Elz (Rhine)

The Elz is a river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, a right tributary of the Rhine. It rises in the Black Forest, near the source of the Breg. The Elz flows through Elzach, Waldkirch and Emmendingen before reaching the Rhine near Lahr. Its length is approx. 121 km (75 mi).

Elz
View of the Hörnleberg, Obereck and Kandel (right) looking southeast over the middle Elz valley and Waldkirch
Course of the Elz
Location
CountryGermany
StateBaden-Württemberg
Reference no.DE: 2338
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • elevation1,038 m above sea level (NHN)
Mouth 
 • elevation
137 m above sea level (NHN)
Length121.0 km (75.2 mi) [1] (over the Old Elz)
Basin size1,555 km2 (600 sq mi) [1]
Basin features
ProgressionRhine→ North Sea
Landmarks
Tributaries 
 • leftWilde Gutach, Glotter/Lossele, Dreisam, Eichstetter Mühlbach
 • rightBiederbach, Brettenbach, Bleiche, Ettenbach

The lower reaches of the Elz are by-passed by the Leopold Canal, a flood relief canal.

Course
Source of the Elz

The Elz rises north of Furtwangen in the area of the Brend and the Rohrhardsberg mountains (between the Furtwänglehof and the Kolmenhof) not far from the source of the Breg which is hydrographically the source of the Danube.

In its upper reaches the Elz flows in a northerly direction, initially through a high valley with pasture land, bog and ice age glacial landforms. Then after a steep drop at the little Elz Falls, it continues through a deeply incised, wooded and sparsely populated V-shaped valley.

High valley above the V-shaped valley of the Elz (The Elzhofbächle on the Rohrhardsberg)

In the Oberprechtal valley it bends sharply towards the southwest. This is the start of the middle (actual) Elz valley, which runs in a straight line towards the southwest, separating the High Black Forest (700 to 900 m) to the southeast from the far lower parts of the Central Black Forest. In the now densely populated valley are the town of Elzach, the villages of Winden and Gutach im Breisgau, where the Elz receives the waters of the Wild Gutach, which is just under half its size. Below the town of Waldkirch the Elz enters the Upper Rhine Plain near Denzlingen in the Freiburg Bay. From now on it flows in a northwesterly direction, past Emmendingen and Teningen. Some of the water of the Elz is diverted into a millstream through Emmendingen, where it drives several hydropower stations and enhances the appearance of the town. Near Riegel on the Kaiserstuhl the Elz merges with the Dreisam from Freiburg im Breisgau and the Old Dreisam.

Soon thereafter the Elz forks again: a certain amount of water (up to 8.5 m3/s) flows down the Old Elz (Alte Elz) through the Europapark Rust to its mouth on the Rhine. Other quantities of water, on average about 13.2 m3/s, is fed along the Leopold Canal, built by Johann Gottfried Tulla, northwest of Rheinhausen into the Rhine. The Old Elz empties higher up, near Schwanau, into the Rhine. Today it is led down various Old Rhine channels parallel to the Rhine to the southern edge of Kehl, a distance of 121 kilometres from the source; formerly it was over 90 kilometres long.

Tributaries

The table shows all tributaries that are longer than 5 kilometres, with the exception of millstreams alongside rivers.[2] Based on the waterbody number (Fließgewässerkennziffer), the Frischnaubach is the highest tributary - it discharges into the Elz in the parish of Prechtal. The Ettenbach is the lowest tributary and empties into the Elz just before Grafenhausen. All tributaries have their catchment areas in the county of Emmendingen, with the exception of the Ettenbach, which flows through in Ortenaukreis.

