River in Germany
The
Main
(
German pronunciation:
[?ma?n]
ⓘ
) is the longest
tributary
of the
Rhine
. It rises as the
White Main
in the
Fichtel Mountains
of northeastern
Bavaria
[a]
and flows west through central
Germany
for 525 kilometres (326 mi) to meet the
Rhine
below
Russelsheim
,
Hesse
. The cities of
Mainz
and
Wiesbaden
are close to the confluence.
The largest cities on the Main are
Frankfurt am Main
,
Offenbach am Main
and
Wurzburg
.
[2]
It is the longest river lying entirely in Germany (if the
Weser
-
Werra
are considered separate).
Geography
[
edit
]
The Main flows through the north and north-west of the
state
of
Bavaria
then across southern
Hesse
; against the latter it demarcates a third state,
Baden-Wurttemberg
, east and west of
Wertheim am Main
, the northernmost town of that state.
The upper end of its
basin
opposes that of the
Danube
where the watershed is recognised by natural biologists, sea salinity studies (and hydrology science more broadly) as the
European Watershed
.
The Main begins near
Kulmbach
in
Franconia
at the joining of its two headstreams, the
Red Main
(
Roter Main
) and the
White Main
(
Weißer Main
). The Red Main originates in the
Franconian Jura
mountain range, 50 km (31 mi) in length, and runs through
Creussen
and
Bayreuth
. The White Main originates in the
Fichtel Mountains
; it is 41 km (25 mi) long. In its upper and middle section, the Main runs through the valleys of the German Highlands. Its lower section crosses the Lower Main Lowlands (
Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin
and northern
Upper Rhine Plain
) to
Wiesbaden
, where it discharges into the
Rhine
. Major tributaries of the Main are the
Regnitz
, the
Franconian Saale
, the
Tauber
, and the
Nidda
.
[3]
The name
Main
originates from
Latin
Moenis
,
Moenus
or
Menus
. It is not related to the name of the city
Mainz
(Latin:
Mogontiacum
or
Moguntiacum
).
Navigation
[
edit
]
The Main is navigable for shipping from its mouth at the Rhine close to Mainz for 396 km (246 mi) to
Bamberg
. Since 1992, the Main has been connected to the Danube via the
Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
and the highly regulated
Altmuhl
river. The Main has been canalized with 34 large locks (300 × 12 m or 984 × 39 ft) to allow
CEMT class
V vessels (110 × 11.45 m or 360.9 × 37.6 ft) to navigate the total length of the river. The 16 locks in the adjacent Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and the Danube itself are of the same dimensions.
[
citation needed
]
Weirs and locks
[
edit
]
There are 34 weirs and locks along the 380 km navigable portion of the Main, from the confluence with the Regnitz near Bamberg, to the Rhine.
[4]
- No.:
Number of the lock (from upstream to downstream).
- Name:
Name of the lock.
- Location:
City or town where the lock is located.
- Year built:
Year when the lock was put into operation (replacement dates are also listed where applicable).
- Main-km:
Location on the Main, measured from the 0 km stone in Mainz-Kostheim. The reference point is the center of the lock or lock group.
- Distance between locks:
length in km of impoundment (between adjacent locks).
- Altitude:
height in meters above mean sea level of the upper water at normal levels.
- Height:
Height of the dam in meters (the height of the Kostheim lock depends on the water level of the Rhine).
- Lock length:
Usable length of the lock chamber in meters.
- Lock width:
Usable width of the lock chamber in meters.
Hydroelectric power generation
[
edit
]
Most of the weirs or dams along the Main also have turbines for power generation.
- No.:
Number of the dam/weir (from upstream to downstream).
- Name:
Name of the dam/weir.
- Height:
Height of the dam/weir in meters (the height of the Kostheim dam depends on the water level of the Rhine).
- Power:
Maximum power generation capacity in megawatts.
- Turbines:
Type and number of turbines.
- Operator:
Operator of the hydroelectric plant.
Tributaries
[
edit
]
Tributaries
from source to mouth:
Ports and municipalities
[
edit
]
Around Frankfurt are several large inland ports. Because the river is rather narrow on many of the upper reaches, navigation with larger vessels and push convoys requires great skill.
The largest cities along the Main are
Frankfurt am Main
,
Offenbach am Main
and
Wurzburg
. The Main also passes the following towns:
Burgkunstadt
,
Lichtenfels
,
Bad Staffelstein
,
Eltmann
,
Haßfurt
,
Schweinfurt
,
Volkach
,
Kitzingen
,
Marktbreit
,
Ochsenfurt
,
Karlstadt
,
Gemunden
,
Lohr
,
Marktheidenfeld
,
Wertheim
,
Miltenberg
,
Obernburg
,
Erlenbach/Main
,
Aschaffenburg
,
Seligenstadt
,
Hainburg
,
Hanau
,
Hattersheim
,
Florsheim
, and
Russelsheim
.
The river has gained enormous importance as a vital part of European "
Corridor VII
", the inland waterway link from
the North Sea
to the
Black Sea
.
[5]
Main line
[
edit
]
In a historical and political sense, the Main line is referred to as the northern border of
Southern Germany
, with its predominantly
Catholic
population. The river roughly marked the southern border of the
North German Federation
, established in 1867 under
Prussian
leadership as the predecessor of the
German Empire
.
The river course also corresponds with the
Speyer line
isogloss between
Central
and
Upper German
dialects, sometimes mocked as
Weißwurstaquator
.
[6]
[7]
Recreation
[
edit
]
The
Main-Radweg
is a major German bicycle path alongside the river. Approximately 600 kilometres long (370 mi), it is the first long-distance instance awarded 5 stars by the General German Bicycle Club (
ADFC
) in 2008. It starts from
Creußen
or
Bischofsgrun
and ends in
Mainz
.
[8]
Sights
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes and references
[
edit
]
- Footnotes
- ^
The Bavarian authorities define the source of the White Main as the source of the Main itself, although the sources of the Red Main and the Franconian Rezat are actually further from the Rhine.
- Citations
- ^
a
b
Complete table of the Bavarian Waterbody Register
by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (xls, 10.3 MB)
- ^
"Main River | river, Germany"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
2021-02-04
.
- ^
Uehlinger, Urs; Wantzen, Karl; Leuven, Rob S.E.W.; Arndt, Hartmut (2009). "The Rhine River Basin". In Tockner, Klement; Uehlinger, Urs; Robinson, Christopher T. (eds.).
Rivers of Europe
. Academic Press. pp. 238?239.
doi
:
10.1016/B978-0-12-369449-2.00006-0
.
ISBN
9780123694492
.
S2CID
16401687
.
- ^
"Daten und Fakten"
[Facts and figures] (in German). Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Sud. June 2003. Archived from
the original
on 13 June 2013
. Retrieved
7 June
2009
.
- ^
"NoorderSoft Waterways Database"
. Retrieved
2007-10-24
.
- ^
Qvale, Per
(12 May 2014).
From St Jerome to Hypertext: Translation in Theory and Practice
. Routledge. p. 117.
ISBN
978-1-317-64053-0
.
- ^
Carrington-Windo, Tristam; Kohl, Katrin (11 April 2013).
Dictionary of Contemporary Germany
. Routledge.
ISBN
978-1-136-59537-0
.
- ^
"Main-Radweg"
. Archived from
the original
on 7 November 2019
. Retrieved
23 April
2013
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte (ed.), Main und Meer - Portrat eines Flusses. Exhibition Catalogue to the Bayerische Landesausstellung 2013 (German). WBG.
ISBN
978-3-534-00010-4
.
External links
[
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]
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