Main (river)

The Main () is a river in central Germany. It is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, 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 Würzburg. If the Weser-Werra are considered separate, it is the longest river lying entirely in Germany.

Geography The Main flows through the north and north-west of the state of Bavaria and then across southern Hesse; against the latter it demarcates a third state, Baden-Württemberg, 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, in length, and runs through Creussen and Bayreuth. The White Main originates in the Fichtel Mountains; it is 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.

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 The Main is navigable for shipping from its mouth at the Rhine close to Mainz for to Bamberg. Since 1992, the Main has been connected to the Danube via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and the highly regulated Altmühl river. The Main has been canalized with 34 large locks () to allow CEMT class V vessels () 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.

Weirs and locks

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.

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.

No. Name Location Year built Main-km Distance between locks (km) Altitude (m) Height (m) Lock length (m) Lock width (m) 1 Viereth Viereth-Trunstadt 1925 380.699 230.86 6.00 289.80 12.00 2 Limbach Eltmann 1951 367.176 224.86 5.36 299.10 12.00 3 Knetzgau Knetzgau (Haßfurt) 1958 359.781 219.50 4.24 298.85 12.00 4 Ottendorf Gädheim 1962 345.263 215.26 7.59 301.60 12.00 5 Schweinfurt Schweinfurt 1963 332.037 207.67 4.67 300.60 12.00 6 Garstadt Bergrheinfeld 1956 323.503 203.00 4.69 299.75 12.00 7 Wipfeld Wipfeld 1950 316.289 198.31 4.31 300.15 12.00 8 Gerlachshausen mit Volkach Volkach (Schwarzach am Main) 1957 300.506 194.00 6.30 300.00 12.00 9 Dettelbach Dettelbach 1959 295.398 187.70 5.50 299.35 12.00 10 Kitzingen Kitzingen 1956 283.979 182.20 3.66 299.80 12.00 11 Marktbreit Marktbreit (Frickenhausen am Main) 1955 275.681 178.54 3.31 296.40 12.00 12 Goßmannsdorf Ochsenfurt 1952 269.028 175.23 3.40 296.90 12.00 13 Randersacker Würzburg (Randersacker) 1950 258.885 171.83 3.30 299.60 12.00 14 Würzburg Würzburg 1954 252.512 168.53 2.75 293.10 12.00 15 Erlabrunn Erlabrunn (Thüngersheim) 1935 241.204 165.78 4.15 299.20 12.00 16 Himmelstadt Himmelstadt 1939 232.290 161.63 4.30 299.50 12.00 17 Harrbach Karlstadt (Gemünden am Main) 1939 219.466 157.33 4.90 299.45 12.00 18 Steinbach Lohr am Main 1939 200.673 152.43 5.14 299.10 12.00 19 Rothenfels Rothenfels (Marktheidenfeld) 1937 185.887 147.29 5.26 298.45 12.00 20 Lengfurt Triefenstein 1937 174.508 142.03 3.99 300.08 11.98 21 Eichel Wertheim 1937 160.467 138.04 4.50 299.92 12.00 22 Faulbach Wertheim (Faulbach) 1935 147.065 133.54 4.51 299.80 12.10 23 Freudenberg Collenberg (Freudenberg) 1934 133.948 129.03 4.51 300.00 12.00 24 Heubach Großheubach (Miltenberg) 1932 122.360 124.52 4.00 300.00 12.00 25 Klingenberg Klingenberg am Main 1930 113.050 120.52 4.00 300.71 12.05 26 Wallstadt Kleinwallstadt (Großwallstadt) 1930 101.203 116.52 4.00 299.93 12.00 27 Obernau Niedernberg (Aschaffenburg) 1930 92.909 112.52 4.01 299.18 12.00 28 Kleinostheim Kleinostheim (Stockstadt am Main) 1920 1972 77.905 108.51 6.80 298.36298.22 12.0412.02 29 Krotzenburg Hainburg (Großkrotzenburg) 19201983 63.850 101.71 2.74 302.30300.01 12.0012.00 30 Mühlheim (formerly Kesselstadt) Maintal (Mühlheim am Main) 19201980 53.185 98.97 3.77 299.90 12.04 31 Offenbach Frankfurt am Main (Offenbach am Main) 19011957 38.514 95.20 3.18 344.03230.07 12.0913.05 32 Griesheim Frankfurt am Main 1934 28.687 92.02 4.49 344.05344.38 12.0015.00 33 Eddersheim Hattersheim am Main (Kelsterbach) 1934 15.551 87.53 3.61 345.46344.26 12.0515.05 34 Kostheim Hochheim am Main (Ginsheim-Gustavsburg) 18861934 3.209 83.92 2.36(MW Rhine) 341.90339.02 15.00Door: 12.00Chamber: 20.00

