Alter Rhein

This article is about describes the Old Rhine that flows into Lake Constance. For other uses, see Old Rhine.

Alter Rhein
River
Countries	Austria, Switzerland

The Alter Rhein

The Alter Rhein (German for Old Rhine) is the old river bed of the Alpine Rhine in St. Gallen and Vorarlberg in the Alpine Rhine Valley, which was cut off when the Rhine was straightened during the 20th century. These cut-off arms have become valuable recreational areas and a nature reserve.

In 1900, the short-cut at Fussach was completed, linking the natural course of the Rhine just upstream of Höchst and St. Margrethen directly to a new outflow into Lake Constance. The old river course downstream of this point, via Rheineck to Altenrhein on the shore of Lake Constance, became known as the Alter Rhein and continues to form the border between Austria and Switzerland. The arm is navigable from the lake to Rheineck, and is used by the Swiss shipping services on the lake to reach landing stages adjacent to Rheineck railway station.

In 1906, the Rheintaler Binnenkanal ("Rhine Valley Inland Canal") was dug, connecting Sennwald to St. Margrethen. In 1923, another short-cut was completed at Diepoldsau, creating another dead branch, also named Alter Rhein.

The area between the Old and New Rhine forms the nature reserve Rhine Delta (not to be confused with the Rhine Delta in the Netherlands).

Gallery

Painting by Max Bach (1841-1914) of the view of Rheineck and the former mouth of the Rhine into Lake Constance
The Alter Rhein near Höchst
The Alter Rhein at Hohenems, on the border with Diepoldsau

External links

Media related to Alter Rhein at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 47°28′11″N 9°36′36″E / 47.46972°N 9.61000°E / 47.46972; 9.61000

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.