggerath.jpg, Wurm valley near Süggerath File:Wurm at Gut Kalkofen.jpg, Wurm at Gut Kalkofen, Aachen

References

* Rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia Rivers of the Netherlands Rivers of South Limburg (Netherlands) Kerkrade Landgraaf Rivers of Germany {{Netherlands-river-stub

Geography

Gallery

See also

References