Hydroelectric power generation 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.

No. Name Height (m) Power (MW) Turbines Operator 1 Viereth 6.00 6.20 Francis(3), Kaplan(1) E.ON Wasserkraft 2 Limbach 5.36 3.70 Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 3 Knetzgau 4.24 2.90 Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 4 Ottendorf 7.59 6.30 Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 5 Schweinfurt 4.67 3.80 Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 6 Garstadt 4.69 3.90Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 7 Wipfeld 4.31 2.90Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 8 Gerlachshausen mit Volkach 6.30 3.90Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 9 Dettelbach 5.50 4.20Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 10 Kitzingen 3.66 3.00Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 11 Marktbreit 3.31 2.10Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 12 Goßmannsdorf 3.40 2.00Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 13 Randersacker 3.30 2.00Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 14 Würzburg 2.75 0.90Kaplan(3) E.ON Wasserkraft 15 Erlabrunn 4.15 2.70Kaplan(1) E.ON Wasserkraft 16 Himmelstadt 4.30 2.50Kaplan(1) E.ON Wasserkraft 17 Harrbach 4.90 3.00Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 18 Steinbach 5.14 4.20Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 19 Rothenfels 5.26 4.20Kaplan(2) E.ON Wasserkraft 20 Lengfurt 3.99 2.60 E.ON Wasserkraft 21 Eichel 4.50 3.10 E.ON Wasserkraft 22 Faulbach 4.51 4.10 E.ON Wasserkraft 23 Freudenberg 4.51 4.30 E.ON Wasserkraft 24 Heubach 4.00 3.40 E.ON Wasserkraft 25 Klingenberg 4.00 3.00 E.ON Wasserkraft 26 Wallstadt 4.00 3.40 E.ON Wasserkraft 27 Obernau 4.01 3.20 E.ON Wasserkraft 28 Kleinostheim 6.80 9.70 E.ON Wasserkraft 29 Krotzenburg 2.74 30 Mühlheim 3.77 4.80 E.ON Wasserkraft 31 Offenbach 3.18 4.10 E.ON Wasserkraft 32 Griesheim 4.49 4.90 Kaplan(3) Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Aschaffenburg 33 Eddersheim 3.61 3.84 Kaplan(3) Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Aschaffenburg 34 Kostheim 2.36 4.9 Kaplan Pit-Rohrturbinen(2) WKW Staustufe Kostheim/Main GmbH & Co. KG (Gebaut und Betrieben von Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm)

Tributaries

Tributaries from source to mouth:

Left Regnitz Tauber Mümling

Right Rodach (Main) Itz Franconian Saale Aschaff Kahl Kinzig Nidda

Ports and municipalities 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 Würzburg. The Main also passes the following towns: Burgkunstadt, Lichtenfels, Bad Staffelstein, Eltmann, Haßfurt, Schweinfurt, Volkach, Kitzingen, Marktbreit, Ochsenfurt, Karlstadt, Gemünden, Lohr, Marktheidenfeld, Wertheim, Miltenberg, Obernburg, Erlenbach/Main, Aschaffenburg, Seligenstadt, Hainburg, Hanau, Hattersheim, Flörsheim, and Rüsselsheim.

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.

Main line

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 Weißwurstäquator.

Recreation The Main-Radweg is a major German bicycle path alongside the river. Approximately , it is the first long-distance instance awarded 5 stars by the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) in 2008. It starts from Creußen or Bischofsgrün and ends in Mainz.

Sights Roman camp at Marktbreit

Main (river)

Bron en licentie