Confluence of the Rhine to the anterior and posterior Bonaduz.

Upper Rhine

In the center of Basel, the first major town on the route of the river, the Rhine forms a bend and headed north. The bridge is located in the center of the elbow defines the Upper Rhine and Upper Rhine. It flows about 300 km across the Rhine Graben from 252 meters to 75 meters. He is joined by Ill near Strasbourg , the Neckar at Mannheim and the Main in front of Mainz.

The southern half of the upper Rhine forms the border between Germany and France. The northern half between the Rhineland-Palatinate to the west of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Hesse in the east.

Middle Rhine

Lower Rhine

Rhine Delta

Tributaries

• Aar : 590 m ³ / s
• Ill : 58 m ³ / s
• Neckar : 145 m ³ / s
• Main : 225 m ³ / s
• Lahn : 54 m ³ / s
• Moselle : 325 m ³ / s
• Ruhr : 80 m ³ / s
• Lippe : 46 m ³ / s

Hydrological Plan

The hydrological regime of the Rhine is harmonious, all its tributaries have additional inputs. Until Lake Constance , his regime is nival. Lake Constance has a tendency to diminish its vitality. After the fall of the Rhine , it receives the most abundant water and marked by the stamp sheet. The Rhine stock 410 m ³ / s and Aare 610m ³ / s, are the Rhine at Basel in 1030 m ³ / s with a peak in June and a minimum in January. The Rhine runs to almost half its rate for 20% of his pelvis. In Strasbourg , he received Ill., which provides 60 m ³ / s, somewhat mitigating the nival. He will lose this scheme as and when it receives tributaries in rainfed winter with high water. The contributions of the Neckar and Main tend to regulate its flow. But it was at Koblenz the Rhine loses his nival regime for rain and snowfall in two peaks due to the contribution of the Moselle (400 m ³ / s), maximum winter. From Koblenz, its maximum winter exceeds the summer, setting the minimum in October. Its average flow reached 2000 m ³ / s}}.

• February: 2540 m ³ / s
• June: 2,090 m ³ / s
• October: 1480 m ³ / s

It receives little after major tributaries, except the Lippe and the Ruhr which bear his final flow Lobith to 2300 m ³ / s.

Average monthly flow (m ³ / s) measured at the hydrological station Ress altitude: 2 m-watershed: 185 000 km ² - calculated for the period 1930-1997

History

His character border international is relatively recent, with the exception of the period when the Roman Empire had made his bulwark against the northern barbarians , with a border ( limes ) forts dotted like Cologne or Strasbourg. Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the conquest of Alsace by Louis XIV , the river was an integral and ferments the Germanic world, who nicknamed Vater Rhein, Rhine father.

Traces of history are most apparent in the Mittelrheintal between Bingen and Koblenz that UNESCO recognized World Heritage Site in 2002. On the slopes along the Rhine castles are enthroned above the vineyard slopes. Tourists who want to experience the romance are attracted here by the myth of Lorelei.

Economy

The Rhine since the Middle Ages is an exceptional way trade and a vital artery of the West.

Between Basel and its estuary, the Rhine flows through one of the most densely populated Western Europe, historically rich in mutual trade. This sector is the heart of the European backbone.
Rhine valley was also home to one of the main sites of the industrial revolution : the Ruhr , which enjoyed a large deposit of mineral resources including coal , easily accessible and conducive to the development of industrialization.

The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna dedicated in 1815 , the principle of freedom of navigation on international rivers.
In 1831, with the first convention Rhine (Convention of Mainz, Mainzer Akte), cities have lost the right battery. Since the Mannheim Convention of 1868 , the Rhine is classified as "international waters" since the last bridge of Basel to the North Sea , ensuring the Swiss free access to the sea The headquarters of the Central Commission for Navigation Rhine is Strasbourg. Founded in 1815 when a href = "% C3% Congr A8s_de_Vienne" title = "Congress of Vienna> Vienna Congress, it is the oldest international organization.

Several nuclear plants have been built on the banks of the Rhine:

• Leibstadt NPP (Switzerland)
• Fessenheim nuclear power plant (France)
• Philippsburg Nuclear (Germany)
• Biblis nuclear power plant (Germany)
• NPP Mlheim-Krlich (Germany)

The port of Basel , situated on the Rhine, is the only access road to the sea from Switzerland , which imports many bulk commodities by barge.

In 2003, the UNESCO has included 68 km of the Valley of the Upper Middle Rhine in the World Heritage List with the rock of the Lorelei near the town of Sankt Goar.

Environment

The NPP Fessenheim uses Rhine water for its cooling . Such swings in temperature can cause problems for salmonids .

French Departments

The Rhine gives its name to two French departments :

• Bas-Rhin ;
• Haut-Rhin.

Two former departments briefly created under Napoleon ^I owed him as their name:

• Bouches-du-Rhin ;
• Rhine and Moselle.

Rhine Delta

The Netherlands , the Rhine forms a large delta , partially shared with the Meuse. It is divided into several branches, the main ones:

• Waal , extended by Merwede upper , lower Merwede , New Merwede , Nieuwe Maas , streams connected to many others, including Noord and Dordtsche Kil.
• Pannerden channel , which share the linen and separates into:
  • IJssel , to the north, which flows into the IJsselmeer
  • Lower Rhine , to the west, which continues as Lek and joins the Nieuwe Maas
    • Kromme Rijn , which detaches from the lower Rhine and continues as Leidse Rijn and Old Rhine
    • Dutch IJssel , between Old Rhine and Lek

The castles of the Rhine Valley

The Rhine Valley offers a large concentration of castles. Stately homes, castles defensive, tolls, protection of travelers, all had their usefulness. Many lost their crenellated towers in fires caused by the French army of Louis XIV and, in the eighteenth ^century, during fighting against the French revolutionaries and the noble emigrants refugees Koblenz. This is the ^nineteenth century with the creation of the Germanic Confederation in 1815, many castles were rebuilt.

In literature

• Honore de Balzac , L'Auberge rouge , 1831 : "The two young men had therefore abandoned the deep admiration that come before the learned men at the sight of the Rhine and landscapes of Swabia, between Mainz and Cologne ; strong nature, rich, powerful rugged, full of memories feudal green, but that keeps the fingerprints everywhere iron and fire (...) ^, . "
• Victor Hugo , Le Rhin, 1842 : "There is a whole history of Europe (...) in this river warriors and thinkers in this great wave that boosted France, in the deep murmur that thrills the Germany. The Rhine has everything. "

Quotes

• "Der Rhein, Deutschlands Strom, aber nicht Deutschlands Grenze." ("The Rhine river in Germany, but not the border of Germany.") ( Ernst Moritz Arndt who answered the French doctrine of natural boundaries expressed by the Convention.)

References

See also

Related articles

• List of rivers of Switzerland
• Fixed Alpenrhein
• Jura waters correction
• List of rivers of Germany
• List of rivers of Austria
• List of rivers of France
• Valley of the Upper Middle Rhine
• List of rivers of the Netherlands
• List of rivers in the world sorted by continents
• Delta Plan
• Delta of the Meuse and Rhine
• Rheingold : Part of The Ring of the Nibelungs of Richard Wagner

External Links

• Hydrologic data
• Article on the Middle Rhine Valley with beautiful pictures (German)