Tributaries of the Elz
Distance from mouth (km) GKZ[Z 1] Name Side Discharges into[Z 2] Length (km)[Z 3] Catchment (km2)[Z 4] Mouth location Mouth elevation[Z 5] (m above NN) Remarks
98.912 2338-12 Frischnaubach right Elz 05.7 011.6 Elzach-Eilet 477.8
95.745 2338-194 Yachbach left Elz 07.8 019.5 Elzach, sewage works 343,0
95.434 2338-2 Biederbach right Elz 10.3 031.8 Elzach, Ortsende 340,0
91.997 2338-32 Spitzenbach right Elz 06.4 011.0 Winden im Elztal-Niederwinden 317,0
87.349 2338-392 Siegelbach right Elz 06.4 013.4 Gutach im Breisgau-Stollen 289.0
86.934 2338-4 Wilde Gutach left Elz 25.2 129.9 Gutach im Breisgau 287,0
85.966 2338-512 Talbach left Elz 06.2 009.1 Gutach im Breisgau 281,0 [3]
83.477 2338-53126 Altersbach left Elz 06.6 006.7 Waldkirch 266,0 [3][4]
80.463 2338-532 Dettenbach left Elz 06.2 009.8 Waldkirch, Ortsende 247,0
77.985 2338-54 Lossele left Elz 20.1 049.8 Denzlingen 236.8 right and main lower reaches of the Glotter
70.420 2338-6 Brettenbach right Elz 24.2 071.2 Emmendingen 192,0
63.341 2338-8 Dreisam left Elz 48.8 339.7 Riegel am Kaiserstuhl 178,1 Catchment area excludes the Old Dreisam
63.318 2338-894 Old Dreisam (Alte Dreisam) left Dreisam 38.2 258.8 Riegel am Kaiserstuhl 178,0 is the left Dreisam tributary at its mouth
62.817 2338-9112 Wihlbach left Elz 05.0 004.9 Riegel am Kaiserstuhl 177,9
60.077 2338-912 Malterdinger Dorfbach right Old Elz (Alte Elz) 06.6 015.8 Kenzingen-Hecklingen 177,5
57.108 2338-914 Little Elz (Kleine Elz) right Old Elz 06.6 008.5 Kenzingen 176,0
50.119 2338-92 Bleichbach right Old Elz 18.4 060.8 Herbolzheim, Mühlehof 170,0
47.273 2338-932 Grundelbach right Old Elz 05.6 006.8 Rust 165,0
42.231 2338-94 Ettenbach right Old Elz 18.4 059.9 Kappel-Grafenhausen-Kappel am Rhein 161,0
38.466 2338-954 Taubergießen left Old Elz 08.9 008.7 Kappel, sewage works 157,7 [3] begins as left tailstream of the Old Elz near Rust
38.038 2338-96 Kapuzinerbach right Old Elz 14.3 024.4 Kappel, sewage works 157,3
36.831 2338-98 (Old Rhine channel) left Old Elz 43.2 134.2 Schwanau-Wittenweier 156,6 right old channel of the Rhine
24.316 2338-992 Ottenheimer Mühlbach right Raukehle/Mühlbach 09.7 013.8 Schwanau-Ottenheim 150,0 begins as the right tailstream at Schwanau-Wittenweier
  1. Official German waterbody number. A dash has been added after "2338" (the ID for the Elz itself) for readability.
  2. The name of the Elz at the tributary mouth.
  3. Length based on the Gewässernetz layer (AWGN) of the online map server of the LUBW. The length may include upper reaches with a different name and the name of upper reaches may transition from hydrologically dominating tributaries to become the name run.
  4. Catchment area from the Basiseinzugsgebiet (AWGN) layer of the online map server of the LUBW, in some cases calculated from the sub of subareas.
  5. Height from the contour map on the map background layer Topographische Karte or text entries from Map services of the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Environment, Survey and Conservation (Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg). This entry has an error margin, which may be caused by interpolation errors or because the height difference between the river height and terrain height cannot be determined from the map.
Wassermer Wehr at the canalised Elz south of Emmendingen

Fauna

Commonly found species of fish in the Elz are the:[5]

  • Aerial photographs
  • View upriver via Emmendingen to the Kandel
    View upriver via Emmendingen to the Kandel
  • The "Old Elz" between Kenzingen and Rheinhausen (Breisgau)
    The "Old Elz" between Kenzingen and Rheinhausen (Breisgau)
  • Upper Elz, looking north
    Upper Elz, looking north

References
  1. Map services of the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Environment, Survey and Conservation (Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg)
  2. Length from the Gewässernetz (AWGN) layer from Map services of the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Environment, Survey and Conservation (Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg)
  3. Einzugsgebiet abgemessen auf dem Hintergrundlayer Topographische Karte des Online-Kartenservers der LUBW.
  4. Der Altersbach mündet in einen nahen, etwa parallelen Gewerbekanal. Stationierung ungefähr auf die Elz übergepaust, entsprechend die Mündungshöhe.
  5. Schaubild IG-Elz
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